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

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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.
34 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. C S S.. I believe that there is far more gold to be gotten from the crops which may be raised on Vermont farms, uncertain and discouraging as farming sometimes may be, than can be pounded out of our ledges of quartz or washed from the sands of our streams. If a little of the enthusiasm, money and labor which has in some parts of the State been put into fruitless search for gold had gone into farm improvement during the last fifty years, Vermont would be richer to-day. Even in Colorado or California or elsewhere, gold mining is often a losing business and, while one mine here or there may pay enormously, many more do not. I hope that no one will misunderstand the above remarks. It is not at all my intention to discourage any form of mining which can in any way help in the development of the mineral wealth of the State. On the contrary, I should he most glad to help any citizen to find a really paving deposit of gold or any othei metal. But the chances in most if not all parts of Vermont are so oyer\vhelmingly against success in gold mining that it is only plain duty to hang out the danger signal in order that money may not be put into mines from which it can never be taken out. So far as I am aware active gold mining is now carried on in only two localities, Bridgewater and Readsboro, but thus far with no important results. COPPER.—The only metal at present mined in Vermont, aside from the little gold mining, is copper. This is the only metal which has ever brought much revenue into the State, and this only for a short time apparently, though the present indications are good for future business in two at least of our localities and very likely more. There is no doubt at all as to the very extensive deposits of copper ore in eastern Vermont. The quantitv is very large, but the quality is not as good as could he desired, vet it would seem quite possible to work the larger beds. at a profit so long as copper sells for the prices which have ruled (luring the last three or four years. The Elizabeth mine at South Strafford has been worked in one way or another for more than a century. In the early days copperas, not coppeç Es Is ,. Us ct , 54 u - S Is 0 0 'S 0 C a 0 0 C. C. 0
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