88 
■GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF MISSISSIPPI. 
scarce. But little effort has been made to test the heating qualities of the lignite. The few- 
analyses which have been made show it to he high in carbon and comparatively low in 
sulphur. There is doubtless a future for the lignite in the making of producer gas. 
Lignite occurs also in various localities in the lower Cretaceous. The deposits, however, 
are uniformly in very thin veins— too small to be mined profitably. It always occurs ifl con- 
nection with clays which contain lignitic matter. In fact, the black lignite-bearing clays 
arc often mistaken for lignite. The thickest bed of lignite so far known in the lower Creta- 
ceous occurs one-half mile east of Reedsville, Itawamba County. This bed is 20 inches 
thick and is comparatively free from impurities. Overlying the lignite is a band of ferru- 
ginous sandstone 3 to 1 inches thick, and over this in turn are beds of stratified sands. Un- 
derlying the lignite is a stratum of white stoneware clay. The lignite outcrops near the foot 
of the hills east of Tombigbee River between Fulton and Tilden. Lignite is also reported to 
have been struck in wells at Amoiy. Xetticton, Aberdeen, and numerous places along the 
Tuscaloosa area. 
A greater or lc-^ amount of lignite is found throughout the Tertiary. The purest and 
thickest deposits occur in the lower and middle parts of the Eocene. In southeastern Lafay- 
ette, northern Calhoun, and southwestern Pontotoc counties outcrops of lignite are numerous, 
and the seams are in places thick enough to he mined. A seam 2<S inches thick occurs in sec. 
33, T. 9S.,R. 2W. In a well al Paris a bed 6 feel thick is reported. Another outcrop on 
.1. \. Head's land in sec. 11, T. 11 S.,R. 2 W., shows a vein- 5 feel thick. A sample from this 
seam was exhibited al the World's Fair al St. Louis. It is of a deep-brown color when damp, 
Inn becomes darker when dry. Unlike true bituminous coal it thoroughly disintegrates 
when it is exposed to the air for a few hours. 
The following are analyses of lignite from Calhoun County: 
Analyses of lignite from Calhoun County. 
[By Alfred F. Brainard, of Birmingham, Ala.] 
1. 
2. 
Fixed carbon 
37.320 
46.030 
2.840 
1:5.910 
34. 25Q 
50.200 
\>h 
6.240 
9.310 
100.100 
100.000 
The town of De Kalh is near the eastern edge of the Wilcox formation. One and a half 
miles northeast of the town, on Sucamochee Creek, is a deposit of lignite 3 feet thick, which 
outcrops a few feet above the bed of the creek. This deposit has been opened up wit h a view 
of developing the vein. A level was run 20 feet into the hill and considerable lignite was 
taken out. It was found to be of excellent quality and was burned in the office of the 
chancery clerk. S. (). Bell. ;t t De Kalh. The following analyses were made, No. 1 by J. C. 
Long, and No. 2 by R. T. Pittman: 
Analyses of lignite from De Kalh. 
1. 
2. 
Fixed carbon 
41.83 
46.82 
7.94 
2.13 
1.28 
n.d. 
40.80 
Volatile matter 
41.48 
Ash 
17.64 
Moisture 
n.d. 
Sulphur 
1 . 57 
Specific gravity 
1.33 
