PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA FRONTISPIECE-PLATE I .. ~~.,~ i;:~~ ~:. .. ~: .,.. ., ,V: .~. . l\1INE AND COKCENTRA'l'ING PLANT OF THE S'I'ANDARD PYRITES COMPANY, CHEROKEE COUNTY. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA S. W. McCALLIE, State Geologist BULLETIN NO. 33 A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A PART OF THE PRYITES DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA BY H. K. SHEARER and J. P. D. HULL, Assistant State Geologists Atlanta, Ga. INDEX PRINTING COMPANY State Printers 1918 THE ADVISORY BOARD OF THE Geological Survey of Georgia IN THE YEAR 1918 (Ex-Officio) His ExcELLENCY, HUGH l\1. DORSEY ........ Governor of Georgia PRESIDENT OF 'rim BoARD HoN. HENRY B. S'l'RANGE ................... Secretary of State RoN. W. J. SPEER ............................. State Treasurer RoN. W. A. WRIGHT ....................... Comptroller-General RoN. CLIB'FORD WALKER ................... Attorney-General RoN. J. J. BROWN .................. Commissioner of Agriculture HoN. M. L. BRITTAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . Commissioner of Public Schools LETTER OF TRANSMITIAL GEOLOGICAL SuRVEY OF GEORGIA, ATLANTA, MAY 20, 1918. To His Excellency, HuGH M. DORSEY, Governor and President of the Advisory Board of the Geological Survey of Georgia. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of Messrs. .H. K. Shearer and J. P. D. Hull, Assistant State Geologists, on a part of the Pyrite Deposits of Georgia, to be published as Bulletin No. 33, of this Survey. It is confidently expected that the publication of this report at the present time will materially stimulate the production of pyrite, which mineral is now so essential for the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives. I would here add that the Survey is under many obligations to Mr. Fuller E. Callaway, of LaGrange, Georgia, who at the suggestion of Secretary Lane, of the Department of the Interior, has done much toward speeding up the pyrites industry of the State. Very respectfully, S. W. McCALLIE, State Geologist. TABLE OF CONTENTS ADVISORY BOARD ............................... LETTER OF TRANSliiTTAL ....................... TABLE OF CONTENTS ........... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..... , , , INTRODUCTION ..................................... PYRITE ............................... Production and imports ......................................... . Uses .......................................................... . HisTORICAL ............................. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF NORTH GEORGIA ............................ The crystalline area ............................................. . Rock formations .............................................. . Carolina gneiss ............................................. . Roan gneiss ................................................ . Granite ............................................ . .. . Other intrusions ............................................ . Metamorphism ................................................ . Physiography ................................................. . The semi-crystalline area ........................................ . Rock formations .............................................. . Great Smoky formation ..................................... . Igneous rocks ............................................... . Metamorphism ................................................ . Physiography ................................................ . Structure ...................................................... . Geologic history ................................................ . PYRITE DEPOSITS ..................... Type~ of deposits ............................................... . Metamorphosed pyrite veins .................................... . Limestone replacements ........................................ . Pyrrhotite veins .............................................. . Disseminated deposits ......................................... . Distribution of deposits ......................................... . Carroll County belt ............................................ . Draketown district .......................................... .. Villa Rica belt ..................................... Pauliling County belt .................................. Creighton-Dahlonega belt .............................. . PAG-E iii iv v-x xi-vii 1-2 2-6 3-5 5-6 7-8 8-20 8-14 8-12 9-10 10-11 11 11-12 1~ 12-14 14-18 15-16 15-16 16 16-17 11-18 18-19 19-~0 21-224 21-24 21-23 23-24 24 24 24-31 25 26 27 2i-28 28-29 v TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Ducktown district ............................................. . 29 Isolated deposits ......................................... : .... . 31 Description of individual deposits ............................... 31-224 Carroll County ................................................ . 31-62 Hearn-McConnell prospect ................................... . 32-33 Mount Zion prospect ........................................ . 33-35 Cox property ............................................... . 35-38 Reeds Mountain ............................................ . 38-51 General statement ......................................... . 38-39 Topographic relations ..................................... . 39 Geology ................................................. . 40-44 Ore deposits .............................................. . 44-46 Character of ore .......................................... . 46-48 Surface alteration ........................................ . 49-50 Development ............................................. 50-51 Future of the mine ....................................... . 51 M. T. Earnest property ...................................... . 51-52 M. A. Heartley prospect ..................................... . 52-54 J. T. Williams property ..................................... . 5455 J. S. Michael prospect ....................................... . 55 Jenny Stone prospect ....................................... . 55-59 A. C. Watkins prospect ...................................... 59-60 Lasseter prospect ........................................... . 60-61 Askew prospect ............................................. . 61 Other prospects ............................................. . 61-62 T. J. Butler prospect ..................................... . 61 John D. Tarpley property ................................. . 61 J. W. Garrett prospect .................................... . 61-62 J. T. McGuire prospect .................................... . 62 W. H. Wilson prospect .................................... . 62 Sam Bagwell property ..................................... . 62 Hulett ................................................... . 62 Haralson County .............................................. . 62-89 W. T. Raburn property ...................................... . 62-63 W. M. Raburn property ..................................... . 64-65 J. Humphrey property ....................................... . 65-66 Jackson-McBride prospect .................................... 66-68 Tallapoosa (Waldrop) mine ................................. . 68-82 General statement ........................................ 68-71 Topographic relations ..................................... . 71-72 Geology .................................................. . 72 Ore deposits .............................................. . 72-74 Character of ore .......................................... . 74-80 Production 81 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Future of the mine ....................................... . 81-82 Smith-11cCandless prospect ................................... . 82-88 Other prospects ............................................. 88-89 Marvin M. Brown property ................................ . 89 R. Robertson prospect ..................................... 89 W. J. Speight property ... , ................................ . 89 R. F. Pace property ....................................... . 89 J. G. Blackmon property ................................... . 89 Douglas County ............................................... . 89-99 Keaten-Thomas prospect ..................................... . 89-91 Sulphur 2\iining & Railroad Company mine ..................... . 91-98 General statement ......................................... . 91-92 Topographic relations ..................................... . 92 Geology .................................................. . 92-93 Ore deposits and underground workings ..................... . 93-94 Character of ore .......................................... . 94-96 Surface alteration ........................................ . 96-97 Equipment ............................................... . 97 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97-98 Tailings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Other prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98-99 Paulding County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99-136 Swift prospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99-102 Helms prospect .............................................. 102-103 McGarrity prospect .......................................... 104-105 Rush-Banks prospect ......................................... 105-110 Little Bob mine ............................................. 110-122 General statement .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Topographic relations ...................................... 110-112 Geology ................................................... 112-114 Ore deposits and underground workings ...................... 114-116 Character of ore ........................................... 116-120 Equipment and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Production and future of the mine .......................... 121-122 Mammoth prospect ........................................... 122-124 Shirley mine ................................................. 124-129 General statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Topographic relations ...................................... 125-1~6 Geology ................................................... 126-127 Ore deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Character of ore ........................................... 127-128 Development .............................................. 128-129 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Future of the mine 0 129 vii 1'ABLE OF CON1'EN1'S. PAGE Berg prospect ............................................. 130-132 D. Ragsdale prospect ....................................... 132-133 Coggins and Smith prospect ................................. 133-135 Other prospects .............................................. 135-136 S. 0. Brown property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 W. P. Hutcheson property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 C. D. Allgood property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 C. B. McGarity property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 W. W. Hunt and L. A. Moon prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 N S. Vaughn prospect ................... _.................. 136 Cobb County ................................................. 136-143 Marietta mine .............................................. 136-141 General statement ...................................... _.. 136-137 Topographic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Geology ................................................... 137-138 Ore deposits and underground workings ....... _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Character of ore ........................................... 138-139 Equipment ................................................ 139-140 Future of the mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 C. J. Kamper property ....................................... 141-143 Other prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 J. J. Kemp property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 C. G. Wright property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Fulton County ................................................. 143-145 Cash prospect ............................................... 143-145 Cherokee County ............................................... 146-179 Bell-Star mine ............................................... 146-155 General statement .......................................... 146-147 Topographic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Geology ................................................... 147-149 Ore deposits and underground workings ...................... 149-152 Character of ore ........................................... 152-153 Development and future of the mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Rich mine ................................................... 154-160 General statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Topographic relations ............................ : ......... 154-155 Geology ................................................... 155-156 Ore deposit ............................................... 156-157 Character of ore ........................................... 157-159 Future of the mine ........................................ 159-160 Dickerson prospect ........................................... 160-162 Smith prospect .............................................. 162-163 Savilla E. McRae property ................................... 163-164 Standard mine _........... _................................. 164-174 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE General statement ......................................... 164-165 Topographic relations and transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Geology .............................................. 165-169 Ore deposits and underground workings ...................... 169-171 Character of ore ...........................................171-172 Development and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Water power .............................................. 172-174 Production and future of the mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Swift mine .................................................. 174-179 General statement .......................................... 174-175 Topographic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Geology ................................................... 175-176 Ore deposits and underground workings ...................... 176-177 Character of ore ........................................... 177-178 Development and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Future of the mine ........................................ 178-179 Forsyth and Dawson Counties .................................. 179-181 J. W. Thompson property .................................... 179-180 The Church, lot .............................................. 180-181 J. F. Shelton property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Lumpkin County ............................................... 181-201 The Chestatee mine .......................................... 182-198 General statement ......................................... 182-183 Topographic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183-185 Geology ................................................... 185-187 Structure ................................................. 187-189 Ore deposits and underground workings ...................... 189-193 Character of ore .......................................... 193-196 Development and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Water power .............................................. 196-198 Future of the mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Anderson prospect ........................................... 198-199 Other prospects .............................................. 199-200 Southwest of the Chestatee mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Turkey HiU ............................................... 199-200 Summerour property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Moore property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Dahlonega-Ellijay public road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 White County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Danforth property ..................................... , . . . . . 201 Hall and Banks Counties ....................................... 202-204 Habersham County ............................................. 204-205 Panther Creek prospect ...................................... 204-205 Rabun County ................................................. 205-206 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Tom Coward Gap prospect ................................. 205-206 Towns County ....................................... 206-210 Berrong (Johnson Copper) prospect ........................... 207-208 Ivey Mount prospect ......................................... 208-209 Rich Knob prospect ......................................... 209-210 Fannin County ............................................. 210-220 Mine No. 20 ............................................... 210-215 General statement .................................. : .... 210-211 'l'opographic relations ...................................... 211-212 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Ore deposits and underground workings .................... 212-213 Character of ore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Development and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Future of the mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Mobile mine .............................................. 215-216 Phillips prospect .......................................... 216-217 Sally Jane and Jeptha Patterson prospects ..................... 217-218 Mount Pisgah prospect ...................................... 218-220 Floyd County ................................................. 220-221 Patillo property ............................................. 220-221 Lincoln County ................................................ 222-224 Magruder or Seminole mine ................................. 222-224 TNDEX ......... 225-231 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. FACING PAGE Mine and concentrating plant of the Standard Pyrites Company, Cherokee County .................................... Frontispiece A. Tunnel in upper pyrite vein, Reeds Mountain, Haralson County. Shows a 10-foot vein of quartz and pyrite with vertical, slickensided wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 B. Reeds Mountain pyrite mine, Haralson County. Taken in May, 1913, shortly after work was stopped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 A. Central of Georgia Railway cut, where gossan has been mined for iron ore, Reeds Mountain, Haralson County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 B. Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company pyrite mine, Douglas County, showing concentrating plant and dumps of waste rock and tailings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 A. Little Bob pyrite mine, Paulding County. General view, looking southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 B. Little Bob pyrite mine, Paulding County. Close view of beadframe and picking floor ........... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 A. Shirley pyrite mine and concentrating plant, Paulding County. . 124 B. Marietta pyrite mine and concentrating plant, Cobb County .... 124 A. Bell-Star pyrite mine, Cherokee County, showing No. 1 shaft, boiler bouse, and remains of concentrating plant . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 B. Rich mine, Cherokee County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 A. Standard Pyrites Company property, Cherokee County. Explora- tion trench along ' ' East ' ' vein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 B. Swift pyrite mine, Cherokee County, showing boiler house and in- clined shaft, with rectangular stack to aid ventilation . . . . . . . . . 174 A. Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation property, Lumpkin County General view, looking southwest from the dam . . . . . . . 182 B. Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation property, Lumpkin County, showing machine shops and dam ................... 182 A. Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation mine, Lumpkin County, showing loading bins and mouth of haulage level . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 B. Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation property, Lumpkin County, showing power house and bridge over Cbestatee River, 196 FIGURES PAGE 1. Sketch map showing the distribution of ore zones in the Ducktown district . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2. 'l'opograpbic map of a part of the Reeds Mountain property. . . . . . . . . . . . 40 xi PLATE FACING PAGE 3. Plan and section showing the geology in the open cut on the lower pyrite vein, Reeds Mountain property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 4. Topographic sketch map of the Tallapoosa mine, showing outcrops of ore bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 5. Sketch map of Little Bob mine and Mammoth prospects ............... 111 6. Topographic sketch map of Shirley mine and Berg prospects . . . . . . . . . . 125 7. Flow sheet, Marietta Mining Company plant ......................... 140 8. Sketch map showing ore deposits and workings of the BellStar mine . . . . 150 [. Longitudinal section of the Rich mine, showing extent of undergrounu workings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 HL Map of the Swift property and a part of the Standard property, showing mines and pyrite deposits .......................................... 166 11. Standard pyrite deposits. Ore shoots projected on inclined plan in plane of strike and shaft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 12. Flow sheet, Standard Pyrites Company plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 13. Map of the property of the Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation. 