Mineral Industries and Geology of Certain Areas - Vermont Agency ...

32 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST.
millions of dollars. This, it should be remembered, is largely
net gain, for it has come from the sale of material which, in its
natural condition, had no value, and the removal of this material
from the State has in nowise impoverished it. Somewhat more
of detail will be given in the following pages, but enough has.
been said to show that the mineral interests of Vermont are
sufficiently large to demand attention and such further encouragement
as may he possible.
For convenience, what is to be said concerning the mineral.
industries of the State will be grouped under several heads,
viz: Metallic Products, Useful Minerals, Building and Ornamental
Stone.
METALLIC PRODUCTS.
GOLD—Mining for this has been often attempted in this
State and sometimes successfully, but far more often at a total
loss, and I suppose that this experience will be repeated for a
long time to come. There are evidently now living in the State
men who are ready to be led astray by men who care more to
exploit some bit of property or some pet idea than to know
and niake known the truth. There are those who, having seen
quartz ledges in Colorado or elsewhere which bore gold in pay--
ing quantities, thoughtlessly infer that a ledge in Vermont
which appears to be the same must also bear gold and contain
a fortune for anyone who will work the rock. Such a conclusion
is wholly without foundation and wholly misleading, and
the advice of such persons has often cost those who followed
it both money and labor, the only return for which has been
valuable experience. It is most true that all is not gold that
looks like gold, and it is also true, unfortunately perhaps, that
many of our Vermont rocks contain minerals which resemble
gold, but which are valueless. It is also true that many of our
Vermont rocks contain a small amount of gold, and this is unfortunate
so long as the amount is small, for no mining trap
for catching the unwary is more dangerous or more enticing
than a gold mine which pays a little, but not enough to meet
expenses.
REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. 33
Hence it is very important for those not experts in the matter
that they secure the advice of some competent and disinterested
person before spending labor or money in developing any mme
ral outcrop which may have been discovered. It may not be
out of place to state that it is one of the prescribed duties of
the State Geologist to advise citizens of the State in such matters
without expense, so that there is little need that anyone
go to work unadvisedly.
There are three minerals very frequently found in our rocks
which more or less closely resemble gold, and, as numerous
specimens sent for examination show, these have deceived many
who have come upon them. One of these, iron pyrites, sometimes
called fool's gold, though many who were far from being
worthy of such a title have been misled by it, is yellow and shining;
but it is brighter and much harder than gold and when
lound in crystals, as is often the case, it is in cubes.
Similar, but usually of a deeper shade of yellow and not so
hard, is copper pyrites. This is also harder and brighter than
gold, which is usually not very bright—that is, it is not glistening,
but a dull yellow, and is soft like lead. The third mineral,
and one which has been especially noticed during the past year,
is yellow mica. Small scales of this mineral are often found
scattered through granite, gneiss, or similar rock, or in the
sand which comes from the disintegration of such rock, and it
is not strange that it should be mistaken for gold dust. I have
had many specimens of this yellow mica sent for assay during
the past six months, and a chemist in Boston wrote me not
long since that he had received numerous samples of it from
Vermont parties. It is needless to say that money spent in
paying for assays of mica is wholly thrown away.
The lesson to be learned from all this is that it is never wise
to put time, money, or labor into any mining scheme carelessly
or hastily or without competent and disinterested advice.
There is gold in Vermont. It is widely distributed, but it is,
so far as I know, always in so small amount that the cost of coliecting
it is far greater than the value of the gold obtained.