200 CONTKTBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [Sull.213. 
DEVELOPMENT. 
History. — The ore deposits of this district have been known to 
settlers since early in the last century. The first attempt to mine 
them was made by a company headed by President Andrew Jackson. 
The operations of this company were carried on in Crittenden County, 
Ky., their shaft being sunk on the Eureka vein within 100 yards of 
the present main shaft of the Columbia mine. Between that time and 
the beginning of the civil war other equally primitive attempts were 
made to mine the ore deposits, most of them in Livingston County, 
notably at the Royal mines near Smithland. 
With the general resumption of mining activities in the seventies, 
and especially in the later years of that decade, when some excite- 
ment was evoked by the successful operations at Rosiclaire, on the 
Illinois side of the Ohio River, work was resumed at several of the 
mines in western Kentucky. Considerable activity, indeed, was 
shown in the development of the Columbia mines, in Crittenden 
County. In 1878, however, nearly all mining operations in the dis- 
trict ceased, because the market value of lead, which up to that time 
was the only mineral sought here, dropped to so low a figure that 
with the lack of transportation facilities mining operations became 
unprofitable. 
The demand for American fluorspar which set in at about this time 
served to maintain a small degree of interest in mining in the south- 
ern portion of the district, but only for a few years, when the same 
lack of cheap transportation and a slight drop in the value of the 
product rendered the otherwise equally good Kentucky mines incap- 
able of compet ing with the more fori unately situated Rosiclaire mines. 
In the last live or six years interest in the district has again revived, 
and, for the first time in its history, the numerous veins and mines 
are being systematically prospected and developed. 
Production. — It is impossible now to make any satisfactory state- 
ment concerning the output of the mines of the district prior to 1899, 
but it doubtless amounted to a thousand or more tons of lead and 
many times that amount of fluorspar. Estimates of the production 
of the Illinois mines were not secured, but those in Kentucky pro- 
duced, according to statements of shippers, about as follows: Fluor- 
spar, 1899, about 5,000 tons; 1900, 10,500 tons; 1901, 1:3,700 tons, and 
the first seven months of 1902, 12,000 tons. Zinc carbonate, 1901, 
1,136 tons; first seven months of 1902, about 2,450 tons. The produc- 
tion of lead was insignificant, chiefly because the mines in which 
galena is an important or predominating ore have only recently 
resumed operations or are awaiting improved transportation. The 
present year, however, promises to see a notable increase in the pro- 
duction not only of lead but also of zinc, and a smaller increase. in the 
output of fluorspar. 
Prospective development.— The mining operations so far carried on 
in the district can not be considered as a satisfactory test of its possi- 