1,098 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 14. Topographic map of a part of the Chestatee property and section on line of vein outcrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 15. Structure section along flume from dam to power house, north side of Chestatee River, Chestatee property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 16. Horizontal plan of a gneiss outcrop, illu&trating relations of banding and schistosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 17. Plan and section of underground workings, Chestatee mine, April, 1918, 191 18. Vertical section through inclined shaft at right angles to the strike, show- ing form of deposit, Chestatee mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 19. Flow sheet, Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation plant . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 20. Sketch of north face of pit on Berrong property, showing form and rela- tions of gossan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 MAP 1. Map of northern Georgia showing distribution of pyrite deposits. . . . . . . . 26 xii PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A PART OF THE PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA INTRODUCTION The published information relating to the pyrite and copper deposits of Georgia is very meager. The State Survey first took up the work of preparing a detailed report in 1915, and J. E. Brantly, then Assistant State Geologist, spent about two months in 1915 and 1916 in making an examination of the most important deposits. With the increased demand for pyrite and mining activity in 1917, the work was again taken up by the present Assistant State Geologists, H. K. Shearer and J. P. D. Hull, who spent three and three and one-half months, respectively, in field work. Unless otherwise acknowledged all chemical analyses used in this report were made in the laboratory of the Survey by Dr. Edgar Everhart, acting chemist. This preliminary report is based on the field work already completed, although many of the less important prospects have not yet been examined. It is published at the present time to give information and assistance in stimulating production to supply the immediate need for manufacturing fertilizers and explosives. The deposits are therefore described chiefly from an economic view-point. It is the intention of the Survey to publish a second report in which the less important prospects will be described and the discussion of origin, geology and other features of chiefly scientific interest will be taken up in more detail. The productive capacity of the Georgia mines and concentrating 'plants has be(m increased greatly during the past year or two. In 1916 only two mines reported production. In 1917 five companiesthe Standard Pyrites Company, the Georgia Mining Company, the Shirley Mining Company, the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company, 2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA and the Marietta Mining Company-reported a total production of 23,242 long tons, of which about one-fourth was lump ore. Besides these, the Chestatee Pyrites & Chemical Corporation, the Arizona & Georgia Development Company, and the Southern Pyrites Ore Company, all of which are expected to become important producers during 1918, made small shipments in 1917. There is good reason for believing that during 19'18 thP Georgia pyrite production can be increased to almost ten times thE 1917 rate, provided a little additional capital and a supply of labor can be secured. PYRITE Pyrite is one of our most common minerals. It occurs in small quantities, usually in the form of cubic crystals, in many kinds of rocks, both igneous and sedimentary, but only occasionally is it found in sufficient quantity and purity to be of commercial value. .!\lost of the commercial supply is derived from mineral veins or replacements deposited by hot solutions given off from masses of intrusive igneous rock, and such ores frequently carry also valuable .metals, such as gold, copper, lead and zinc. Pyrite, or iron pyrites, is a disulphide of iron (FeS2), containing theoretically 53.46 per cent sulphur and 46.54 per cent iron. Under the trade name "pyrites" are included various other sulphide minerals, especially marcasite or white iron pyrites (FeS2 ), pyrrhotite or magnetic pyrites (Fe11S12 ), chalcopyrite or copper pyrites (CuFeS2 ), and arsenopyrite or arsenical pyrites (FeAsS). Commercially, pyrites ores are divided in lump ore and fines. The former, as the name suggests, is massive ore, broken into lumps a half inch or more in diameter, and carrying sufficient sulphur (about 40 per cent) to be self burning when heated to the ignition point in a furnace. The fines are in the form of smaller particles resulting from the breaking of the ore in the process of mining or by crushing for the purpose of separating from worthless minerals by some process of mechanical concentration. Even in the fines a large proportion of extremely fine material, or dust, is undesirable, since PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 3 it is carried mechanically into the acid chambers and causes trouble. The fines must be burned in specially designed furnaces with mechanical agitation during burning, so they can not be used interchangeably in plants equipped for burning lump ore, and therefore they bring a slightly lower price than the lump. The percentage of sulphur in the fines depends on the original character of the ore to be concentrated and on the local practice and methods of concentration. Some ores which break readily and concentrate cleanly can be brought to more than 45 per cent sulphur without undue loss of pyrite in the tailings, but with other ores it does not pay to concentrate much more than 40 per cent. Acid manufacturers desire ore of at least 40 per cent grade, and ore that carries less than 35 per cent sulphur is seldom used. At any mine the desirable ratio of concentration depends on the balance between the cost of shipping an additional amount of worthless material and the value of the pyrite wasted with the tailings. Prices for both fines and lump are always quoted per unit of one per cent sulphur per long. ton. After the sulphur is burned out of the ore the cinder may be treated for the extraction of any gold and copper it contains, or may be nodulized and used as iron ore. Zinc, copper and lead in the ore retain a certain amount of sulphur, which will therefore not be available for making acid. Arsenic and antimony are carried over into the acid chambers with the sulphur fumes, and these elements are highly undesirable in acid for most uses. -Carbonaceous matter, which is not present in pyrites except that from coal beds, produces a dark-colored acid, but this is not objectionable for such uses as fertilizer manufacture. PRODUCTION AND IMPORTS The production of pyrite in the United States in 19'16, the latest year for which complete statistics are available, was as follows: 4 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Pyrites produced in the United States ~n 19161 State Quantity (long tons) California Illinois ....................................... . Indiana ...................................... . Ohio ......................................... Virginia ...................................... . Other states a ................................. . 145,762 20,482 772 15,551 148,502 94,487 a Includes Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Production and imports since 1910 have been as follows: Pyrites prodtwed and imported into the United States Year 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 Domestic production (long tons) 241,612 301,4138 350,928 341,338 336,662 394,124 423,556 Imports (long tons) 803,551 1,006,310 970,785 850,592 1,026,617 964,634 1,244,662 In 1916 Georgia ranked seventh in quantity and fifth in value of pyrite production. In 1917 the production was 23,242 tons, an in- ~ crease over that of 1916, but in 1918 a much larger production is expected. Of the 1916 imports about 150,000 tons came from Canada and the remainder, almost 1,100,000 tons, from Spain and Portugal. The Canadian imports may continue to come in, and will probably be increased, but in 1918 the imports from Spain and Portugal will be greatly curtailed. According to an order of the War Trade Board, issued March 23, 1918, the importation of only 125,000 long tons is to be permitted between April 1 and October 1. The monthly ship- ments are to be gradually decreased, and after the latter date it is expected that shipment will be entirely prohibited. Therefore, the deficiency of about 1,000,000 tons must be made up by increased s: 1 U. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources for 1916, p. 421, 1918. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 5 domestic production and by substitution of sulphur, in order to keep up even the normal pre-war production of sulphuric acid. USES The only important use of pyrite is m the manufacture of sulphuric acid. This compound is used in almost all the industries, and its production and price, next after iron and steel production, forms the most reliable barometer of general economic and commercial conditions. Under normal pre-war conditio11s oYer two-thirds of the sulphuric acid produced was used in the manufacture of fertilizers. Under war conditions there is an enormously increased demand, since the acid is used in large quantities in the production of practically all high explosives. The production of sulphuric acid in the ~Cnited States in 1016, expressed in terms of acid of 50 Baume strength, was 6,642.112 short tons, to which must be added 443,332 tons of acid of streugths higher than 66 Baume, not convertible into acid of 60. 0 E the total 1,347,082 tons of 50 B. acid and 92,802 tons of stronger acid were produced as byproducts at zinc and copper smelters. It is estimated that between eight and nine million tons of sulphuric acid will be needed in 1918. The production from smelters may be increased somewhat over the 1916 amount, but building new plants to make acid from the fumes would require large investments and would take a great deal of time. It must also be considered that most of the smelters are in the West, far from the principal markets for acid. Therefore, it is probable that about 7,000,000 tons of acid must be made from pyrite and sulphur. Georgia has a greater number of acid plants than any other State. In 1916 the production reported by thirty plants was 284,447 short tons of 50 B. acid, 44,158 tons of 60 B. acid, and 21,878 tons of 66 B. acid. The following is a list of the acid plants, possibly including one or two not operating in 1918. 6 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Sulphuric acid plants in Georgia Name of piant Town 1. Tennessee Fertilizer Company........................ Albany 2. Empire State Chemical Company ..................... Athens 3. Armour Fertilizer Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta 4. Furman Farm Improvement Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta 5. Morris Fertilizer Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atlanta 6. Swift & Company ................................... Atlanta 7. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company ................. Atlanta 8. &eorgia Chemical Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Augusta 9. Blackshear Manufacturing Company .................. Blackshear 10. Mandeville Mills ................................... Carrollton 11. Georgia Fertilizer Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Columbus 12. Home Mixture Guano Company ....................... Columbus 13. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Columbus 14. Hampton Guano Company ............................ Hampton 15. Swift & Company ................................... LaGrange 16. Cotton States Seed & Fertilizer Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Macon 17. F. S. Royster Guano Company ....................... Macon 18. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Macon 19. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company .................. Newnan 20. Pelham Phosphate Company .......................... Pelham 21. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rome 22. Mutual Fertilizer Company ........................... Savannah 23. Phosphate Mining Company .......................... Savannah 24. Reliance Fertilizer Company .......................... Savannah ~5. Savannah Guano Company ............................ Savannah 26. Southern Fertilizer & Chemical Company .............. Savannah 27. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company .................. Savannah 28. Southern States Phosphate & Fertilizer Company ....... Savannah 29. Georgia Fertilizer & Oil Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valdosta The total capacity of these plants is approximately 418,000 short tons of acid a year. To operate all plants at full capacity would require over 200,000 tons of pyrite a year. Although it is not likely that this amount will be mined in 1918 the necessary rate of production ought to be reached by the end of the year, and Georgia should aim to supply at least its own acid plants with pyrite in 1919. As there is not sufficient lump ore in sight to supply all the plants, the majority of which are equipped with lump burners, it will be necessary for some plants to change their equipment and to burn :fines. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 7 HISTORICAL The discovery and exploration of the Georgia pyrite veins started with the period of gold mining, about 1830. The early gold miners, however, desired only oxidized ores, and as it was found that the deposits of pure pyrite carry little or no gold, and the gold-bearing veins are largely quartz with relatively small amounts of pyrite, little work was done on the larger pyrite deposits. With the discovery of the Ducktown copper deposits in the late forties a period of extensive prospecting commenced, and continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. During this period pits were sunk on almost all showings of pyrite or gossan in the State, and very few pyrite deposits have been discovered since which do not show traces of the work of the old copper prospectors. But in spite of all the prospecting, the only deposits found rich enough in copper to be worked even on a small scale were the No. 20 and Mobile mines in the Ducktown district and the Canton copper mine, Cherokee County. During the twenty years following the Civil War some attempts were made to mine copper, but at that time pyrite was not considered as a source of sulphuric acid. In the early eighties the Georgia Chemical Company of Atlanta erected the first pyrite-burning acid plant in the South, and to supply this plant the present Tallapoosa and Little Bob mines were opened. The Atlanta plant was operated only a few years, and in 1890 the only pyrite-burning plant in the United States was a small one at Natrona, Pennsylvania. About that time the price of Sicilian sulphur rose from $22:00 to $36.00 per ton, and many acid plants were equipped to burn pyrite, but only lump burners were used, and the Spanish ore was imported at such a low price that there was little incentive for developing domestic mines. The first really successful pyrite mine in Georgia was the Villa Rica mine of the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company, which was opened in 1899 and worked almost continuously until 1917. Between 1905 and 1915 the Southern Star, Reeds Mountain, and the Swift mines were worked, but the price of pyrite at that time was too low to make the operations profitable. The Standard mine has been 8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA worked continuously since 1913. The other mines now in operation have been developed since the rise in prices of pyrite due to the European War. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF NORTH GEORGIA Georgia is made up of four geologic provinces: (1) the crystalline area, the rocks of which are chiefly pre-Cambrian and largely igneous; (2) the semi-crystalline or metamorphosed Paleozoic area, of highly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, principally of early Cambrian age: (3) the Paleozoic area, of folded but not highly metamorphosed sediments; and (4) the Coastal Plain area, consisting of flat-lying, largely unconsolidated sediments ranging in age from Cretaceous to Recent. As pyrite deppsits of importance occur only in the first two areas, the others will not be further considered here. THE CRYSTALLINE AREA The area of ancient crystalline rocks in Georgia forms a belt 100 to 150 miles wide, extending from southwest to northeast across the northern part of the State. Southeast of this belt lies the Coastal Plain area of comparatively recent sediments, and to the northwest is the Paleozoic area, comprising the sixteen northwestern counties wholly or in part. ROCK FORMATIONS1 The rock formations of the entire crystalline area of Georgia are essentially the same as those which have been mapped in detail by the U. S. Geological Survey for the Ellijay folio and a number of other folios farther northeast, in North Carolina and Tennessee. The formations, in order of relative age are: (1) Carolina gneiss, (2) Roan gneiss, (3) granite and other intrusives. 1 In the following sections on Rock Formations, Physiography, Structure, and Geologic History, the folios of the Geologic Atlas have been used freely, especially the work of LaForge, Lawrence and Phalen, W. C., Geologic Atlas of the United States, Ellijay folio, No. 187, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1913. In many cases the exact language of these folios is incorporated. PYRITE DEPOSll'S OF GEORGIA 9 Carolina gneiss.-The oldest and most extensive crystallme formation is the Carolina gneiss. The formation is made up of a great series of ~ica schist and gneiss, quartzitic schist, garnet and cyanite schist, schistose conglomerate, and fine-grained granitic gneiss. The rocks of the formation are dominantly light to dark gray in color, and weather to a gray, yellow, or light red sandy soil. Probably the most abundant and characteristic type of rock is a light-colored, strongly banded and cleavable schist or gneiss, composed chiefly of quartz and muscovite, with only minor amounts of biotite and feldspar; but layers of granitic material and veins or lenses of quartz-feldspar-muscovite pegmatite .are of common occurrence. Along the borders of the Roan gneiss areas the Roan and Carolina types are intricately associated, with alternating bands of acid and basic rocks varying from a few inches to a few yards thick, making the drawing of boundary lines impossible except in a generalized way. In Georgia a large part of the Carolina gneiss is certainly sedimentary, and most of it has such character and composition as might have been derived from sedimentary rocks. Because of the intense folding and the general similarity of the rock over a great area, no reliable estimate of the thickness of the formation can be made. The folding has caused repetition of the beds, thus increasing the apparent thickness, but the original thickness must have been very great. The Carolina gneiss is the oldest rock formation in the Appalachian and Piedmont provinces of Georgia. It contains no fossils, has been subjected to more than one period of intense metamorphism, anrl is intruded by all the igneous rocks of the area. Therefore, it may he classed as pre-Cambrian in age, although no correlation with the pn~ Cambrian series of other areas is possible. However, besides the ancient rocks properly classed as Carolina gneiss, the crystalline area includes infolded bands and masses of later sediments, such as the narrow belt extending from a point a few miles west of Atlanta to the South Carolina line north of Toccoa, and the quartzite beds making up Pine Mountain in Meriwether County. These belts include quartzites and limestone evidently of much later age than the surrounding rocks, 10 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OH GEORGIA and are believed to be of early Paleozoic age, in spite of the lack of fossils. The softer rocks have been so much metamorphosed that their appearance approaches that of the Carolina gneiss, a resemblance which makes discrimination very difficult, and no detailed mapping has been undertaken. Roan gneiss.-The Roan gneiss in Georgia forms many lenticular or sheet-like masses enclosed in the Carolina gneiss. They range in thickness from a few feet to hundreds of yards, but extensive masses like that at Roan Mountain, North Carolina, from which the formation derives its name, are probably not to be found in Georgia. Due to the folding, the sheets appear in surface plan as curved bands, at many places dividing into branches. The distribution suggests either beds or sill- and dike-like intrusives. The formation consists of hornblende gneiss and schist and schistose diorite, including bands of hornblende-epidote gneiss, chlorite schist, and biotite schist. 