114 GOLD AND TIN DEPOSITS OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 
With the exception of a small amount of sphalerite found at the Kings Mountain mine, 
no zinc is known in this area. 
Considerable activity was once manifested in this region in the mining of this most essen- 
tial of the metals. Of the several iron-producing regions in the Carolinas, that along the Kings 
Mountain Range was in the early days one of the foremost. The Hills Iron Mining Company is 
said to have worked before the Revolutionary war a deposit occurring on Nannies Mountain, 
about 12 miles northeast of Yorkville. The Swedish Iron Mining Company in the vicinity 
of Cherokee Falls and the Kings Mountain Iron Mining Company in the vicinity of Kings 
Mountain carried on rather extensive operations before and during the civil war. More 
recent work has been done at the Ormond mine, northeast of the town of Kings Mountain, 
N. G, and at several places south, southwest, and southeast of Blacksburg, S. C. Nothing 
is being done at present. 
Owing to the fact that nearly all the workings are inaccessible or because they are either 
caved in or filled with water, a satisfactory idea of the character of these deposits was 
not obtained. The only place where geologic relations are adequately exposed is at what 
is known as the No. 2 magnetite pit, about 2\ miles south-southwest of Blacksburg and 
only a short distance southeast of the limestone belt. This is a cut 50 to 60 feet long, 30 
feet wide, and about 30 feet deep. There is at present about 12 feet of water in the pit. 
The rock, which is a dark slate, strikes about N. 60° E. and dips very steeply to the south- 
east, although there appears to have been considerable folding and contortion. Masses of 
dense blue-gray rock occurring in several places may be basic eruptive material. Magnet- 
ite is irregularly distributed through the slate in disseminated grains, large and small 
enses, and shapeless masses. Associated with it, in bunches and veinlets, is a white fibrous 
material, locally called serpentine, which proves to be mostly actinolite, although some ser- 
pentine and a little carbonate are present. The slate consists of extremely fine shreds of 
serpentine with a small amount of carbonate and a few fragmental grains of a pale-greenish 
amphibole probably actinolite. 
The origin of this ore is uncertain. The association with serpentine may indicate that 
the magnetite is a segregation from a basic igneous rock, the whole having then been sub- 
jected to folding and consequent metamorphism. 
This magnetite is said to be of very good quality. Considerable was mined and used 
before and during the civil war in the furnaces along Broad River. Remains of some of 
these furnaces are st ill to be seen. Several tons of ore are at present piled up near the pit. 
From its appearance the writer would judge that its content of iron is rather too low to be 
profitable, and it is questionable if high-grade ore can be mined from this deposit. 
About one-fourth of a mile farther northeast a pit which is probably on the same deposit 
exhibits similar conditions. The slaty rock shows better foliations, dipping very steeply 
to the southeast. Iron appears less abundant. 
At several points along the eastern side of the Blacksburg fold and near the quartzite 
ridges occur deposits of iron oxide. Some of these are limonite, some hematite, some mag- 
netite, and some mixtures of any or all. This belt is known to extend from a mile or two 
south of Broad River through Cleveland, Gaston, and Lincoln counties and into Catawba 
County. Following closely along this iron belt through nearly its whole extent is a band 
of manganese oxide. 
Considerable work was once done on the south side of Broad River. Before the Michi- 
gan and Alabama fields were worked these deposits furnished a great part of the iron locally 
consumed, and it is said that some was shipped away. Other workings were located in 
Gaston and Lincoln counties. Deposits of this kind are known on the ridge north of Chero- 
kee Factory, in Cherokee County, and in the vicinity of Wolf Creek, near the York County 
line. At the latter place, on property of Mr. W. B. McCaw, a deposit of solid crystalling 
