Habersham and Hall counties are the chief seat of the gold mines of Georgia, and its discovery there has been very recent. The search was commenced by a gentleman of the name of Wilhero, and proved eminently successful; deposits of gold were found in the counties mentioned, and discovery followed discovery. In the Cherokee nation, which was separated by the Chestetee river, the indications of gold were not strong, but report exaggerated them, and this unfortunate nation was intruded upon as a common; at one time, about five thousand adventurers were engaged in digging up the face of the country. The owners of the gold lands in Habersham and Hall counties were many of them poor and destitute, and, with the exception of a few deposits, the most valuable tracts were sold to speculators. Many of these have frequently changed owners at increased prices,and four companies have regularly commenced mining operations.[40]
Silver and its ores are not of frequent or extensive occurrence in the United States. Doctor Dana states the curious fact, that a mass three or four inches in diameter, composed principally of native silver in filaments, was found on the top of a wall near Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the surrounding hills are chiefly greenstone. Mercury, which has been found native in Kentucky, occurs more plentifully as a sulphuret in Ohio and the Michigan territory, more particularly on the shores of lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, Detroit river, and Lake Erie, to the mouth of Vermilion river. It occurs in the soil in the form of a black and red sand, but is usually more abundant in banks of fine ferruginous clay. Near the mouth of Vermilion river, it is in the form of a very fine powder, or in grains and small masses, disseminated in clay. It yields by distillation about sixty per cent. of mercury.
Copper, in various forms, is found in the United States, but the ores do not appear to be brought into use. It is not found on the shores of Lake Superior so abundantly as was anticipated; but many specimens of copper ore have been found at different points in the Mississippi valley. Specimens of pure and malleable copper have been obtained; one of which, said to have been found in Illinois, weighed three pounds. Iron ores are abundant in the United States. Those hitherto worked are chiefly the magnetic oxide, brown hematite, and the argillaceous oxide, particularly bog ore. The more important ores are the following, viz.: in New Hampshire, the magnetic oxide; in Vermont, brown hematite and bog ore; in Massachusetts, bog ore; in Rhode Island, brown hematite; in Connecticut, brown hematite and bog ore; in New York, the magnetic, specular, and argillaceous oxides; in New Jersey, the magnetic and argillaceous oxides; in Pennsylvania, and the states south and west, the magnetic oxide, brown hematite, and the argillaceous oxide.
To these may now be added the carbonate of iron, which has recently been successfully smelted, and which produces iron having the carbonaceous impregnation of steel, whence it has been called steel ore. In New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the ore is found in abundance, and of a quality not exceeded in Sweden. The Connecticut and Virginia iron is highly esteemed.
Ores of lead are extensively found in the territories; and in Ohio it is said to have been met with native, forming slips, or slender prismatic masses, in crystallized galena. This mineral is found in various places, from the Arkansas river to the North-West territory, the precise line of the Ozark and Shawnee Mountains, a tract which seems to constitute one of the most important and extensive deposits of lead hitherto known. On the Arkansas, the ore is smelted by the Osage Indians for bullets. To thenorthward, some valuable mines at Prairie du Chien are imperfectly worked by the proprietors of the soil. But the most important mines are those of Cape Girardeau district, commonly known as the lead mines of Missouri. The mining district is situated between two prominent ridges of sandstone which bound the valley of Grand river, or the basin of Potosi. These ridges diverge in their course northward, and are intercepted by the Merameg, which receives the waters of Grand river, and forms a boundary to the mining district in that direction.
In Illinois are the richest lead mines in the world. The district which furnishes the ore, lies in the north-west part, and extends beyond the limits of the state. It comprises a tract of above two hundred miles in extent. The ore is inexhaustible. It lies in beds or horizontal strata, varying in thickness from one inch to several feet. It yields seventy-five per cent. of pure lead. For many years the Indians and hunters were accustomed to dig for the metal; they never penetrated much below the surface, but obtained great quantities of the ore, which they sold to the traders. The public attention was drawn to this quarter, and, from 1826 to 1828, the country was filled with miners, smelters, merchants, speculators, and adventurers. Vast quantities of lead were manufactured; the business was overdone, and the markets nearly destroyed. At present, the business is reviving, and in 1830, there were eight million three hundred and twenty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight pounds of lead made at the mines. The whole quantity obtained, from 1821 to 1830, was forty million eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and sixty pounds. The principal mines are in the neighborhood of Galena.
Coal is found in the United States in great quantities, though the abundance of wood has hitherto impeded the working of the mines to their full capability. The coal found at different localities has been classed by Professor Eaton under the following heads: first, the genuine anthracite, or glance coal, found in the transition argillite, as at Worcester in Massachusetts, and Newport in Rhode Island; also in small quantities in the north and south range of argillites along the bed and banks of the river Hudson. Second, coal destitute of bitumen, usually called anthracite, but differing greatly in its character from the anthracite found in argillite. It may be called anasphaltic coal. This is embraced in slate rock, being the lowest of the lower series of secondary rocks. This coal formation is equivalent to the great coal measures of Europe. The principal localities of this coal are in the state of Pennsylvania; as at Carbondale, Lehigh, Lackawanna, and Wilkesbarre. Third, the proper bituminous coal, as at Tioga and Lyocoming. This coal is embraced in a slate rock, which is the lowest of the series of upper secondary rocks. The fourth formation is the lignite coal, which is found in a very extensive stratum in the state of New Jersey, along the south shore of the Bay of Amboy.
The anthracite of Pennsylvania is found in the Wyoming and Lackawanna valley, situated between the Blue Ridge and the Susquehanna. The coal district is chiefly occupied by mountains which run parallel to the Blue Ridge, and are fifteen hundred feet high. But little of this surface, with the exception of a few narrow valleys, invites cultivation. These mountains are mostly in a wild state, and offer a secure retreat to cougars, wolves, bears, and other animals.
The rocks of the above described region are of a transition class, andpresent little diversity. Gray wacke slate occurs in abundance, loose on the surface and in ledges. It is sometimes based on old red sand-stone, and surmounted by unstratified rock, and aggregate of quartz, pebbles of various dimensions, with a cement principally silicious. In the Blue Ridge, in addition to the above described rock, a silicious gray wacke, resembling fine grained granular quartz, is common. It appears in some places massive, but is often slaty. Its cement is chiefly silicious; some alumine, however, is indicated in its composition.
The beds and veins of anthracite range from north-east to south-west, and may often be traced for a considerable distance by the compass. The veins have the inclination of the adjacent strata of gray wacke, with which they often alternate, usually between twenty and forty-five degrees. In a few places they are horizontal and vertical. The beds and veins of anthracite have narrow strata of dark colored, fine grained, argillaceous schist, for the roof and floor. This slate generally contains sulphuret of iron, and disintegrates on exposure to the air. The sulphates of iron and alumine are often observed in the schist, and it frequently presents impressions of plants and sometimes of marine shells. Impure pulverulent coal is usually connected with this slate, and is said to be a good material for printers’ ink.