'l'he most common phases consist chiefly of hornblende or hornblende and quartz; although feldspar is abundant in the rock at some localities. The hornblende gneiss also includes many interbanded or interbedded masses of mica gneiss and schist of the same type as the associated Carolina gneiss, but too small to be separately mapped. The hornblendic beds are dark green to black in color, but the more gneissic phases are banded with light-colored layers of quartz and feldspar. Weathering and decomposition produce a characteristic dark red or chocolate-brown clayey soil. An intermediate stage of weathering is represented by porous, punky, brick-red material, with a tendency to break into rectangular blocks. Such weathered hornblende rock has been appropriately named "brick-bat" by the gold miners of the Dahlonega district. The Roan gneiss is believed to be dominantly of igneous origin, and intrusive into the Carolina gneiss. The mineral constituents have been entirely rearranged and recrystallized during metamorphism, but the original rock types may have been diorite, gabbro, or andesite. It is remarkable that intrusion should take place in such PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 11 long and narrow dikes, but the distribution may be explained in part by extensive lava flows. Another possibility to be considered is that the hornblende gneiss may represent, at least in part, highly metamorphosed sedimentary beds of impure limestone or calcareous shale. Such metamorphism is possible, as shown in the Grenville district, Canada, where it is said that "under the influence of invading granite, limestone in some places has been changed into an amphibolite, practically indistinguishable from that produced by the dynamic alteration of intrusive bodies of gabbro found in the same district."' The age of the Roan gneiss is almost as great as that of the Carolina gneiss, since both have undergone about the same amount of metamorphism. The Roan gneiss belts are economically important, because they ~arry most of the pyrite, as well as the gold deposits, of the crystalline area. Granite.-There are many granite masses in the crystalline area of Georgia, varying in extent from narrow strips and small patches to areas extending across many counties. Aside from the granitic phases of the Carolina gneiss, the granites are younger and intrusive into both the Carolina and Roan gneisses. The granite masses, however, differ greatly in character and in relative age, as indicated by the degree of metamorphism. Some, such as the Stone .Mountain mass, are massive and show practically no effects of pressure, others are extremely gneissic. The probable range in age of intrusion is from pre-Cambrian to late Paleozoic. The granites are not known to contain any pyrite deposits, but many important deposits occur within a fraction of a mile of the borders of some of the large granite masses. Therefore, a genetic relationship may be inferred. Other intrusives.-There are several other types of intrusive rocks in the crystalline area besides the granites, but they have no apparent relation to the pyrite deposits. The most important are: olivinebearing rocks, pyroxenite, dunite and soapstone, associated with the 1 Adams and Barlow, quoted by Van Hise, C. R. and Leith, C. K., Pre-Cambrian geology of North America: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 360, p. 474, 1909. 12 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Roan gneiss and probably of the same age; pegmatite veins or dikes, probably formed during the periods of granite intrusions; and diabase dikes, which cut all other formations, are not metamorphosed, and were intruded at a comparatively recent period. METAMORPHISM Most of the rocks of the crystalline area have been so intensely metamorphosed that their original character and relations are obscured. Practically all of the minerals now present were recrystallized under great pressure, which caused the flattened and elongated minerals, such as mica, chlorite, and hornblende, to form with their longer dimensions parallel, and the ease of fracture both between the grains and along the crystal cleavages within them produces schistosity. The perfection of the schistosity depends on the proportion of original material capable of recrystallization into the platy minerals. Thus fine-grained sedimentary rocks, such as shales, produce highly cleavable schists, while granite or quartzite masses may undergo the same pressure with little change in character. The Carolina and Roan gneisses show evidence of at least two periods of metamorphism. The first produced complete recrystallization and parallel arrangement of the mineral grains; the second bent and distorted the existing mineral grains and cleavage planes, and where sufficiently intense it developed a secondary or false cleavage crossing that already present. The granite masses, as a rule, show much less evidence of metamorphism. Some have evidently never been altered, others show only one period of metamorphism. PHYSIOGRAPHY The area of crystalline rocks in Georgia includes parts of both the Piedmont Plateau and Appalachian Mountain divisions of the Appalachian physiographic province. There is no marked geologic difference between these physiographic divisions, as the rock formations pass unbroken from the Piedmont Plateau up the Blue Ridge escarpment and across the mountainous belt. PYRITE DEPOSI1'S OF GEORGIA 13 The greater part of the crystalline area in Georgia is included in the Piedmont Plateau. This is a dissected .peneplain having an altitude from 1,500 to 1,900 feet along the foot of the Blue Ridge escarpment, and sloping gently southeastward to the edge of the Coastal Plain, where the altitude is about 500 feet. The larger rivers have cut their valleys several hundred feet below the level of the old peneplain; and there are occasional monadnocks of more resistant rock, such as Yonah, Stone, and Kennesaw mountains, which were never reduced to the level of the original plain, and still rise 500 feet or more above its surface. Locally, as in northern Paulding County and along the Tallulah and Tugaloo valleys, the topography is rugged and broken, with steep slopes and narrow valleys, but over much of the Piedmont the elevations are softened and rounded so that almost all the land is arable. The drainage of the Piedmont flows into the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico through the Savannah, Ogeechee, Apalachicola and Mobile systems. The larger streams within the Piedmont area have fairly uniform grades, but a great deal of water power can be developed by means of storage dams. The most favorable situations for power plants are near the foot of the mountains and along the Fall Line, at which points the stream grades are steeper than in the intervening area. The entire Piedmont area is well populated and supplied with railroads so that few points are as much as 20 miles from rail transportation.. The building of railroads to any point presents no great difficulty. Very few hard-surfaced wagon roads have been built outside the vicinity of Atlanta, and the clay and top soil roads, while very good in dry weather, are almost impassible for heavy traffic in winter. The portion of the crystalline area of Georgia included in t.he Appalachian Mountains division takes in the three northeastern counties, Rabun, Towns, and Union, together with parts of several other counties, and extends about 35 miles south of the State line into Pickens County. This area includes a part of the Blue Ridge, which 14 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA is the divide between the 'l'ennessee-Mississippi drainage basin and the rivers flowing more directly into the Gulf and the Atlantic. The southeast slope of the ridge, throughout most of its extent in Georgia, is a steep escarpment leading down to the Piedmont Plateau. The crest of the ridge varies for the most part between 3,000 and 4,000 feet in altitude, culminating in Rabun Bald, 4,717 feet. Northwest of the ridge there is no definite escarpment, but the whole surface is mountainous, with irregular peaks and masses of mountains rising to about the same height as the Blue Ridge summits, and separated by deep, narrow valleys. Brasstown Bald, 4,768 feet, the highest summit in Georgia, is several miles north of the divide. The Appalachian Mountains area, as a whole, is sparsely settled, because the only localities suitable for cultivation are the narrow valleys north of the Blue Ridge. Two railroads, the Marietta and Etowah line of the Louisville & Nashville system, and the Tallulah Falls Railroad, cross the divide, but the area about 50 miles wide between these lines is not supplied with railroad transportation, and construction would be difficult and expensive. Therefore, the development of mineral deposits is limited. THE SEMI-CRYSTALLINE AREA The semi-crystalline rocks of Georgia form a belt from 2 to 30 miles in width along the northwestern margin of the crystalline area. These rocks belong to the Ocoee group of Safford,1 and were long regarded as of Algonkian age. However, fossils of Lower Cambrian age are found as far down as the middle of this group of strata in Tennessee and North Carolina, and the strata below the fossil-bearing beds are conformable and not materially different in character. Therefore, on evidence gathered principally in the Nantahala, Knoxville, Mount Guyot, Asheville, and Roan Mountain quadrangles in Tennessee and North Carolina, the entire group is now assigned to the Cambrian. 1 Safford, J. M., Geology of Tennessee, 1869. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 15 ROCK FORMATIONS The formations of the semi-crystalline area, as mapped in the Ellijay folio, the only quadrangle in Georgia where they have been studied in detail, are as follows: (1) Great Smoky formation; (2) Nantahala slate; (3) Tusquitee quartzite; (4) Brasstown schist; (5) Valleytown formation; (6) Murphy marble; (7) Andrews schist; and (8) Nottely quartzite. Of these the Great Smoky formation covers the greatest area and is the only one in which pyrite deposits are known to occur, so the others need not be discussed here. Great Smoky formation.-In the Ellijay quadrangle the Great Smoky formation contains a variety of rocks, including conglomerate, graywacke, sandstone, quartzite, slate, mica schist, garnet schist, graphitic schist, staurolite gneiss, and biotite gneiss. The formation also contains limestone beds or lentils, seen underground in some of the Ducktown copper mines, although not exposed at the surface. The entire formation is of sedimentary origin, but some of the graywacke has been reconstructed by metamorphism into the semblance of igneous rock. The Great Smoky formation shows a decided change in character from northeast to southwest within the Ellijay quadrangle. Near the Tennessee and North Carolina line conglomerates and other coarse sediments form prominent members, but south of Ellijay the sediments were originally finer grained, and have been more intensely metamorphosed. Southwest of this quadrangle intensely metamorphosed, fine-grained sediments are even more prominent. Several of the higher formations of the Ocoee group disappear toward the southwest within the Ellijay quadrangle. In the Suwanee quadrangle, adjoining the Ellijay on the south, the Murphy marble is still prominent, and is extensively quarried at Tate, but farther southwest the entire Ocoee group is uniformly heterogeneous in character, without any distinctive and persistent beds. Therefore, all may be assigned to the Great Smoky formation, at least until detailed mapping is undertaken. 16 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA The thickness of the Great Smoky formation is estimated by La Forge to be 6,000 to 6,500 feet in the Ellijay quadrangle. Southwestward the belt of outcrop narrows, and the formation may become somewhat thinner, but it is evidently of great thickness where it crosses the Alabama line, from Polk, Haralson, and Carroll counties, Georgia. Igne01ts rocks.-Masses of igneous rock, intrusive into the metamorphosed Paleozoic, are few and scattered, although quartz veins are abundant. In the northwestern part of the Ellijay quadrangle are several dikes of gabbro-like rock which may be genetically related to the Ducktown copper deposits. Similar dikes occur in the Dalton quadrangle, but none are definitely known farther southwest. The Corbin granite mass in Bartow and Cherokee counties is surrounded by metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks, but is older, and probably formed an island at the beginning of Cambrian deposition. METAMORPHISM The rocks of the Ocoee group in Georgia have been greatly metamorphosed, and most of the less resistant beds have been entirely recrystallized. Even in the more quartzitic phases secondary s~ricite has been developed in sufficient quantity to produce schistosity. The beds of graywacke, which were deposited with many unaltered mineral grains from igneous rocks, have been recrystallized, so that nearly all trace of sedimentary origin is lost. The originally clayey and shaly sediments have gone over almost entirely into mica and chlorite. The development of secondary, porphyritic crystals of staurolite, garnet and biotite is characteristic of some beds. Such crystals wer11 formed while the rock was still under great pressure, but after movement had ceased, so they do not show the dimensional parallelism of the schistose minerals. _\s with the Carolina gneiss, some of the Great Smoky rocks show evidence of two periods of dynamic metamorphism. The first produced schistosity and obliterated almost all trace of bedding planes. The second bent and wrinkled the original planes of schistosity and PrRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 17 locally produced a secondary or false cleavage crossing the original cleavage. Along the eastern margin of the Great Smoky area, and especially southwest of the Ellijay quadrangle, the metamorphism has been especially intense, and the Paleozoic rock is represented by coarse mica schist of almost the same character as the Carolina gneiss with which it is in contact. Where conglomerate beds at the base of the Great Smoky formation and igneous intrusives in the Carolina gneiss are absent the contact can only be drawn as an arbitrary line; and it is probable that Paleozoic beds of considerable extent occur in the northwestern part of the area classed as Carolina gneiss. PHYSIOGRAPHY The semi-crystalline, like the crystalline area, indudes parts of both the Piedmont Plateau- and Appalachian Mountains physiographic divisions, bnt its northwestern border, the Cartersville fault, is the boundary of the Appalachian Valley physiographic division, which is underlain by little-metamorphosed Palezoic rocks. The semi-crystalline area of the Piedmont Plateau includes the most rugged portions of that division. '!'he resistant rocks of the Great Smoky formation in Polk and Haralson counties form Dugdown Mountain, the divide between the Tallapoosa and Coosa drainage systems, with a steep northward-facing escarpment more than 300 feet high. The area for some miles southeast of a line from Rockmart through Cartersville to Fairmount has very broken topography, and includes Pine Log and Sharp Top mountains. In the Appalachian ::\Iountains division the semi-crystalline rocks, chiefly of the Great Smoky formation, make up the Cohutta Mountains and the small part of the Blue Ridge northwest of the tmvn of Blue Ridge, reaching a maximum elevation in Georgia in Cowpen Mountain, 4,137 feet. The mountains of the semi-crystalline area are, therefore, almost as high, and fully as rugged, as those of the crystalline area. \Vest of the Cohutta Mountains is an escarpment 18 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA more than 2,000 feet high, sloping abruptly down to the Appalachian Valley, without any intervening piedmont area. This mountain area is sparsely settled and without railroads, but two lines of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad pass along the valleys to the east and west. STRUCTURE The crystalline and semi-crystalline areas of Georgia have the common types of Appalachian structure, characterized by folding and faulting on a large scale. At several periods great pressure acted from the old continental mass which existed at the southeast, crumpling the originally horizontal beds into folds of all magnitudes, varying from plications of microscopic size to great anticlines and synclines hundreds of miles in length. Where the stress became too great for the rocks to yield by folding they parted along planes parallel to the axes of the folds, and great thicknesses of rock were thrust northwestward over the younger formations. The movement along single fault planes may be measured by miles, and the total shortening of the earth's crust in this area must have amounted to many miles. In the area of Paleozoic rocks the structure can generally be determined by tracing distinctive beds. Most of the folds are so closely compressed that the strata on both limbs are nearly parallel, and the attitude of the beds is nearly vertical. Many folds are overturned, so that all strata dip to the southeast. The fault planes also dip to the southeast, and the faults of greatest throw have very low angles of dip.' The Cartersville fault, marking the northwestern boundary of the semi-crystalline area, extends over 100 miles across Georgia and far into Alabama and Tennessee. Several important faults, of which the Murphy and Whitestone faults are the longest, occur near the line between the crystalline and semi-crystalline areas. In the crystalline area the folding and faulting has certainly been 1 Chamberlin, R. T. and Miller, IV. Z., Low angle faulting Jour Geol vol 26 no. 1, pp. 1-44, 1918. , PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 19 as great as in the Paleozoic, but it has been found impossible to work out the structure in so much detail on account of the large, irregular masses of igneous rock, lack of distinctive sedimentary beds, and prevalence of metamorphic structures. The prevailing dip of the schistosity and banding is southeast, generally at high angles,-30 to 90. There arc, however, some areas of many square miles where the dip is to the northeast, due to warping or cross-folding of the original structures. Dips to northwest or southwest are unusual. GEOLOGIC HISTORY' The earliest event recorded in the crystalline rocks of Georgia is the deposition of the sediments now forming a part of the Carolina gneiss. The source of the material is not known. A long period of deposition was followed by uplift of the land and intrusion of the granitic material of the Carolina gneiss and the basic rocks now forming the Roan gneiss. One or more periods of intense metamorphism occurred in pre-Cambrian time, and the periods of erosion lasted until deep-seated igneous rocks were exposed. Early in Cambrian time the Appalachian region sank and the sea intruded from the northwest, while a continental mass remained at the southeast, probably extending far beyond the present Atlantic Coast line. Deposition started with beds of gravel and sand, then under changing conditions alternating deposits, which have smce been changed to conglomerate, sandstone or quartzite, shale, slate or schist, and limestone or marble, were laid down. The maximum extent of the early Cambrian sea to the southeast can not be determined, but it is probable that the greater part of the present crystalline area was under water. In later Cambrian time the shore line probably withdrew to the northwest, as there is no record of depo,;I t,; later than Lower Cambrian east of the Appalachian Valley. Periods of uplift took place in the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian periods, during which the earlier metamorphic structures in the semi-crystalline rocks were produced. 1 Ellijay folio No. 187, L". s. GeoL SurveY, 1~1R. 20 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA During most of the Paleozoic time after the early Cambrian the history of the crystalline area is a blank, except for the intrusion of igneous rocks. The time of intrusion is not certainly known, but there is reason to believe that some of the large granite masses and associated pegmatite veins are of Carboniferous age. The gold and pyrite veins of the crystalline area occur along the borders of the granite masses, and were evidently deposited by solutions given off from the cooling magmas. Internal evidence in the ores also points to the conclusion that the deposits were formed after the first great period or periods of regional metamorphism, but before the postCarboniferous disturbance. The Ducktown copper deposits, replacing limestones of Cambrian age, may therefore have been formed at approximately the same time as the ore deposits in the older crystalline rocks. Near the close of the Carboniferous period uplift and compression were renewed, the force, as in earlier periods, acting from the southeast. During this period of metamorphism the rocks were evidently not so deeply buried as previously. Therefore the development of cleavage and other metamorphic structures was not so profound, but the stress was relieved by the formation of the close folds and great faults now visible. This deformation resulted in the final withdrawal of the sea from the entire Appalachian province and the upheaval of a great mountain system. The Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras were uneventful in the crystalline area, except for the intrusion of diabase dikes and possibly some granite masses, which have no apparent relation to ore deposits. Periods of quiescence and uplift with warping caused the formatibn and dissection of several peneplains, thus controlling the present topography, but the metamorphic effects recorded in the rocks are slight. The most important event was the formation, in pre-Cretaceous time, of the Cumberland peneplain, whose remnants now make up the Piedmont Plateau; and the subsequent uplift and dissection of this plain. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 21 PYRITE DEPOSITS TYPES OF DEPOSITS The pyrite deposits of Georgia show great variations in character of ore and associated rocks. It is believed that all may be classified under four general types, as follows: (1) metamorphosed pyrite veins, generally associated with Roan gneiss; (2) limestone replacements (Ducktown type); (3) pyrrhotite veins; and (4) disseminated deposits in basic rocks. Deposits of the first two types only are known to be of commercial importance. METAMORPHOSED PYRITE VEINS Most of the commercially important pyrite deposits outside the Ducktown area are of the metamorphosed vein type. 