246 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [bull. 213. 
SPECULAR HEMATITE. 
Iron ore of this nature is found at several points along the south 
slope of Beech Mountain. It is found in a small vein'in black schist, 
which occurs as a narrow band in the Cranberry granite about 2 miles 
long. The ore appears at several places along this line. It has not 
been developed beyond shallow prospecting, so that neither the depth 
nor the extent of the deposit is known. In association with similar 
black schist beds on Big Ridge, a northern spur of Beech Mountain, 
are a number of other veins of specular hematite. These have been 
examined only by test pits. In all of these localities the ores exposed 
are siliceous. The veins arc of small or only moderate thickness, and 
have a steep dip. The course of the veins is nearly east and west, 
and is marked by scattered outcrops and fragments of ore. In the 
same black schist beds at various points northwest of Beech Moun- 
tain these ores are found, indicating a considerable range for the 
veins. 
BROWN HEMATITE. 
Ores of this nature are abundant in the Tennessee district, and 
include limonite and various combinations of the oxide and hydrate 
of iron. They occur as Lumps ami masses in the residual clays of the 
Watauga shale and the Shady limestone, and are most plentiful in 
the northeastern pari of the district. Ores of the Watauga shale are 
siliceous and present all grades between pure limonite and pure chert. 
Masses in this formation at lain a diameter of 6 feet. As a rule they 
are not available on accounl of the silica, and only within 2 or 3 miles 
of Shoun Crossroads have t hey been found sufficiently pure to be used. 
Ores of the Shady limestone are usually very pure, and were worked 
in the old forges for many years. The deposits form two classes, 
masses scattered irregularly through the limestone clay and ores lying 
along the fault planes. The Latter usually contain considerable silica 
in the form of sand grains and fragments of Erwin quartzite, and they 
grade from good ore through ferruginous breccias into ordinary sili- 
ceous and calcareous fault breccias. The deposits in clay are very 
pure and have received the greatest development. Like all deposits 
of this nature, the amount of ore in the clay varies much. In this 
region, however, the ore lumps are distributed with unusual frequency 
and regularity. The lumps attain a size as greal as i> and 3 feet, and 
the deposits have been tested to a depth of 50 feet. The richest and 
most frequent deposits are found in the lower part of the limestone, 
near its junction with the Erwin quartzite. Considerable pyrite is 
found in the upper layers of the quartzite, and may be the source of 
much of the iron. The deposits of ore occupy the S3niclinal basins for 
the most part, and may be due to downward concentration toward the 
bottoms of the folds. This correspondence of structure and ore 
deposits is most striking in Shady Valley just north of the Cranberry 
quadrangle. 
