MONAZITE. 
117 
outside of the territory embraced in this report, but considerable of this mineral has been 
obtained by placer-mining methods in the western part of Cherokee County, which is within 
the area here described. 
On Cole Creek, about 3 miles west of Gaffney, are situated the Littlejolm and Huskey 
workings. The Littlejolm deposit, near the head of the creek, has been worked over sev- 
eral times 20 or 30 feet wide along the creek. The soil at farther distances shows con- 
siderable monazite on panning, but the distance to water is too great to make recovery 
profitable. At the time of visit Cole Creek was so low that but little washing could be 
done. 
The Huskey placer adjoins to the south, or downstream. The workings here have been 
wider, owing to richer ground and more water. This deposit likewise has been worked 
over several times, giving each time a profitable amount of monazite. Two small branches 
of Cole Creek come in from the west on the Huskey property, and the southern one of 
these has been very rich. 
The Lemon mine, about three-fourths of a mile north-northeast of the Littlejolm, has 
been the most productive deposit in the region. Situated on the forks of a small stream 
at its junction with Cherokee Creek, the workable area is comparatively extensive. Rich 
bars have been found to contain as much as 30 per cent of monazite. 
About a mile still farther northeast, on a small stream running southeast, are the Mag- 
ness, Swafford, Jones, and Sarratt placers, the latter said to be controlled by the Welsbach 
Company. Those are said to have produced well. They arc not being worked at present. 
All these placers are situated practically at the source of the monazite. So-called ledges 
exposed in the stream cuts carry monazite as a constituent of the rock. These ledges, 
which have every appearance of dikes, cut a country rock of greenish-gray garnetiferous 
schist. They consist of quartz, feldspar, and brown biotite, and according to the propor- 
tion of the mica are either light or dark in color. The dark ledges are more common. 
In all cases observed these ledges are intercalated with the surrounding schist. Although 
somewhat crushed, showing a faint augen structure which might class the rock as a gneiss, 
these ledges exhibit plainly the intergrowth of quartz and feldspar characteristic of peg- 
matite dikes, and microscopic evidence is confirmatory. These dikes have already been 
described (pp. 20-22). The monazite occurs as an original constituent of the dikes in 
crystals which usually have well-developed faces and which range in size from microscopic 
to half a centimeter in diameter. 
It is possible that monazite also occurs as an impregnation in the schist near the peg- 
matite dikes, but the writer found no proof of this. An interesting feature in connection 
with these dikes is the presence in them, apparently as an original constituent, of numer- 
ous scales of graphite. So far as known, no apatite has been found associated with the 
monazite in this region. Cerite, a rare-earth silicate, in specific gravity and appearance 
similar to monazite, is said to occur in considerable quantity at some of the mines, and 
being incapable of separation from the monazite by any method yet devised seriously 
affects the value of the product. In a few cases, where the richness and the degree of 
decomposition of the dikes permit, they are worked in the same way as the gravel, being 
washed through a screen and caught in a sluice box; but in general the sticky kaolin 
resulting from the decomposition of the feldspars makes thorough washing and complete 
recovery difficult. 
While the gravel or so:l at some distance from the streams not uncommonly contains as 
high a percentage of monazite as is found in the stream bed on the second and subsequent 
washings, it is in few cases profitable to work such deposits. The mineral from this source, 
however, serves to replenish the supply in the streams, being carried in by the heavy 
rains. That the stream gravels can be worked with profit several times is probably owing 
as much to this fact as to the low recovery of the early washings. 
The region seems to have been pretty thoroughly prospected, and there can be little 
doubt that the richest ground has already been found and exhausted. Mr. M. E. Gettys, 
of Gaffney, is principally interested in these deposits. 