'l'he principal area of distribution is along a belt about 10 miles wide and 150 miles long, extending northeast across the State from Carroll to Rabun County; but a few isolated deposits occur outside this belt. The deposits near Bremen, Villa Rica, Hiram, Marietta, Creighton, and Dahlonega, all belong to this class; and those of Towns and Rabun counties are apparently of the same character, although they have not been studied enough to warrant definite statements. These pyrite deposits are associated with the gold-bearing belts,' but as the workable pyrite deposits are much less numerous than the gold deposits, the belts can not be mapped so continuously. The distribution is not quite the same, since some of the best pyrite deposits occur in the area between the Dahlonega and Carroll County gold belts, as mapped by Jones. It has also been found that the richest gold veins consist of quartz with very little pyrite, but the massive pyrite veins carry little or no gold. The association of pyrite deposits with the hornblendic rock of the Roan gneiss formation is notable. All of the deposits of this type 1 Yeates, W. S., McCallie, S. W., and King, F. P., Preliminary report on a part 0f the gold deposits of Georgia: Geol. Survey of Ga. Bull. 4-A, 542 pp., 1896. GaJ.onBeusl,l. S. P., Second 19, 283 pp., report 1909. on the gold deposits of Georgia: Geol. Survey of 22 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA which have been worked are in belts of Roan gneiss, although the immediate wall rock of the veins may be biotite or chlorite schist. Some of these belts, with workable pyrite deposits at intervals, extend for a number of miles and are locally known as ''pyrite leads,'' which term is used in this report. Outcrops are not common in the Piedmont area, so the surface indications are belts of dark red soil and "brick-bat." Although occurring in the belts of hornblende gneiss, the pyrite deposits are generally within a fraction of a mile of the border of one of the intrusive masses of granite gneiss. Thus, a number of the most important deposits of both gold and pyrite are found along the northwest border of a great mass of granite gneiss which extends almost continuously from the vicinity of Villa Rica, Carroll County, northeastward to Rabun County. The deposits of this type appear to have been formed as simple veins or along sheared zones, with more or less replacement of the wall rock. On account of the subsequent crushing and re-crystallization the typical vein structures, such as crustification, banding, and open cavities have almost entirely disappeared, and the deposits have been crushed into approximate conformity with the schistosity of the wall rock. The principal vein mineral is pyrite, with pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and magnetite in suborqinate quantities, where present at all. The most abundant gangue minerals are quartz, chlorite, calcite, and garnet. Although calcite is abundant at some places, both in the veins and in the wall rock, no limestone has been found in any of these deposits, and the heavy calcium-bearing silicate minerals which indjcate limestone replacement are lacking. The hornblende gneiss at some places, notably near Hiram, is interbedded with quartzitic sericite schists of undoubted sedimentary or1gm. The relations are obscure, but in such areas the igneous origin of the Roan gneiss is very doubtful. The composition of the gneiss is such that it could have been formed by metamorphism of beds of calcareous shale. The age of the deposits can not be determined very definitely. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 23 Both pyrite and gold-quartz veins must have been deposited by solutions given off at different stages during the cooling of the intrusive granite magmas. The granites range in age from pre-Cambrian to late Paleozok and the masses with which most of the pyrite deposits are associated appear to be of comparatively late age, although they have been rendered gneissic by the post-Carboniferous uplift, the last period of great regional metamorphism. It is thought that extensive intrusion of granite took place during the Carboniferous period, which may be assigned as the most probable age of the pyrite de- posits. LIMESTONE REPLACEMENTS Limestone replacement deposits in Georgia occur only in the metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks (Great Smoky formation), and include those of the Ducktown area, the Tallapoosa mine, and probably the Rich mine. The genesis of the Ducktown ores has been discussed by Emmons and Laney.' Briefly, the ores consist of pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, bornite, specularite, magnetite, actinolite, calcite, tremolite, quartz, pyroxene, garnet, zoisite, chlorite, mica, graphite, titanite, and feldspar. The texture of ore, relation to country rock, and association of minerals indicate replacement of limestone by magmatic waters at considerable depth, and remnants of crystalized limestone are found in some of the mines. The rocks were apparently intensely metamorphosed before the period of mineralization, but some deformation has occurred since. Therefore the deposits must have been formed Home time between the close of the Cambrian period and the post-Carboniferous uplift, and their age may be about the same as that of the pyrite veins of the crystalline area. At the Tallapoosa mine the ore replaces limestone, some of which remains in the deposit. 'l'he underground workings of the Rich mine could not be examined, but limestone occurs in the vicinity, and the / Emmons, W. H. and Laney, F. B., Preliminary report on the mineral deposits o Ducktown, Tennessee: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 470, pp. 161-172, 1911. 24 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA deposit is probably a replacement. These deposits occur in rocks of about the same age as the Ducktown deposits, but the type of ore is quite different, being made up largely of pyrite instead of pyrrhotite. PYRRHOTITE VEINS Small veins of pyrrhotite, or pyrrhotite and quartz, occur at a number of places in the metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks. The largest known is the Panther Creek prospect, Habersham County, in the belt of Paleozoic rocks extending northeast from Atlanta. Others occur in Pickens and Gilmer counties, near Whitestone and Cherrylog. These have no apparent commercial value, since all deposits are small, and the sulphur content of pyrrhotite is so low that it will probably not be in demand as long as pyrite is available. DISSEMINATED DEPOSITS The belt of pyrite-bearing hornblende, epidote and chlorite gneiss m Hall and Banks counties belongs to a type which can only be classified as disseminated deposits in basic rocks. Rock of similar character has been found in eastern White County. 'rhese belts contain great masses of rock with perhaps 10 per cent pyrite, but they are not likely to be worked while pyrite can be obtained from richer deposits. DISTRIBUTION OF DEPOSITS The pyrite deposits of Georgia occur principally in one irregular belt across the State, but for purpose of description the best prospects and active mines may be grouped partly according to geographic position and partly according to geologic relation, in six districts, namely : (1) the Carroll County belt, (2) the Draketown district, (3) the Villa Rica belt, (4) the Paulding County belt, (5) the Creighton-Dahlonega belt, and (6) the Ducktown district. There are also a few isolated deposits outside these districts. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 25 CARROLL COUNTY BELT The Carroll County pyrite belt is an irregular area about 8 miles wide and 24 miles long, extending from southwestern Carroll County northeastward across a part of Haralson County and terminating near Temple. This belt contains one well-defined pyrite lead about 20 miles long, passing 2 miles east of Bowdon, through Burwell and Mount Zion to Reeds Mountain. Outside of this main lead, the belt includes the Hearn-l\IcConnell prospect in the northwestern part of the county, and the Heartley and Barnest properties near Mandeville, which seem to form the southern termination of a broken lead including Vines :Mountain in Haralson County and some small prospects near Temple. The whole area has a rolling and hilly topography and is well drained by southerly and southwesterly branches to Tallapoosa River. The pyrite deposits occur in hornblende schist and gneiss or in the more altered schists characterized by mica, chlorite, and sericite. The pyrite deposits of these basic formations are genetically associated with acidic intrusions, such as small pegmatite and granite dikes or more extensive granitic masses. Granite gneiss intrusions occur with the Reeds Mountain deposits, and 'yithin a mile west of the Mount Zion prospect granite gneiss and pegmatite are exposedthe latter cutting across the schistosity of the country rock. On the northwest side of the main lead and parallel to it a broad belt of pegmatitic and gray mica gneiss extends from Waco, Haralson County, to Bowdon. Within 2 miles southeast of the Vines Mountain prospects, there is an area of gray granite gneiss similar to the Villa Rica granite. In general, therefore, the rocks of the Carroll County belt include a country rock of gray Carolina gneiss or schist with narrow belts of basic hornblende schists containing the pyrite deposits and in proximity to acidic igneus masses-both being cut by pegmatite dikes. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA DRAKETOWN DISTRICT The Draketown pyrite district is 10 miles long and 5 miles wide, extending from the vicinity of Draketown, Haralson County, northeastward a few miles beyond Yorkville, Paulding County. The principal lead occupies the northwestern part of this area and is marked by many prospects, chief of which are the Tallapoosa, Smith-McCandless, and Rush-Banks. The southeastern part of the district includes the Swift prospect and several others, notably the Helms prospect, northeast of Embry, but it is not certain that these form a definite lead. The topography of the district varies from gently rolling to sharply dissected. In the southern part, Tallapoosa River flows westward and in the northern part, Pumpkinvine Creek flows toward the northeast. Two types of pyrite deposits occur in the Draketown district, the limestone-replacement deposit illustrated in the Tallapoosa mine, and the deposits associated with Roan gneiss illustrated in all the other deposits. The red clay loam of the hornblende gneiss is also a feature of the Tallapoosa deposit, but this ore body is the only one in the district where limestone has been observed. The western lead follows the general line of contact between metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks and the ancient crystalline formations. It is clearly marked by the red soil strip of decomposed hornblende schist, immediately flanked in many places by garnetiferous schist and at a short distance by magnetitic and manganiferous quartzite. These narrow parallel strips are especiaU-v well seen at the SmithMcCandless prospect. The rocks between Draketown and the Swift property show scarcely any sedimentary characteristics. They are largely metamorphic basic rocks resembling diorite and producing a broad area of red clay loam. The Draketown district is made up of one definite pyrite lead in the western part following the hornblende schist and the border of the metamorphosed sediments, and more isolated deposits in the eastern part, which are also in hornblende and chlorite schist. 83" L N A .:I MAP OF NORTHERN GEORGIA SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF PYRITE DEPOSITS Base Map by the U. S. Geological Survey Scale 1:1,000,000 1 inch-approximately 16 miles I. Carroll County Belt 2. Draketown D istrict 3. Vilfa Rica Bell 4. Pauldiog County Bell S. Creigbtoo.Dahlonega Belt 6. Ducktown District e PYRIT E MINES x PYRITE PROSPECTS PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 27 VILLA RICA BELT The Villa Rica pyrite belt is one distinct lead 5 miles long and a few hundred yards wide, extending from Little Tallapoosa River, 3 miles west of Villa Rica, Carroll County, northeastward in a gently curving arc north of Old Villa Rica and a mile or more beyond the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company mine in Douglas County. This belt has been prospected at frequent intervals along its whole length. Besides the mine of the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company, the most promising prospect is the Jenny Stone. The rolling surface of the belt is drained toward the southwest by Little Tallapoosa River and toward the northeast by Sweetwater Creek. The ore deposits are in a narrow formation of hornblende schist and gneiss near the contact with biotite granite gneiss, which forms a large and distinct mass, extending several miles eastward. There is also a granitic area bordering the hornblendic formation on the northwest. At either end of the pyrite lead, the ore gradually gives way to richly garnetiferous schist. The close contact of the pyritiferous basic rock with the acidic mass of the Villa Rica belt shows as clearly as in any of the pyrite districts the influence of the igneous rock in the genesis of the ores. PAULDING COUNTY BELT The Paulding County pyrite belt covers an area 8 miles long and 2 miles wide. The southwestern end is half way between Hiram and Dallas in Paulding County and the northeastern end is south of Lost Mountain in Cobb County. The belt is made up of two smaller belts as defined by the different prospect leads. The western belt contains the Shirley, Liberty, and Coggins and Smith properties. The eastern belt is the longer of the two and includes the Little Bob mine, Mammoth prospect and, farther toward the northeast, the Ragsdale and other prospects south of Lost Mountain. The area is hilly and drained toward the southeast by Powder Spring Creek and its branches. The Paulding County belt follows the red soil of the altered 28 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Roan gneiss formation, of which the chief members are hornblende, mica, chlorite, sericite and epidote schists. Quartzite with hornblende needles and calcite crystals is common, and the sedimentary appearance of parts of the formation is pronounced. South of the Little Bob mine, garnet schist is abundant and seems to form the termination of the pyrite deposit. Within a mile either side of the pyrite bellt there are masses of granite gneiss, and still nearer the ore deposits there are small granitic bodies interbanded with the schists. Both Hiram and Dallas are in areas of granite gneiss. CREIGHTON-DAHLONEGA BELT The Creighton-Dahlonega belt is the name given to a pyritiferous zone 4 miles wide in places and at least 60 miles long, stretching in a northeast direction from Holly Springs, Cherokee County, across the northwest corner of Forsyth County, through Dawson County east of Dawsonville, Lumpkin County east of Dahlonega, and into White County north of Cleveland. This long belt is more or less continuous, but it includes several pyrite leads and different types of deposits. It is identical with part of the Dahlonega gold belt but is not so extensive. At Creighton, Cherokee County, the Swift prospect and the Standard mine are northwest of the Franklin gold mine; in Dawson County, the pyrite prospects are largely identical with gold prospects; and in Lumpkin County the pyrite lead passes east of the Dahlonega gold fields. As a rule, the workable gold occurs with quartz stringers in mica schist, without profitable amounts of pyrite, whereas the workable pyrite deposits generally occur in hornblende schist with little or no gold. Several of the pyrite deposits at the southern end of the Creighton-Dahlonega belt are in metamorphosed Paleozoic schists. The Rich mine, one mile south of Canton, Cherokee County, is in a limestone-replacement deposit, but because of its geographical proximity to the Creighton deposits in hornblende gneiss it has been grouped with them. Along the eastern side of the belt, lies a large mass of granite gneiss which strongly suggests the origin of the ore to be PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 29 from rich mineral solutions of the igneous mass. 'rhis acid gneiss is exposed within a mile of the Standard mine at Ceeighton, Cherokee County, and the Chestatee mine in Lumpkin County, and is distinctive as marking the eastern boundary of the whole basic belt of Roan gneiss. In the metamorphic Paleozoic formation, particularly at the Rich mine, are garnet, cyanite, carbonaceous, and calcareous schists asSO ciated with the more common mica schists. The greater portion of the belt, however, is composed of ancient crystalline mica schists, also associated with garnetiferous members, enclosing the hornblendic pyrite-bearing belt at the contru~t with the granite gneiss. DUCKTOWN DISTRICT The deposits of the Ducktown District are included in an area 6 miles long and 4 miles wide. The greater part of the belt is in Tennessee, but it extends about 2 miles into Fannin County, Georgia. The No. 20 and Mobile deposits are the most important in the Georgia part of the district. 'l'he 1\'Iount Pisgah prospect, though only a few miles from the others, is of a different type and can not properly be included in the Ducktown District. The deposits occur in several leads, representing replacements of one or more limestone beds infolded with the graywacke and mica schist which form the country rock. The distribution is shown in figure 1, reproduced from the report by Emmons and Laney', and extended to include the Georgia deposits. 1 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 470, p. 162, 1910. 30 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA N ,'J Boyd / ,, Culchofe TENNESSEE GEORGIA POI..K. COUNTY FANNIN COUNTY Sally Jane,./.! _/'l'flne flo. eo D Graywcke d schi&t Nobile If'' )' Sturolitic bed.s 0 3000 bOOO SCFILE IN FEET Fig. 1. Sketch map showing the distribution of ore zones in the Ducktown district. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 31 ISOLATED DEPOSITS Several pyrite deposits of importance that could not be included in any of the districts or belts are here grouped as isolated deposits. 'l'he 1\Iarietta mine, 3 miles south of Marietta, Cobb County, is in a red soil area of Roan gneiss not far distant from a biotite granite mass. The Bell-Star mine, Cherokee Count~-, has a geologic position similar to the Draketown deposits, practieally on the border between the crystalline mass and the metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks. There is no granite in the immediate vicinity, but hornblende gneiss was found underground. Another resemblance to Draketown is the presence of a belt of maganiferous magnetite-quartzite parallel to the pyrite vein. The Seminole deposit, on the border of Wilkes and Lincoln counties, 12 miles northeast of Washington, Wilkes County, occurs in diabasic dikes cutting gray mica schist. This mine, formerly known as the Magruder mine, was not visited by the writers, but has been described in other bulletins1 The Cash prospect, about a mile south of Ben Hill, Fulton County, is associated with a basic intrusive in a large granite gneiss area. The Ivey Mount and Berrong prospects in Towns County are on a small isolated lead about 2 miles long and, unlike most other deposits of the State, they occur in an area of Carolina gneiss and no hornblende gneiss nor granite has been found in the vicinity. The pyrrhotite veins and disseminated pyrite deposits are irregularly distributed and do not follow any of the principal pyrite belts. DESCRIPTIONS OF INDIVIDUAL DEPOSITS CARROLL COUNTY Carroll County lies entirely in the crystalline area of the Piedmont Plateau. Pyrite deposits distributed over the northwestern part of of1 GJones, S. P., Second report on the gold deposit~ of Georgia. Geol. Survey 2 2 5 B~ata .s oBn,ullT. . 19, L., p p. 248-254, 1909. The Seminole copper deposits of Georgia. U. S. Geol. Survey . ' pp. 182-186, 1903. 32 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA the county are included in the large and irregular Carroll County pyrite belt. The Villa Rica belt, made up of a line of deposits along a single lead, extends about 5 miles into the northeastern corner of this county. The important Reeds Mountain deposit is on the northern line of Carroll County, and lies partly in Haralson. HEARNMcCONNELL PROSPECT (Map locality C-1) In the northwestern part of Carroll County, 8 or 9 miles northwest of Bowdon and approximately the same distance from Burwell, is the Hearn-McConnell pyrite prospect. Its location by the land survey is lot 40, 9th. district, 5th. section. This property belongs to Mrs. George King, R. F. D. No. 2, Waco, Georgia, who has given an option to J. A. Hearn, of Burwell, and Thomas M. McConnell, of Bowdon. Exploration work was done sometime in the seventies and options have been held by a number of people. The prospect shaft is at the foot of a steep, wooded hill on the east side of Little Indian Creek, about 200 feet south of the public road a mile west of Kansas, and 7 miles in an air-line north-northwest of Bowdon. It is a small vertical ~ening 27 feet deep in greenishgray chloritic schist which strikes N.50oE and dips 50oSE. The geologic structure in this vicinity is very irregular; the schistosity shows extreme variations indicative of great disturbance. The pyrite schist is exposed along a distance of 25 feet in the nose of the hill around which the stream bottom curves, cutting off any evidence of a lead in either direction. Similar to many other prospects, the Hearn-McConnell shaft at the time visited was full of water; ore previously raised, however, is of good lump and milling character. The former consists of fine particles of pyrite with minor quartz and chlorite cementing material; the latter includes both fine and coarse-grained concentrating ore. The analysis of lump and fines together taken from the dump shows PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 33 good quality, the quantity in the deposit is uncertain. It is reported that a thickness of 3 feet of good ore was cut by the shaft. Analysis of pyrite ore from the Hearn-JrlcConnell prospect (Hu-188) Silica (SiO,) and insoluble.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pcrrir oxide (Fe,O,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l\Ioisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite ( FeS,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.78 1.12 .07 61.76 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.73 Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copper (Cu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gold (Au) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silwr (Ag) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.18 32.48 .00 .00 .00 Further work on this property has doubtless been discouraged by the unpromising extent of the ore body. The Bowdon Railway, either at Bowdon or at Burwell, is more than 8 miles distant by a road which crosses several rather deep stream valleys. MOUNT ZION PROSPECT (Jlap locality C-2) The Mount Zion pyrite prospect, otherwise known as the Crawford prospect, is on lot 235, lOth district, northwestern part of Carroll County. lHonnt Zion Postoffice is half a mile west-southwest, and the station on the Bowdon Railway is about the same distance south. The agricultural rights belong to JHrs. W. J. Crawford, of Tallapoosa, Georgia, but the mineral rights belong to Ruff, Hartsock & Company, of Atlanta, and W. L. Tumlin, of Tallapoosa. It has been known for several years that pyrite occurred on this property but very little exploration was done until 1917. At that time a 20-foot shaft was dug and other openings were made along the east side of a small branch flowing northward into Little Turkey Creek. At this point Little Turkey Creek is sharply diverted from its natural southwest trend and for a mile cuts directly across the 34 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA schistosity; it then joins Turkey Creek northwest of Mount Zion and the main south-southwest drainage is resumed. The low divide which separates the Turkey Creek system on the west from the Buck Creek system on the east, conforms to the schistosity of the rock and the strike of the pyrite deposits, extending from Reeds Mountain southwestward past Mount Zion and beyond Bowdon. Of the many small prospects that have been examined along this lead southwest of Reeds Mountain, the Mount Zion prospect seems the most favorable. The rock containing the pyrite is well exposed where it makes a little waterfall in the branch 50 or 60 feet south of the shaft. The rock is greenish-gray chloritic schist, somewhat crinkled, striking N.l0E., with a dip 55SE., parallel to the general schistosity. A thickness of 5 feet at this point seems to represent the best part of the vein; it is lean milling ore. The west side, or foot wall, of this lean ore is concealed by the stream ; but the east side, or hanging wall, poorly exposed in the stream bank, is micaceous schist more than 5 feet thick, whose rusty surface decomposition indicates a small content of sulphide. Dark, hornblendic, finely banded gneiss, so characteristic of the pyritiferous red soil belts in the State, is exposed in a number of places on the hanging wall side. No ore was available from the shaft which was choked with debris, but representative specimens from the vein where it crosses the branch show small, somewhat distorted crystals of pyrite, ranging from -:l-2 to 1j8 inch, and rather uniformly scattered through a gangue of quartz, chlorite, biotite, garnet, and magnetite. The material is schistose and readily crushed. Slightly more than 16 per cent of this ore is pyrite. Analysis of milling ore frorn the Monnt Zion pyrite prospect (Hu-234) Silicia (Si02) and insoluble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferrie oxide (l'e 20 3 ) Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite (FeS,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.01 8.20 .12 16.46 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96.79 PYRITE DEPOSI1'S OF GEORGIA 35 Iron (Fe) ........................................ . Sulphur (S) ...................................... . Copper (Cu) ..................................... . Gold (A.u) ....................................... . Silver (Ag) ...................................... . 13.40 8.80 .00 .00 .00 The ore lead has been prospected on the Orawford property along a distance of 300 yards, southwest from the bend in Little Turkey Creek. No outcrops of gossan have been found to indicate anything but a very low gradl~ ore. COX PROPERTY (Map locality C-3) A. H. Cox, of Bremen, owns in fee simple 197 acres of land, be sides the mineral rights on 13 acres more, situated in lots 260, 276, and 277, 7th. district, 5th. section, Carroll County. The property lies about a mile southwest of Reeds Mountain, and includes nearly a mile of the pyrite lead of that deposit, measured along the strike. The types of rock found on the Cox property include weathered granitic gneiss, coarse mica schist or gneiss, fine-grained quartzsericite schist, chlorite schist, and garnetiferous hornblende gneiss, the latter probably a metamorphosed diorite. The details of the structural geology could not be determined without a great deal of underground work. However, the pyrite lead, consisting of chlorite, hornblende, and quartz-sericite schists, all impregnated with pyrite, crosses the property in a direction approximately N.30E., with an average dip of 45 SE. 'rhe line of strike carries the beds directly through Reeds Mountain. On the Cox property the resistant beds of the pyrite-bearing formations form a ridge locally known as Mandeville Mountain. On this property no true veins of pyrite have been discovered, but large masses of schist are impregnated with pyrite in small and more or less scattered crystals. Most of this material contains such a small percentage of pyrite that it could not be worked even at the 36 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA present war price, but there are portions rich enough to be classed as low grade concentrating ore. There are a few fragments of ironrich gossan which appear to have been derived from pyrite ore of higher grade, but the source could not be located. The best exposure on the property is in a trench along the course of a small branch, 300 yards northeast of the Cox residence and in the south-central part of lot 260. The average strike of the cleavage and banding is N.35E., and dip 40SE. The section from northwest to southeast is as follows, the measurements being horizontal distances: Section in trench on Cox property Feet 1. Sericite schist containing a little pyrite, and cut by veinlets of quartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 2. Hard quartz-sericite schist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 3. Hornblende-quartz schist, with minute scattered pyrite crystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4. Weathered material, apparently derived from granitic gneiss, without pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5. Concealed interval .............. :-: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 6. Chlorite, biotite and quartz schist with disseminated pyrite, some layers a few inches thick being rich enough to make good ore. The lower part contains more pyrite, the upper part is more chloritic and contains larger but more scattered pyrite crystals. . . . 60 A sample (S-323) was taken from the lower 5 feet of unit 6 of the preceding section. This represents the richest part of the exposure, and consists of a green chloritic schist with abundant pyrite cubes, mostly measuring less than ls inch. This shows that there is some material present which may be classed as ore, but requiring 4 to 1 concentration. As the grade is so low, a deposit much more than 5 feet thick must be found before work on a commercial scale can be undertaken. The complete analysis is as follows: PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 37 Analysis of pytite ore from Cox property ( S-3.'23) Constituents Soluble in aqua regia Insoluble i Silica (SiO,) and insoluble ............. Silica (SiO,) ...........................! Alun~ina _(Al,O,: ....................... I Ferne oxille (Fe,O:;) ................... . }fagnesia (lVIgO) ....................... 1 Lime (CaO) .......................... . Soda (Na,O) .......... . I1 I Potash (K,O) .. }[oisture ............................. 1 'ritanium dioxide (TiO,) ............... . I Manganous oxiYhich would afford space for a siding and loading station. Like Reeds Mountain, this property is situated near the summit of 38 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA a divide, so that water supply for working would have to be obtained from small branches, or piped more than a mile from 'furkey Creek. In conclusion, it may be stated that, while no deposits of pyrite ore of workable size and quality have been discovered on the property, the indications are favorable enough to warrant further prospecting. REEDS MOUNTAIN (Map locality 0-4) General statement.-The Reeds Mountain property consists of lot 246 (202% acres), 7th. district, 5th. section, Haralson County, and 165 acres, more or less, of lot 259, 7th. district, 5th. section, Carroll County, including all of the lot except 37% acres in the southeast c:;orner. The Chattanooga and Griffin line of the Central of Georgia Railway runs through both lots, crossing the outcrop of at least one of the pyrite veins. The nearest town and postoffice is Bremen, Haralson County, population 890 by the 1910 census, situated at the crossing of the Central of Georgia and Southern railways, 1% miles northwest of Reeds Mountain. The mineral rights on the property are owned by Dr. M. K. Phillips, Bremen, Georgia, and Joseph Kingsbury, Forth Worth, Texas; and leased by the Southern Pyrites Ore Company, 78 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Cheston King is president and :B'red S. Wilson, general manager. The first work done on the property was by citizens of Carroll County (The Carrollton Mining Company), who sank a 60-foot vertical shaft near the southwest corner of lot 259, some time before the Civil War. At that time the Ducktown deposits had just been discovered, and prospecting for copper was being carried on wherever showings of pyrite or gossan could be found. This work was stopped by the war in 1861. Except for a little prospecting, the next work reported on Reeds Mountain was done about 1900, when B. F. A. Saylor and Robert PrlliTE DEI'OSITS OP GEORGU PLA1'E 1l A. TUNNEL IN MIDDLE PYRITE VEIN. REEDS MOUNTAIN, HARALSON COUNTY. SHOWS A 10-FOOT VEIN OF QUARTZ AND PYR!!~----~!~-- ~~_TJCAL, B. REEDS MOUNTAIN PYRITE MINE. HARALSON COUN'l'Y. TAKEN IN MAY, 1913, SHORTLY AFTER WORK WAS STOPPED. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 39 Munford worked the gossan iron ore. It is said that about 100 carloads were shipped. About 1910 the Reeds Mountain Mining Company, Fred S. Wilson, manager, took a lease on the property, and worked it four years, during which time about 4,000 tons of pyrite concentrates were shipped. This company is the only one that has ever shipped pyrite ore from the property. In 1915 Armour & Company took an option and sank a shaft 175 feet deep, but shipped no ore. In 1916 an option was let to D. S. Walraven, Fred S. Wilson and J. B. Gunter, who organized the Southern Pyrites Ore Company, to which the lease was transferred. Topographic relations.-According to U. S. Geological Survey topographic map of the Tallapoosa quadrangle, Reeds Mountain has an altitude of a little over 1600 feet', rising about 300 feet above the average level of the surrounding country. The elevation is due largely to the superior resistance of the quartzitic schist beds which make up a large part of the mountain. The situation is on the divide between Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa rivers, and the mountain is the highest point in an area of several counties, so that a number of streams which head near its base flow away from it in various directions. Therefore, if any large supply of water is needed, it must be piped from some distance down the stream which heads at the mine. The railroad passes along the base of the mountain on the west side, 150 feet below the summit. (See topographic sketch, fig. 2). The pyrite veins cross under the railroad, continue northeast across the hollow on the southwest side of the mountain, where most of the mining has been done, and on through the mountain a little southeast of the summit. 1 This is a reconnaisance map, and is very inaccurately drawn in the vicinity of Bremen. The summit of the mountain is shown at least a mile too far from the Central of Georgia Railway, and the county line is incorrectly located. 40 GEOLO GI CA L S UR VE Y OF' GEORGI A N 1 0 100 t:OO ~0 w. OO ~00 SC~LE IN FEET, F ig. 2. Topogmphic map of a part of the Reeds Mountain property. Geology.-The pyrite lead, which may be traced from Reeds Mountain southwest across Car roll County, is marked by a belt of dark r ed soil derived from hornblende schists and gneisses of the Roan gneiss seri es, but the geology is very complicated in detail. The best pyrite ore occurs as veins or lenses consisting principally of pyrite, quartz, and chlorite. The immediate wall rock of tbe veins is made up of various t ypes of quartzose sericite schist, chlorite schist, and biotite schist. These rocks contain more or less pyrite in disseminated crystals for a distance of several hundred feet across the str ike. The walls of the so-called veins are not sharp, but there ar e all gradations between ore with more than 60 per cent pyrite a.nd schist with only a few scatt er ed pyrite crystals. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 41 Hornblende schist occurs in narrow bands within the pyrite-bearing formation and in more extensive masses to the northwest. The hornblende schist near the pyrite veins contains small garnets, but very little pyrite. There are two known exposures of granitic gneiss; one in the rail- road cut near the public road crossing, and one in the open cut west of the power house. The material in both these exposures is much weathered, but it may be seen that the original rock was a light colored muscovite granite gneiss, consisting"! principally of feldspar and mica. The best sections showing geologic structure are in the railroad cuts northwest of shaft No. 2 and in the open cut along a small branch, starting in the large cut on the lower vein west of shaft No. 1 and extending across the middle vein. The section along the railroad from a point opposite No. 2 shaft northwest to the public road crossing, is given below. The average strike of the schistosity is about N.30E., and the distances stated are horizontal measurements. Section in cuts of Central of Georgia Railway Feet 14. Weathered quartz-sericite schist, containing small py- rite cubes, now altered to limonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 13. Quartz-sericite schist, harder and more quartzose than unit 14. The pyrite crystals in the outcrop, however, are all altered to limonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 12. Iron ore gossan of pyrite vein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11. Hard quartz-sericite schist, like unit 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 10. Softer quartz-sericite schist, with limonite pseudomorphs after small pyrite crystals, like unit 14...... 20 9. Concealed interval between the two cuts. . . . . . . . . . . . 33 8. Fine-grained quartz-sericite schist, hard, almost fresh, and barren of pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 7. Softer mica and chlorite schist, limonitic where weathered, apparently contained disseminated pyrite.... 60 6. Mica or chlorite schist, softer than unit 7, limonitic weathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5. Coarse, gnarly mica schist, probably a fault or shear zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4.. Porous, limonitic material, derived from weathering of hornblende schist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 42 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA 3. Quartzitic and mica schist, varying from hard to soft, not limonitic where weathered, and evidently barren of pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 2. Light-colored, porous, spotted kaolinic material, ap parently a weathered granite gneiss................ 40 1. Concealed interval to public road....... . ........... 82 900 The geology and structure in the large open cut west of the power house is shown in detail in fig. 3. In this cut the beds are broken by 0 10 20 l!O '1-0 50 SCA L.E IN FEET \P 6hoft #1 mllllllrl1nlnlllln!! CmIiJc/aon~.scA"i.'s"t' STRUGTURESECTION ON L.INE A-BC ~Coaru,to:~ ~ 6chist tt!OII.J fou/f Chlorif~ schist Fig. 3. Plan and section showing the geology in the open cut on the lower pyrite vein, Reeds Mountain property. two thrust faults at small angles to the cleavage, one of which brings a mass of weathered granitic gneiss into close proximity with the pyrite vein. The amount of throw of the faults can not be estimated. Between this cut, which is on the lower vein, and the cut on the middle vein is a mass of chlorite and quartz-sericite schists, about 200 feet thick across the cleavage, almost barren of pyrite, but locally containing good crystals of cyanite. In the cut starting northwest of the middle vein the section is as follows: PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 43 Section in cut from middle vein to tramway Feet 15. Weathered chlorite schist, evidently contained some pyrite when fresh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200+ 14. Quartz and pyrite vein, 'containing probably 25 per cent of pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 13. Soft green chlorite schist, containing a small percent- age of pyrite in disseminated crystals. . . . . . . . . . . . 75 12. Hanging wall of middle pyrite vein; quartz-sericite schist with numerous l-inch quartz veins parallel to the schistosity. As a whole, probably contains 5 per cent of pyrite in small crystals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 11. ''Middle vein,'' of pyrite and quartz with some laminae of chlorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 10. Foot wall of the pyrite vein; a thin layer of coarse, soft mica schist, apparently a slickensided zone along a fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 9. Weathered chlorite schist containing little pyrite... . . . 21 8. Hard, barren lens of quartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 7. Chlorite schist with pyrite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6. Quartz and pyrite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5. Chlorite schist, barren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. 5 4. Chlorite schist with pyrite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. 5 3. Chlorite schist, barren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 5 2. Chlorite schist with pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J . i5 1. Coarse, blue-green chlorite schist, barren. . . . . . . . . . . . ~ The schistosity of the beds measured in the preceding section strikes approximately N.30E., and the dip ranges from 60SE. to vertical. The drainage cut in which the section was measured is almost at right angles to the strike, and the measurements are hori- zontal distances. From the lower end of the drainage cut to the open cut on the upper vein, a distance of about 300 feet across the cleavage, there are no exposures. The upper vein is similar to the others, consisting of quartz and pyrite with some chlorite. The vein strikes N.20"E.; dips 80SE. The west or foot wall is hard, banded hornblende gneiss with small garnets. Fresh specimens of this rock are found on the dump at shaft No. 4. The hanging wall of the vein, shown in the drainage cut to the west, is chloritic and quartzitic schist, some of which contains considerable pyrite. 44 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Throughout the pyrite-bearing area on the property the strike of the schistosity is fairly uniform to the northeast, with dips to the southeast, although the beds are broken by several faults, as previously mentioned. In the cut west of the power house the angle of dip is small, but at other places it is steep, approaching vertical where the middle and upper veins are exposed in the open cuts. The only decided variations from the normal strike and dip are in two of the iron ore pits. The pit southwest of the railroad shows the top of a small, southward pitching anticline in the weathered pyrite vein material. The east limb of this anticline strikes N.40E. and dips 55SE., conformable with the general trend in the area. The west limb, or overturned side, strikes N.60W. and dips 40SW. This is probably only a local fold. .At the iron ore pit on the south slope of the mountain, above shaft No. 3, the strike is northwest and the dip southwest, almost perpendicular to the normal direction. This variation may be due to slump or to local folding. Ore deposits.-The pyrite ore occurs in three distinct bodies of workable size which may, for convenience, be called veins. These bodies are not true fissure veins, however, as they show none of the typical vein structures. They have been metamorphosed along with the country rock, and are conformable with the schistosity of the latter, while the ore minerals are the same as those of the country rock, except for the larger proportion of pyrite. The northwestern or lower vein is exposed in the large open cut west of the power house, and is cut by shaft No. 1. The total known length, from the shaft to the west end of the cut, is 200 feet. Not much greater length than this can be estimated for the body, as there is no indication that it crosses the railroad, and there is no showing of gossan by which it can be traced northeast of the shaft. The thickness shown in the cut is 10 to 12 feet of milling ore. In the west end of the cut the dip is only 15 to the southeast, but in the east end it increases to 50. .A fault passes along the southeast corner of the cut, striking N.70E., and dipping 50SE. The fault plane dips steeper than the ore body, and may be expected to cut it off at a depth of several hundred feet. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 45 The middle vein shows up for a greater distance on the surface than either of the others. It crosl':>es the public road at the southwest corner of the map, but here the weathered material indicates that the vein is thin and of low grade. Some good gossan iron ore was taken from a small pit 350 feet southwest of shaft No. 2, and from this pit to the railroad the vein can be traced continuously by float gossan. Starting at the railroad the high grade gossan has been worked out for iron ore, through the hill to Shaft No. 2 and down the slope parallel to the old tramway. This trench is about 10 feet deep and 300 feet long, and the high grade gossan suitable for iron ore has a thickness of 10 feet, besides which there is a considerable amount of siliceous gossan which should run down into concentrating pyrite ore. From the lower end of the cut there is a showing vf gossan down to the point where the open cut on the vein crosses the branch. Beyond this, to the northeast, the vein can not be traced. The total known length of this vein, from the pit southwest of the railroad to the cut in the branch, is 750 feet. The thickness of the main vein in the open cut in the branch is from 9 to 10 feet, and there is another vein just below it which will probably be workable to some extent. The underground workings at shaft No. 2 dre not accessible, but it is reported that the thickness of milling ore is 20 feet or more. The upper vein is explored for a distance a little more than 300 feet, from shaft No. 3 to the end of the tunnel leading southwest from the cut in the branch, and it can be traced but little farther by surface showing. The vein worked, all good milling ore, is 10 feet thick. The strike of the veins converges slightly northeastward, but none of them can be traced continuously to the iron ore pits on the south and east slopes of the mountain. At one of these pits thr strike and dip are abnormal, but from the farther pit, on the east slope, the vein strikes toward the deposits worked. It can not be stated with certainty to which of the three veins these gossan deposits belong. 46 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Neither is it certain that there are three separate veins, as there may be only one or two repeated by folding or faulting. Character of ore.-The ore from all of the veins is similar in character. It consists of granular quartz and pyrite with bands or laminae or light green chlorite. At some places the ore consists almost entirely of pyrite and chlorite, at other localities the chlorite is entirel! absent. The proportion of pyrite ranges from almost nothing in some of the country rock to over two-thirds by weight in the best vein material, but in the three veins which have been worked it would be difficult to select a sample containing less than 20 per cent of pyrite. Garnet and cyanite, which are abundant in some of the wall rock, are not present in the richer ore. Although the deposits of ore rich enough for working have a tabular form, they are not true fissure veins. The ore is characterized by absence of all common vein structures, such as crustification, banding, and open cavities or vugs. The texture is compact and evengrained, such cleavage and banding as are present being produced by the parallel orientation of chlorite crystals. At most places the walls of the deposits are indefinite, as the country rock is largely made up of the same minerals as the ore, except for the higher content of chlorite and mica and lower content of pyrite. However, the foot wall of the middle vein is marked by a selvage of coarsely crystalline schist, apparently a sort of fault gouge, and the wall rock contains almost no pyrite. The upper vein also has a sharp contact with the hornblende rock which forms the foot wall. The ore has an even, medium granular texture. In the best ore, that from the middle vein at shaft No. 2, there are pyrite crystals showing cleavage faces a quarter of an inch across, but the average size of the crystals is about one-sixteenth inch, and there are few very fine, dust-like grains. The leaner ore tends to be more finely granular than the richer. The quartz, which forms the principal gangue mineral, is also granular, with the average size of grain little larger than the pyrite. The pyrite shows very little tendency toward arrangement in bands. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 47 The chlorite in the ore is of a clear apple-green color, which might be mistaken for copper stain, but none of the analyses show even a trace of copper. The chlorite is arranged in bands and lenses, with the long axes of the scales parallel, giving a distinct schistosity to the ore where present in any considerable quantity. The richest ore, however, contains very little chlorite. The schistosity and evenly granular texture of the ore make it easy to crush and concentrate, and the pyrite readily breaks free from the gangue, so that very fine crushing would be unnecessary. When even very slightly affected by weathering, as in the open cut workings, the ore is so friable that it may be crushed with the hands and concentrated by panning. All available analyses of ore from Reeds Mountain are given in the following table, including average samples from the three veins and complete analyses of the concentrates and richer ore. 48 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analyses of pyrite ore from Reeds Mountain S-301 S-304 I II S-306 i, No. 1 No. 2 1 No.3 I I -----~~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' ~oluble I I I Soluble I Constituents maqua In j in aqua [ In. regia soluble I regia soluble \----1-- I I I 1------- SiO, & insol.. . 1 Si02 ' 0. Al,03 0 Fe,o. 0. MgO ......... UaO ......... i Na,O ........ K,O ......... Moisture 0 0 TiO, 0 MnO ......... PeS, 0 5.19 .... 1 4.21 .00 .00 .20 .04 90.05 Total. .... 99.69 .... 1 3.90 .86/ .32 1 tr .00 .00 .00 .10 21.44 .... '1 I 5-.2~ 1 .07 .00 .13 .10 67.32 5.18 100.33 22-.S~ I 2.17 .72 .12 .00 .14 .78 .38 14.68 o I ;.~~I I . ... i .37 49.06 .36 64.50 2.80 60.64 .53 27.15 ... I 20.73' 50.69 30.53 39.40 --- ------- 96.87 100.11 96.83 100.57 Pe 0 s 0 p ............ Cu ........... As .......... Pb 0 Zn .......... Bi .......... 44.85 48.14 .027 .00 35.02 35.99 .035 .00 10.41 23.84 11.08 27.10 I .... 1 .--~~I .00 .00 ... I I .00 .00 1 .00 16.17 16.32 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 18.71 21.06 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 S-301. Concentrates secured by panning soft ore from the lower vein in the open cut west of the power house. Concentrated about two to one. S-304. Sample of the rich ore on the dump at shaft No. 2, middle vein. S-306. Average sample from the middle vein at the end of the tunnel leading northeast from the open cut south of the power house. The sample is not truly representative, as the depth is only 15 feet from the surface, and the richer portion of the ore is weathered. No. 1. Sample from the upper vein, in the open cut south of shafts Nos. 3 and 4. Collected by J. E. Brantly. No. 2. Sample from the middle vein, taken at both ends of the exposure in the open cut south of the power house. Collected by J. E. Brantly. No. 3. Samyle from the lower vein, taken across 12 feet of milling ore at the tunnel entrance, northeast corner of the large cut west of the power house. Collected by J. E. Brantly. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 49 Surface alteration.-The vein material at the surface is entirely altered to gossan, by oxidation and leaching out of the sulphur. The gossan deposits on this property are among the best and most extensive in the State, and several thousand tons of the material have been shipped as iron ore. In general the grade of the pyrite ore below may be judged by the percentage of iron in the gossan, but the quality of the latter depends to a certain extent on topographic and drainage features, as it may be enriched by leaching out of silica and redeposition of iron. The high grade gossan is highly porous and of a blue to purplish red color, consisting principally of a mixture of hematite and limonite. Practically all of the sulphur and a large part of the silica, which is found in even the righest pyrite ore, have disappeared. At a depth of about 10 feet, however, the material usually becomes too siliceous for use as iron ore. From good iron ore, with over 50 per cent metallic iron, the gossan passes through siliceous phases containing much weathered mica and chlorite, derived from the leaner ore, to schist with only limonite pseudomorphs after pyrite crystals, or cavities left by leaching out of both sulphur and iron. Below are given complete analyses of two samples of gossan, which illustrate the change which takes place in the ore on weathering, and two partial analyses of the iron ore shipped. , 50 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analyses of gossan from Reeds Mountain Constituents S-302 S-303 No.4 No.5 Silica (SiO,) .................... . Alumina (Al,O,) ................ . Ferric oxide (Fe,O,) ............. . Ferrous oxide (FeO) .............. ' Magnesia (MgO) ................ . Lime (CaO) ..................... , Soda (Na,O) ..................... Potash (K,O) .................... ! Ignition ........................ . Moisture ........................ . Titanium dioxide (TiO,) ......... . Phosphorus pentoxide (P,O,) ...... ; Sulphur (S) ..................... . Manganous oxide (MnO) ......... . Gold (Au) ...................... . 14.56 2.32 70.40 1.23 .02 .02 .00 .00 8.02 1.70 1.92 .12 .14 .00 .00 Total. ....................... 1 100.45 ! Metallic iron (Fe) ............... : 50.20 Phosphorus (P) ................. 1 .05 61.64 11.82 14.54 1.65 .02 .03 .37 1.19 6.56 .57 .75 .16 .38 .15 71.11 83.31 .7 .7 .163 .271 99.83 11.45 56.73 I .o7 .3 58.27 .3 S-302. Gossan iron ore, average sample across 10-foot exposure in Central of Georgia Railway cut. S-303. Siliceous and mieaceous gossan, average sample from rock forming walls of the high grade gossan vein in Central of Georgia Railway cut. Nos. 4 and 5. Samples of iron ore mined by B. F. A. Saylor. The gossan represented by sample S-302 is derived from the richer ore, of such character as sample S-304 (see p. 48). Sample S-303 represents a much leaner pyrite ore, probably like sample S-306. Development.-Although some 4000 tons of concentrates have been shipped from the property, deve1opment work has hardly been carried beyond the prospecting stage. Apparently most of the ore shipped came from the three open cuts and short tunnels leading from them. The deepest working is shaft No. 3, sunk by Armour & Company in 1914. This is said to be 175 feet, but no stoping was done there. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 51 All of the old machinery was removed with the exception of two boilers. The Southern Pyrites Ore Company now (April, 1918) has crushing machinery, jigs, and tables ordered and partly on the ground for a plant which is expected to handle 50 tons of ore a day. Mining operations are to be started at once. Future of the mine.-In the present condition of the workings, any estimate of tonnage must be considered little more than a guess. The total distance along the strike between exposures of gossan rich enough to be used for iron ore is 2400 feet. Assuming that one continuous vein of ore 10 feet thick will be found throughout this distance, the volume is 2,400,000 cubic feet in each 100 feet down the dip. The average grade of the ore, as indicated by the analyses of samples from various exposures, is somewhat over 30 per cent pyrite, and will require 3 to 1 concentration. Pyrite, making up one-third the weight of the ore, occupies only about one-fifth of the volume, on account of its higher specific gravity. Therefore, 2,400,000 cubic feet of ore would carry 480,000 cubic feet, or 68,000 tons of pure pyrite, allowing 7 cubic feet to the long ton. The above estimate is well within the probable limit, for, while the vein outcrops can not be traced continuously, there are known to be three veins of the assumed thickness and quality throughout a part of the distance. The greatest explored depth is 175 feet, but on account of the character of the deposit and the great length of the outcrop, the depth may be considered indefinite, and it is safe to assume that at least 1000 feet could be worked. It is believed that the Reeds Mountain deposit is of workable size and quality, and if developed on a large scale it could add considerably to the pyrite production of the State in time of need. M. T. EARNEST PROPERTY (Map locality C-5) l\L T. Earnest owns 100 acres of land in lot 343, 7th district, north central part of Carroll County, one mile east of Mandeville, a station ., 52 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA on the Central of Georgia Railway. Little Buck Creek flows southeast through this property and in the woods along its west bank may be seen several old and almost obliterated prospect openings. H. 0. Roop and J. Y. Blalock of Carrollton own T36 of the mineral rights in the Earnest property. The early exploratory work was done for copper in 1860 or 1861 when Watson Bush owned the land.1 According to Blalock, the deepest of the shafts was 20 or 25 feet. Little satisfactory evidence of a workable pyrite ore body can be obtained from the shafts and openings in their present (1918) condition, but about half a mile south of Boyd's mill, near the south side of lot 343, a small easterly branch of Little Buck Creek flowing across the strike of the formations, exposes green chloritic schist and gray granitic gneiss carrying small amounts of pyrite through a thickness of 45 feet or more. The rock is the same as that occurring at the Heartley prospect which is almost 2 miles east-southeast across the schistosity. The ore is lean milling material found most abundantly in a onefoot thickness in dark chloritic schist, but pyrite is present in crystals of varying size irregularly distributed through all the rock exposed. Like the ore on the Heartley property, this is at present unproved as a workable pyrite deposit, although a thickness of a few feet may contain as much as 25 per cent of pyrite. Prospecting for pyrite in this vicinity has also been done on the properties of H. L. Cole and J. S. Eidson, both on lot 344, adjoining the Earnest property. M. A. HEARTLEY PROSPECT (Map local1:ty C-6) The Heartley pyrite prospect is on lot 254, lOth district, somewhat north of the central part of Carroll County, 5 miles northnorthwest of Carrollton, the county seat, which is on the Griffin and Chattanooga branch of the Central of Georgia Railway. The nearest railroad point is Mandeville, 2 miles west of the property. Mrs. 1\I. 1 Information from Henry Cole, 3 miles north of Carrollton. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 53 A. Heartley owns 200 acres, or the whole of lot 254. In the late nineties J. R. Heartley dug two shallow pits near the small branch flowing westward into Buck Creek. Pyrite was found scattered through gray quartzose schist and green chloritic schist. Several years later more prospecting was done by different men who held options on the property for a few months. In 1917 the old pits and shafts, the deepest of which was 18 feet, had been long neglected and par!lY overgrown with brush. The openings are on both sides of the branch a few hundred yards east of Buck Creek and about a quarter of a mile west of the public road. The elevation is 1100 feet, more or less, in a hilly country drained by Buck Creek, which joins Tallapoosa River 5 miles south. The rocks in which the pyr~te occurs, are gray, quartzose, micaceous schist, somewhat crinkled, and green contorted chloritic schist with quartz eyes and stringers. The first type occurs in the pits on the north side of the little branch and the second on the south side. These formations carry pyrite, the gray mica schist containing irregular grains and crystals less than :lj8 inch in diameter and the green chloritic member containing crystals as large as an inch in cross section. Nearer Buck Creek, 100 yards west of the prospect pits, the rock is more gneissic and even granitic, though still highly folded and containing mica, chlorite and a few pyrite crystals. Other phases are less contorted and are characterized by small flakes of biotite and medium-sized garnets. The foliation of this complex mass is likewise variable, the strike being N. 10-40 E., and the dip 70 NW. to vertical. The prospect work has not uncovered a definite ore body on this property, though two pits expose a few feet of concentrating ore containing more than 25 per cent pyrite. Crystals of pyrite occur in a belt 300 yards wide, measured across the schistosity. The prospect showing the most favorable ore (Hu-243) is the one in gray quartzose schist where a thickness of one foot is medium-granular, lean milling ore whose gangue minerals are chiefly quartz, mica, and chlorite. 54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analysis of pyrite ore from the 111. A.. Heattley prospect (Hu-243) Silica (Si02) & insoluble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferric oxide (Fe,O,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite (FeS,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.42 2.77 0.11 25.40 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99.70 Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copper (Cu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gold (Au) ..............._......................... Silver (Ag) ..................................... _. 13.76 13.58 .00 .00 .00 On the south side of the branch, less than 100 yards west of the eastern pit, the prospect in green chlorite schist shows an equally extensive and good ore but made up of large cubes and irregular crystals of pyrite ranging from half an inch to an inch in diameter. J. T. WILLIAMS PROPERTY (Map locality C-7) No prospecting has been done on the property of J. T. Williams, but outcrops of pyrite-bearing schist occur in Webster Creek north of the house occupied by W. J. Garrison. This locality is land lot 174, 6th district, 5th section, near the western boundary of the panhandle of north Carroll County, half a mile west-southwest of Temple station on the Southern Railway. The pasture stream falls over two narrow up-standing ledges of chloritic-micaceous schist striking N. 20 E., and dipping 75 SE. One of these stream-erosion exposures is 9 feet thick, and the other, about 20 feet downstream, is 3 feet thick. This total thickness of 12 feet carries pyrite in small, fresh, slightly distorted crystals ranging from -:l2 to l 6 inch in diameter, but a thickness of only a few inches shows as much as 23 per cent pyrite. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 55 .Analysis of pyritifero1ts schist from J. T. Williams property (Hu-26'9) Silica (SiO,) & insoluble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferric oxide (Fe,O,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moisture . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite (FeS,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.98 13.98 .18 23.49 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98.63 Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.72 Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.56 Copper (Cu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .00 J". S, MICHAEL PROSPECT (Map locality 0-8) About half a mile northeast of the pyritiferous schist outcrop on J. T. Williams' property (lot 174), and less than half a mile west of Temple Station on the Southern Railway, on land belonging to J. S. Michael, there is an exposure of greenish-gray pyritiferous schist in the bed of Webster, or Savanachee Creek. This locality is about 25 feet north of the small bridge on the Temple-Bremen highway, just east of J. T. WilliamR' residence. Pyritiferous chloritic schist occurs in the stream bed throughout a thickness of 44 feet, measured at an angle of 90 to the strike. A considerable amount of thickening due to minor folding of the recumbent and drag types, has almost doubled the original thickness of the deposit. Part of the formation is characterized by quartz eyes and lenses. The strike and dip are N. 15 E. and 65 SE. respectively. Pyrite crystals permeate the exposure, but the richest portion, about 2 feet thick, contains scarcely more than 20 per cent pyrite. No prospecting has been done at this place. JENNY STONE PROSPECT (Map locality 0-9) The Jenny Stone pyrite prospect is in the northeastern part of Carroll County, less than 2 miles north of Villa Rica. The property is on land lot 222, 6th district, and 5th section. The owners are the 56 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Jenny Stone heirs whose representative is Francis S. Phraner, of New York City. Prior to the Civil War, the deposit was prospected for copper by J. B. Wix, who owned the property at that time. Like many other attempts to find copper ore, doubtless inspired by the successful operations at Ducktown, Tennesse~, this early work at the Jenny Stone prospect was abandoned, but about 32 years ago, a vertical shaft was sunk by Prof. C. U. Shepard of Charleston, S. C. Since then, almost no work was done until 1917, when the Marietta Mining Company, J. P. Hamilton, superintendent, Marietta, Georgia, secured an option on 200 acres, cleaned out the old shaft and commenced the work of more extensive development. Topographically the Jenny Stone prospect is not at all unfavorably located. It is on a low divide, at an elevation of 1,250 feet above sea level, is within 150 yards of the public road and not more than a mile from the Sulphur Mining and Railroad Company's standard gage spur to the Southern Railway at Villa Rica. This short haul is either level or downgrade, the prospect being about 50 feet higher than the railroad. At present there is no. water at the shaft other than mine water, but less than a quarter of a mile distant and only 50 feet lower than the head-frame, water can be pumped from one of the small streams flowing into Sweetwater Creek. The rocks encountered in the vicinity of the deposit show two distinct types-hornblende schist or gneiss of the Roan gneiss formation, and biotite granite gneiss of a later age. Both types have been doubtfully classed as Archean or possibly very early Paleozoic. They represent two of the three crystalline formations in association with which the pyrite deposits of Georgia commonly occur. The third geological formation frequently closely related to commercial pyrite deposits, namely, the gray mica schist together with other phases of the Carolina gneiss, is not present along the immediate outcrop of the Villa Rica ores, although it probably constituted the ancient country rock into which was intruded the hornblendic material. The rock types here, therefore, are of igneous origin. The hornblende schist belt is readily traced by its characteristic PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 57 mantle of dark red soil. The fresh rock is dark green. It shows the usual differences from folded to straight-banded foliation. Near the contact with the granite gneiss, it contains minor amounts of biotite, garnets and injection bands of granitic and feldspathic material. This basic ore-bearing body is considered to be the metamorphic product of an early dioritic intrusive, and belongs to the Roan gneiss formation. The biotite granite gneiss or Yilla Rica granite is not exposed at the Jenny Stone prospect, but is encountered in the shaft. It is light -,, .STORE II HOUSE II It II It II ,,II If ~---5~0--~100 SC/IL[ IN f[[T CONTOUR INTERVAL IG FEET ~STRIKE & DIP OF OUTCROP Fig. 4. Topographic sketch map of the Tallapoosa mine, showing outcrops of ore bodies. 72 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA a quarter of a mile east and north of the river, on a moderately sloping, partially cultivated hillside. The topography is typical of the dissected, hilly Piedmont Plateau province. The mine is between 150 and 200 feet lower than :\Iorgan, the shipping point on the Southern Railway, 9 miles distant by dirt road. In this hauling distance, the grades are all low, except at Tallapoosa River. A sketch map of part of the property is shown in Fig. 4. Geology.-The Tallapoosa ore body occurs in greenish-gray, finely laminated, chloritic schist, locally crinkled and sharply folded. In places a preponderance of decomposing chloritic material makes the schist markedly talcose; in others, finely granulated quartz alternating with very thin micaceous laminae produces a gritty quartzitic phase; all of it disintegrates readily upon exposure. The dark red clay loam which so often characterizes a basic pyrite-bearing gneiss marks in a general way the pyritiferous zone on this property, but outcrops of the parent hornblendic rock are not much in evidence. The rocks in this vicinity are probably of Cambrian (or early Paleozoic) age. They constitute the extreme eastern portion of the semi- crystalline or metamorphosed Paleozoic mass near its contact with the crystalline or pre-Cambrian rocks.1 Garnetiferous schists with carbonaceous content are exposed within half a mile either side of the strike of the ore body and dark, highly carbonaceous members occur still farther east, before the distinctly basic and crystalline gneiss appears just east of Draketown. Some of these metamorphosed sedimentary rocks may be included in the Great Smoky formation as mapped in the Ellijay quadrangle." The general strike is northeast, and the dip southeast. Ore deposits.-The Tallapoosa ore body corresponds with the country rock in position and structure, striking on an average N. :~5 E. and dipping from 27 to 60 SE. This conformable feature classes it as a bedded-vein deposit. An examination of the ore reveals a quantity of limestone occurring frequently but irregularly through- 1 Hopkins, 0. B., Asbestos, talc and soapstone deposits of Georgia: Geol. Survey of Ga. BulL 29, map opp. p. 14, 1914. 2 La Forge, Lawrence, and Phalen, W. C. U. S. Geol. Survey GeoL Atlas, Ellijay folio (No. 187), 1913. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA /3 out the mass which indicates that the deposition of the sulphides is replacement of limestone. The outcrop, or gossan, has been traced and prospected by shallow pits and trenches at intervals over a length of 1,100 feet. The Buchanan-Dallas road, 150 to 250 feet south and south\\est of the shaft, cuts through gossan-like iron-stained schist. Years ago two or three test shafts were sunk at this south end of the deposit, but the greatest development and the most promising prospects have been along the strike northeastward. A little less than 300 yards in this direction a 16-foot shaft indicates a continuation of ore equal in quality to that already mined. Southeast 100 to 150 feet from the vein now being worked, there is excellent gossan evidence of a second ore body above the main deposit and parallel to it. It may be traced by gossan outcrops and float 150 to 200 yards along the strike northeast from the public road. The thickness through which the ore occurs, as shown underground by actual working and prospect pits in the walls may average about 15 feet, varying from 8 to 23 feet or more. Within this thickness, however, may be found extensive barren lenses or partings of schist and small isolated masses of limestone. The vein carrying the ore so far produced may not show more than a 5-foot working face on the average; furthermore, it seems to pinch at either end of the mme. The latest report (April, 1918), shows a 2% foot ore face, with 18 inches of lump ore in the extreme northeast heading of the 150-foot drift, but the walls of the incline and drifts as at present developed, are not the limit of the workable ore. Tudor has records of several test pits penetrating both foot wall and hanging wall that prove the presence of good ore, as much as 10 feet thick, beyond the "wall" of the ore already raised. This probably represents an exceptionally favorable section or bulge in the vein. Another pit in the foot wall is said to have shown barren schist and concentrating pyrite ore alternating through a thickness of 9 feet. It seems, then, that the ore body is not a well-defined single vein, but that it is made up of more or less lens-like masses lying parallel to the main replace- 74 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA ment deposit and partially or wholly separated from it by movement and readjustment of the schist during the time of great regional pressure. In fact, outcrops of promising gossan in the public road south of the shaft indicate a second ore body above the vein now being worked, and parallel to it. A specimen of gossan, which by its appearance represents a milling ore, was taken from an outcrop about 150 feet northeast of the shaft. Its analysis follows : Analysis of gossan from the Tallapoosa mine (Hu-119) Silica (SiO,) & insoluble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferric oxide (Fe,O,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite (FeS,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.94 37.31 .87 .61 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.73 Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.40 Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Copper (Cu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .00 Underground work on the ore body includes a vertical shaft 48 feet deep, from which an incline continues down the dip 235 feet.1 Near the bottom of the vertical shaft a tunnel (now completely choked), leading 200 feet northwest, drained an old 150-foot northeast drift (also long since caved and filled). The main level is 150 feet down the incline; it is a drift extending 85 feet southwest and 215 feet northeast. From the northeast drift, a considerable amount of stoping has been done, pillars being left where the rich ore pinches. A drift at the 200-foot level has been driven less than 50 feet northeast. All the underground work is in ore. Character of ore.-The old Waldrop property was originally prospected for copper, the rich black copper ore being especially sought at that time. The mine's output of lump ore in the early eighties, though high in copper (see analysis No. 2, p. 80) was used primarily in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and the copper was not always 1 The incline has recently been extended to the surface, so that the new opening is 40 feet northwest of the vertical shaft. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA i5 recovered. The black copper or chalcocite is noticeable in the lump ore as dark bluish alteration coatings on chalcopyrite and as cementing matter between chalcopyrite and pyrite. It occurs as the usual secondary enrichment product even in the lower part of the mine, though its presence at that depth may be accounted for by the fact that water stood in the workings many years, leaching out the copper and depositing it in more concentrated form. This action of the mine water was used to advantage even while the mine was idle. Several tons of scrap iron were placed underground to bring about the precipitation of copper from its sulphate. A considerable quantity of copper has also been recovered at the mine by leading the strong mine water, as it is pumped out, through troughs containing scrap iron. The copper sulphate, coming in contact with the iron, deposits a thin film or tiny globules of the metal, called ''cement copper,'' which is later recovered by washing the iron. Analyses in the possession of Mr. Tudor show this "cement" to contain jl./1) per cent copper. Another analysis of a 10,000-pound lot made by Ledoux and Company, of New York City, gave 50.90 per cent copper. The following analyses of mine water show the strong sulphate character of the water as it collects underground after seeping through ore, and the change brought about during the precipitation of copper on scrap iron in several hundred feet of wooden troughs. The high content of zinc and copper is noteworthy in No. 1. An increase of some metals, as manganese and zinc, and the presence of nickel in No. 2 may be explained by impurities and varieties of scrap iron used in the troughs. 715 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analuses of mine water, Tallapoosa mine Constituents Sulphate (S04) ........................ Chlorine (Cl) ............................ . Calcium (Ca) ............................ . Silica (SiO,) ............................. . Potassium (K) .......................... . Sodium (Na) ............................ . Magnesium (Mg) ........................ . Aluminum (AI) ......................... . Manganese (Mn) ........................ . Nickel (Ni) ............................. . Copper (Cu) ............................ . Zinc (Zn) ............................... . Lead (Pb) .............................. . Arsenic (As) ............................ . Ferrous iron (Fe") ....................... . Ferric iron (Fe"') ........................ . Acidity (H,S04) ......................... . Specific Gravity .......................... . PARTS PER ::\1ILLIO::-! No.1 No.2 11,883.2 50.0 86.0 116.2 13.2 16.0 180.0 1,048.0 51.0 00.0 587.5 289.0 00.0 3.0 1,112.0 289.0 1,379.0 12,003.0 37.0 61.0 131.0 14.0 15.0 142.0 1,090.0 100.0 trace 00.0 481.0 00.0 3.5 2,505.7 16.6 263.4 1.0169 1.0182 No. 1. Water from the 150-foot level. When the sample was taken, the pumps were not working and water had risen to that level. No. 2. Water from the precipitating troughs, after having passed over 780 feet of scrap iron. Of the two grades of pyrite ore, lump and concentrating, at the Tallapoosa mine, the former is said to have constituted 33 per cent of the total ore raised, but since there is good evidence of no small amount of concentrating ore beyond both foot wall and hanging wall of the vein already worked, it is quite probable that the lump ore makes up somewhat less than 33 per cent of the workable ore body. In the previous workings, this lump ore has been found rather frequently to form the center of the vein, flanked by high grade concentrating ore. Its thickness varies. Tudor claims that a thickness of 12 feet was once worked, though at one place in the stope above PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 77 the 150-foot level the lump ore pinches to 11/2 feet. A section at the top of the same stope shows \Yhat may be regarded as a good working fa~c. 1t is half lump, half eouccutrating, making a high proportion of the former, hut as l:oncPntrati11g material nndou btedly lies beyond the walls of this section, the per cent of high grade ore is lowered. Section of pyrite ore face in stope from 1:30-foot level Tallapoosa mine Feet ;). Hanging \Yall 4. Concentrating ore \Yith quartz all<1 sehist impurities ... . 2 ,,3. Lump ore ........................................ . 4 Coneentrating ore ................................. . ) 1. Footwall ......................................... . The lnmp ore is hard and rather massive, breaking with an 1meven fracture. It is composed chiefly of pale brassy pyrite with small amounts of brassy chalcopyrite, accompanied in the more altered portions by bluish-black chalcocite surfaces or cement. Some specimens (as Iht-116) appear to be largely pyrite with minor sphalerite and quartz filling the interstices. A selected sample taken from above the hanging wall, 70 feet down the incline, which Tudor had analyzed by R. H. Officer & Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, showed the following high values: sulphur, 46.3 per cent; copper, 4.75 per cent; gold, 0.45 ounce; silver, 1.4 ounces. An average analysis representative of the lump ore may he seen in No. 2, p. 80. Besides quartz and the minor chloritic schist impurities that are found in the lump ore, limestone is markedly present throughout the mine. It seems to occupy no definite position within the ore body, but occurs irregularly throughout all the ore, ranging in size from finely granular cementing material to irregular masses as much as 2 and 3 feet in diameter. Where very abundant it constitutes onethird of a cross-sectional area of a heading. No limestone is known to occur along the outcrop of the vein or elsewhere in the vicinity. The character of the limestone is shown by the following analysis: 78 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analysis of limestone gangue. Tallapoosa mine (Hu-332) Constituents Soluble in HCL Insoluble in HCL Silica (Si03) & insoluble ................ . 2.67 Silica (SiO,) ........................... . .89 Alumina (Al20 3 ) .00 .35 Ferric oxide (Fe,03 ) .26 .89 Ferrous oxide (FeO) .................... . 2.59 Magnesia (MgO) ....................... . 19.05 .14 Lime (CaO) ........................... . 28.88 .00 Soda (Na,O) .......................... . .13 Potash (K,O) .......................... . .06 Moisture ............................... . .10 Carbon dioxide (CO,) ................... . 46.20 Titanium dioxide ~TiO,) ...... . i .00 .03 Phosphorus pentox1de (P,O,) ............. i .045 I Sulphur trioxide (S03 ) .34 Manganous oxide (MnO) ................. i .00 .00 Sulphur (S) ............................ j .36 I Total ....................... . 100.325 2.66 i In the hand specimen the limestone appears gray-white when fresh and slightly brown or flesh-colored when weathered, finely granular, and penetrated by "veinlets" and tiny cracks of pyrite. Microscopically the finely crystalline carbonate is seen to be surrounded in places by pyrite, which reaches into the limestone by little irregular shoots and along cleavage lines, imparting a reddish-brown stain. At the contact of pyrite and calcite is often seen a light green, granular band of malachite. The occurrence of the limestone in the ore and the relation it bears to the ore minerals indicate that the sulphide is a replacement of limestone. The concentrating ore is both schistose, with large pyrite crystals as large as a quarter of an inch in diameter, elongated in a talcose and quartz matrix; and massive-granular, with smaller grains and imperfect crystals in a quartz-limestone-feldspar body. In subordi- PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 79 nate amounts, chalcopyrite is present, and where surface weathering and secondary enrichment have gone on, malachite and chalcocite occur as bright crustings and dark alterations, in striking contrast with the pyrite and gangue minerals. The large storage heaps of concentrating ore that have been weathering more than 35 years contain many specimens of beautifully tinted iron and copper sulphates and carbonates. This concentrating ore now on the surface, when analyzed in 1889 by W. H. Adams, contained 34 per cent sulphur and 1.8 per cent. copper. Tudor says that assays of the heaps at present (1918) show 32 per cent sulphur, indicating only a small loss of sulphur. Analysis No. 4 in table below probably represents approximately the average sulphur content of the concentrating ore of the mine. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analyses of pytite and copper me, Tallapoosa mine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , - - - - - - - - ,--~-------- ~--- ~-~~- No.1 No. 21 No.3 No.4 No.5_ Constituents In- soluble Soluble ' ' in aqua 1 in aqua I I - - - - - - - - - - - 1 regia regia l--1--1 Silica ( Si02) & insol. ... . 13.58 18.0 Silica (SiO,) ......... . 10.311 Alumina ( Al20 3) Ferric oxide (Fe,OJ .. . 4.76' .52 1.13 j 1.11 Magnesia (MgO) ..... . 1.09 .88 Lime (CaO) .......... . .oo .oo .... 1 Soda (Na,O) ......... . .64! I Potash (K,O) ........ . .20! ! Moisture ............. . Titanium diox. (Ti02) Phosphorus pent- .07 .151 , ... I .... 1 . . . . 'I oxide (P20 5 ) Pyrite (FeS,) ........ . Chalcopyrite ( CnFeS,) .. Sphalerite (ZnS) ...... . Manganous ox. (MnO) .. Total ............. . .12 75.22 4.87' 0.07 ........ I 0.121-1 101.26 13.58 ! ... 0! .... 1 . ... , .... ------ Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.76 i .... ! Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . Phosphorus (P) . . . . . . . . 41..9 4" 0u 39.70 4.3.. 0.0. II 40.04 22.1 33.50 Copper (Cu) . . . . . . . . . . Arsenic (As) . . . . . . . . . . . 1.69 trace I 3.30 3.25, 3.40 0.35 2.27 Lead (Pb) .. .. .. .. . .. . .00 Zinc (Zn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .05 .... I Gold (Au) .. . .. .. .. .. .05 11 1 ' .00 * I trace 0.105oz L _____,_:_\___ _s_il_ve_r_(_A_g_)__ __._._____,_____oo_ _ 1._ _2_oz_c__o_.2_o_"'_,_l_ __ 1 * $2.50 per short ton. Hu-116. Lump ore from 150-foot level. No. 1. Lump ore. Average of three specimens collected by S. W. McCallie, Slate No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. Geologist. Lump ore. General average of 6500 tons shipped about 1881-1885. An- alysis furnished by William Tudor. Lump ore. Represents a 2-foot thickness in top of a test pit in foot wall of the stope at 70-foot level. Analysts, Black & Deason, Salt Lake City, Utah. Concentrating ore. Represents an 8-foot thickness, underlying No. 3, in same test pit. Analysts, Black & Deason, Salt Lake City, Utah. Average of 73 samples from underground and from surface heaps. Collected by R. D. Blackmon, foreman, and assayed by W. D. Adams, 1889. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 81 Production.-The Tallapoosa mine is the only pyrite mine in the Draketown district that has produced on a commercial scale. Altogether 7,450 tons of shipping ore have been produced. Of this amount, 500 tons of lump ore carrying 4.50 per cent copper, were roasted at the mine and 90 per cent of the copper was recovered; 6,500 tons of lump averaging 3.25 per cent copper and 43 per cent sulphur, were shipped to the pioneer sulphuric acid plant near Atlanta; and about 450 tons of pyrite concentrates have been sold. In addition, 50,000 pounds of ''cement copper'' containing 50 per cent copper, have been precipitated from the mine water and sold. Future of the mine.-The deposit is still far from being fully explored. About 15;000 tons of ore have been raised, of which 7,500 tons of milling ore, containing more than 30 per cent sulphur, still lie in the surface dumps made when the lump ore was shipped during the early eighties. Very little in the way of actual production has been done since that time. Small operations, however, are being carried on, both above and below ground; pumps keep the mine free of water ; the incline is being extended to the surface ; copper is being precipitated in the troughs; small shipments of concentrates are occasionally made from the old dumps; and new buildings are erected to house machinery. The company has at the mine, in working condition, one 60-H. P. and one 30-H. P. boiler, one 50-H. P. engine, several thousand feet of iron and cypress piping, 2 pumps, a Blake crusher, trammel, a double 3-compartment Allis and Chalmers jig, set of rolls, and 800 feet of wooden precipitating troughs filled with scrap iron. Sufficient capital is being sought for the development and operation of this deposit on a scale that will assist materially in meeting the present great need of sulphuric acid and its associated chemicals. What seem to be conservative estimates of the reserve at the Tallapoosa mine, as given in a commercial report by W. L. Heidenreich, 1917, place the amounts Df shipping ore as follows: Concentrates, 4,000 tons on the surface and 6,000 tons in sight underground; lump, 10,000 tons in sight underground; and in addition, a probable 82 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA reserve of 20,000 tons. As it is understood that this total estimate of 40,000 tons of shipping ore did not include the northeastward continuation of the lead, which is indicated by trenching and prospects as far as 600 feet beyond the heading of the longest underground drift, and as the hanging wall of the ore body already worked has not been well explored, though it is known to contain good ore, it is highly probable that the reserve of shipping ore on the property is considerably greater than this estimate. The extent of the deposit is undoubtedly greater with depth than along the strike. The thickness of the ore body is not known to diminish with depth, except, as is always the case, where minor and local billowing occurs. Along the strike, however, there is indicated a tendency to pinch out at either end of the drift latest worked; however, as was stated before, surface evidence points to another lens or lead overlapping the main vein and continuing several hundred feet farther. The mine is well located as regards convenience to water and fuel supplies. Tallapoosa River flows through the property, 1,100 feet from the mine mouth and only 55 feet lower. Ample stands of pine and oak occupy both sides of the stream and many adjacent acres. The lack of rail transportation nearer than 48-Siding, 9 miles distant, is an important difficulty in the way of development. Railway routes have been proposed both direct to the mine and via Draketown, the village 3 miles southeast of the mine. The former would be 9.72 miles as surveyed and the latter 11.62 miles. The Draketown spur seems preferable as it would include the Swift pyrite property east of Draketown and would pass south of the Smith-McCandless prospect, northwest of that place. SMITH-MCCANDLESS PROSPECT (Map locality H-4) A. A. Smith and John M. McCandless, of Atlanta, own the mineral rights on 8lj2 lots, each containing 40 acres, in the 20th district, PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 83 3rd section, northeastern corner of Haralson County. Lot 851, on which the main shaft is located, together with 2 or 3 other lots, is owned in fee simple. The property lies 3 miles north of Draketown, the main prospect shaft being about a quarter of a mile north of the Buchanan-Dallas road. Prospecting is said to have been carried on here as early as 18301840. Shortly before 1860, the first shaft, known as the Gamble shaft, so named for the first operator, was put down 50 feet or more, in search for copper. It is said that Prof. C. U. Shepard, of Charleston, South Carolina, once owned the mineral rights and cleaned out the old shaft, but little further development was done until sometime in the nineties, when M. T. Singleton did a considerable amount of work both on the surface and underground. From the bottom of the 58-foot vertical shaft a drift was extended about 120 feet along the strike and 250 cubic yards of ore taken out. Part of this ore was concentrated by hand washing in troughs at the small branch north of the shaft and possibly 100 tons shipped to Columbia, South Carolina. In 1901, Smith and McCandless secured the property, and in 1905 Henry Blake did some further exploratory work for Swift and Company. This prospect is on a very gently sloping ridge, still abundantly wooded. The elevation of the property is about 1,200 feet above sea level. From the mouth of the shaft, the surface slopes gently north and east 200 yards to the sources of a small northwesterly branch which joins Wircher1 (or Witcher) Creek about three quarters of a mile north of the shaft. The Southern Railway at Morgan, or 48-Siding, approximately 10 miles south of the property, and 100 feet higher is reached by a dirt road with easy grades except at Tallapoosa River, 11-h miles south of the prospect. Hard and soft wood suitable for mine timbers and fuel stands on the property. Water in quantities sufficient for milling and mining purposes may be obtained from Wircher Creek three quarters of a mile north, or from Tallapoosa River 11-h miles south. 1 This stream is named Wircher on the Ta!lapoosa topographic sheet of the U. S. Geological Survey. Locally, it is known as Witcher Creek in memory of one of the old Cherokee chiefs whose pole wigwam long stood on its banks. GI;'OLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Outcrops of rock formations, other than exposures of gossan, on the Smith-::\!fcCandless property are not numerous, but fragments of float and different soil types mark distinctions in the underlying material. The rock carrying the pyrite deposit is a schist, whose chief mineral constituents are fine-grained, saccharoidal quartz, weathered light mica, and pale green chlorite. Soft talcose phases are pronounced near the surface. Within a width of half a mile at right angles to the strike of the country rock, 5 parallel strips may be distinguished by the rock fragments and minerals weathered in the soil. 'rhe pyritiferous belt marked by the red clay loam soil usually accompanying these pyrite deposits, occupies part of the top and eastern slope of a gentle ridge. The strike of the schistosity is generally N. 45-55 B. and the dip 55-65 SK Flanking the ore belt on the northwest is a belt 100 yards wide, more or less, with many weathered garnet crystals as large as % of an inch in diameter, and exposures of irregular white quartz masses. Down the slope on the northwest side of the garnetiferous strip, magnetite fragments are abundant in the soil. On the southeast side of the red pyrite strip, toward the Buchanan-Dallas road, 100 yards or more of manganiferous magnetite formation occurs, and adjoining it along the public road near the residence of T. R. King, another garnet schist appears. The pyrite prospect with its northeast course, it is thus seen, lies in the center of this mineralized zone. The country rock as represented by fragments examined from underground, is a micaceous-chloritic schist belonging probably to the Great Smoky formation of the metamorphosed Paleozoic group. The pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks lie very near at the southeast.1 The ore body at the Smith-McCandless prospect is of the beddedvein type common to so many Georgia pyrite deposits. 'rhe lead as indicated by its gossan has been followed several miles northeast from this property, and in Paulding County has been prospected in a number of places. The Rush-Banks prospect, at a distance of 7 miles northeast, is thought to be on the same lead. The owners of the 1 Hopkins, Oliver B., Asbestos, talc, and soapstone deposits of Georgia; Bull. Ga. Geol. Survey No. 29, 1914. Map opp. p. 14. PYRITE DEPOSITS OB GEORGIA 85 Smith-1\iicCandless prospect claim title along 11;:! miles of this strike. Within this distance, at least six prospect shafts have been sunk to a depth of 50 feet or more through the oxidized upper portion of the vein, and good gossan and iron-stained float occur at frequent intervals, showing what is undoubtedly a continuous vein, though it is equally certain that "pinches" and barren portions occur in the lead. The underground workings could not be examined when the. property was visited, but tP.e following quotations from the report of William Brewer, mining engineer, state the extent of the work: "The extent of the developments on this property is as follows: Vertical shaft 58 feet, incline shaft about 45 feet deeper than the vertical. The incline shaft commences at the bottom of the vertical and was not accessible, because of being full of water at the time of my visit. Drift towards southwest 108 feet from center of shaft; drift towards northeast 22 feet from center of shaft (these shafts are driven on the 56 foot level). "An examination of the main workings on the 56-foot level enabled me to determine that the body of iron pyrites was continuous throughout the length of the drifting, and by careful measurements at various points, the average thickness of the body is at least 3 feet. A large proportion of this thickness is made up of an ore which, while it is granular in character, is almost pure pyrites. The remainder of the thickness will vary in purity, some of it having the pyrites disseminated through slates. The percentage of pyrites on this apparently decreases towards what may properly be termed the foot and hanging wall. The thickness of the richer portion of the ore bodies varies, and an average can hardly be determined, because the structure of this richest portion is that of lenses occurring at irregular in tervals throughout the entire thickness of the ore body.'' Further information about the ore body and the character of the ore may be gained from another report made for the owners in March, 1909, by l\L T. Singleton, mining engineer, who says: ''The pyrites occur in crystalline granular form along the line of contact between a talco-chloritic schist, constituting the foot W'11l, 86 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA and a talco-micaceous schist, forming the hanging wall. These two materials also compose the gangue in which the greater part of the ore occurs. Immediately along the line of contact there is a stratum of almost pure pyrite of variable thickness and irregular occurrence. This is sometimes indurated by a siliceous cementing material into a fairly good lump ore. In other cases it is soft and friable, and as easily handled as wheat. ''The hard ore constitutes such a small proportion of the ore body that I did not think it advisable to consider it separately, especially in view of the fact that it is easily crushed and disintegrated, along with the rest of the gangue, making a high grade uniform product." Mr. Singleton further states that both the foot and hanging walls are impregnated, to a greater or less extent, with pyrite, and that the character of the walls is identical with that of the gangue. This explains the variations in the average thickness of the deposit as esti- mated by different men. His own estimate, ''based upon the evidence obtained from the main shaft and drift, and from some half dozen other shafts and numerous cross cuts, is that the average thickness of pay ore can be placed at 6 feet. That is to say, that for a distance of three quarters of a mile, and to an unknown depth, everything can be mined for a width of 6 feet at a handsome profit. Of course, at places some portions of the 6 feet will be barren, and at other places the pay ore will be wider.'' As regards the change of the ore in the relatively shallow depth to which the workings have penetrated, this same report continues: ''Going down in the main slope the hard or lump ore almost disap- pears, and the pyrites is carried almost entirely by the soft slate gangue, the width being about 4 or 5 feet." The position of the ore body is probably the same as that of the schist as shown in a partially filled pit within 30 or 40 feet of the main shaft, striking N. 55 E. and dipping 55-60 SE. The ore that has been exposed to the weather during the 12 years or more since it was raised in 1905, is composed of medium granular pyrite and granular to finely schistose quartz-chlorite gangue. The PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 87 pyrite grains are generally less than l 6 inch in diameter and the quartz particles are about the same size. The ore is all of concentrating or milling type. Large lumps, however, that are apparently over 80 per cent pyrite are numerous on the dump. These disintegrate under a light blow of the hammer to a high grade granular shipping product, containing almost no impurities except subordinate amounts of fine quartz grains. The greater part of this storage heap, which contains less than 1,000 tons, is of course much lower in grade than the lump ore just mentioned. The pyrite decreases to 30 per cent and 20 per cent of the weight, and the gangue material in a large part of the ore consists of saccharoidal quartz grains. In other fragments the impurities are micaceous-chloritic particles. All the ore is readily concentrated, owing to the ease of separation from a simple gangue possessing only half the specific gravity of the pyrite. It is said that in mining much of the ore found in the present drift at the 56-foot level, the only tools needed were pick and shovel. Analyses made in 1899 by Stillwell and Gladding of New York City showed a specimen of lump ore to contain 45.94 per cent sul- phur, and a sample of concentrates to contain 51.13 per cent sulphur. According to Brewer's report, the Smith-McCandless property has produced ''about 1,500 tons of ore, and also 500 tons of washed ore, that has been shipped away.'' The amount of ore in the deposit is estimated by Singleton as folfows: "During my prospect work on the property I decided a conservative estimate of the yield, based on a width of 6 feet, would be something over 40 per cent of the bulk. This would mean a yield of one ton of clean pyrites to each cubic yard of material handled. The actual yield of material washed and shipped since this estimate was made has more than doubled this." It is evident from these figures that "40 per cent of the bulk" means 40 per cent by weight. The doubling of this yield may have been due to the fact that the best of the ore was more or less uncon- 88 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA sciously selected for the concentrating which was done by hand trough-washing at the small stream north of the shaft. It is not intended to mean that 80 per cent of the 6-foot thickness of the ore is pyrite. Supposing the first estimate of a 40 per cent pyrite ore is nearer the average condition, then the proportion of pure pyrite by volume is approximately 26 per cent, assuming that the gangue is quartz or material of almost the same specific gravity. Assuming further that a conservative thickness of 5 feet is the average along a distance of 5,000 feet and to a depth of 400 feet, 've get a body of ore 10,000,000 cubic feet i:ri volume. If the volume of pure pyrite constitutes 26 per cent or roughly one-fourth of this, then there are 2,500,000 cubic feet, or assuming 7.28 cubic feet of pyrite to a long ton, there are 343,406 tons of concentrated shipping product to be won from the Smith-McCandless property. The possibility of such a reserve should lend encouragement to those who are seeking to meet the increased demands of our acid manufacture with domestic raw product. This vein is of sufficient size and quality to warrant thorough exploration along the strike, and the records of core drilling would be very valuable here. If the building of rail connection with the Southern Railway were contemplated, a spur might be brought north from Morgan, 2 miles west of Temple, following down Bear Creek to its junction with Tallapoosa River, about a mile south of the Tallapoosa mine, then turning eastward up the Tallapoosa trench to a point about a mile south of the Smith-McCandless vein where a concentrating mill, supplied with unfailing water, could be fed with ore by a tram line from the shafts. OTHER PROSPECTS Many other properties in Haralson County have been prospected for pyrite, but because they do not give evidence of workable deposits, or because of some other unpromising feature, only a few are here mentioned. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA S!l Marvin M. Brown property, lot 183, 8th district, 3 miles south of Tallapoosa. Pyrite occurs as fine grains and distinct crystals scattered through carbonaceous and talcose schist in places making up almost 10 per cent of the rock. R. Robertson prospect, lot 135, 8th district, 21j2 miles south of Tallapoosa. Carbonaceous schist similar to that on the Marvin ::\i. Brown plaee carries small pyrite crystals in a thickness of 30 feet or more. Selected specimens contain 5.44 per cent sulphur. W. J. Speight property, lot 1233, 20th district, 3 miles west of Draketown. A shaft has been sunk about 20 feet in weathered pyritiferous schist. Specimens of gossan-like schist indicate an ore carrying 20 or 25 per cent pyrite. R. F. Pace property, lot 1063, 20th district, 4 miles west-northwest of Draketown. A long abandoned shaft once 75 feet deep in gray schist shows very lean milling ore. This is about 2 miles southwest of the Tallapoosa mine and on the same lead. J. G. Blackmon property, lot 1008, 20th district, 31/z miles northwest of Draketown and about a mile southwest of the Tallapoosa rome. Small prospect pits show pyrite in gray schist. Further prospecting might uncover a lean milling ore, though favorable gossan indications are lacking. DOUGLAS COUNTY Douglas County lies entirely in the crystalline area, and includes a large area of granite gneiss. 'l'he known pyrite deposits are confined to the isolated Keaten-Thomas prospect in the western part of the county, south of Villa Rica, and a portion of the Villa Rica pyrite belt, which enters the extreme northwestern corner. KEATEN-THOMAS PROSPECT (Map local!ity D-1) K. I. Keaten, of Powder Springs, Cobb .County, owns lot 78, 2d district, 5th section, western part of Douglas County. The pyrite 90 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA prospect is in the northwest corner of this lot, on the west side of a fork of Dog River, about a mile north of its junction with Crawfish Creek. The Keaten estate is 4 miles south-southeast from the Southern Railway at Villa Rica, and the prospect shafts are approximately 200 yards east of the public road. Villa Rica is situated on a divide about 1,200 feet above sea level and the Keaten prospect is almost 1,000 feet above sea level. Three vertical shafts have been sunk on the property. In 1854, William Keaten owned the land and leased the rights to J. D. and H. T. Harper, who put down two shafts, one of which was 33 feet deep, cutting a pyrite vein 2 feet thick. Some of the rich granular ore from this exploration work still lies near the site of the old shaft in a much weathered condition. About 20 feet north of the first shaft another shaft was sunk and a drainage tunnel driven into it from the small branch 200 feet north of the shaft. No ore was encountered in either the second shaft or the tunnel. The object of the early work was copper. The small amount of ore taken out at that time is said to have contained some copper and gold. About 31 years ago, Keaten states that the present shaft which is 35 feet southwest of the old openings was put down to a depth of 12 feet. In 1917, S. Thomas, increased the 12-foot depth to 25 feet or more, exposing a vein of pyrite hardly more than 2 feet thick, but of good quality and rather free from impurities, in fact, almost a lump ore. It appears in partially oxidized masses with a deep crust of limonitic material and a center of almost pure, loose, granular pyrite. The geological formations here follow a northwest strike, contrary to the general structure of the ancient crystalline rocks, to which they belong. This divergent foliation-striking N. 30 W. and dipping 70-75 NE., as shown at the prospect-extends three quarters of a mile northwest of the shaft, then swings to a westerly direction, dipping north at the Douglas-Carroll county line 3 miles south of Villa Rica. Southeast from the prospect, this abnormal strike disappears where Crawfish Creek enters Dog River from the southwest and the normal northeast strike is resumed. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 91 The rocks on the Keaten property are of two general types; hornblende gneiss and gray siliceous gneiss. The hornblende gneiss forms a strip 100 yards wide at the prospect and contains the pyrite vein. It is so far decomposed that the outcrops are rotten red punky material, sometimes slick and micaceous, but still showing banding and foliation. This basic strip is enclosed in the gray acid gneiss which forms the country rock on either side. It is exposed in the branch 250 feet northeast of the shaft and 60 feet south of it. Some of the decomposed hornblendic material outcrops southwest of the shaft, within the gray gneiss or schist, suggesting the intrusive character of the former. This hard country rock is characterized by its gray, ftnely micaceous, foliated appearance and by the presence of small p.rneta, often rather clear and well crystallized. In places the gray gneiss contains granitic phases. The ore body is probably small-only 2 feet thick according to present prospecting (1918) and of unknown depth. The gossan near the shaft is highly limonitic and indicative of high grade ore, but its extent is extremely limited. The red, decomposed, hornblendic ore-bearing formation has been traced three quarters of a mile northwest along the strike and about the same distance southeast to Dog River, but the indications of ore within this length are not promising. Such high grade ore, however, as is found at shallow depths at the Keaten prospect is encouraging for a more extensive investigation with depth. SULPHUR MINING & RAILROAD COMPANY'S MINE (Map locality D-2) General statement.-The pyrite mine of the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company, locally known as the Villa Rica mine, is situated in the northwestern corner of Douglas County, 3 miles north-northeast of Villa Rica, Carroll County. The first prospecting at this place was done before the Civil War, for copper. About 1890, F. Durgy, of Colorado, bought the property, 92 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA sank a 300-foot vertical shaft, and did considerable underground work. In 1895 he sold it to the Sulphur l\Iining & Railroad Company, a subsidiary of the Virginia-C~rolina Chemical Company. The mine was opened in June, 1899, and worked almost continuously up to July, 1917. At that time underground work was discontinued, but other parties have since been engaged in reworking the tailings dump. Besides the lot where the mine is situated, the company also owns land in Carroll County for a distance of about two miles southwest along the pyrite lead. The pyrite-bearing formation is continuous, as the Jenny Stone, Lasseter, Watkins, and other promising prospects are farther southwest. The mine is connected with the Southern Railway at Villa Hica by a standard gage spur track over 3 miles in length. Topographic relations.-The mine is approximately 1,050 feet above sea level, according to the topographic map (:Marietta quadrangle), and is near the summit of the divide between Sweetwater and Mud creeks,' 75 feet above the level of 1\Iud Creek, about a quarter of a mile distant. Water for the boilers was pumped from this creek, the supply being ample for any plant which might be installed. The pyrite lead follows the ridge northeast from the mine, but to the southwest the strike swings more to the south, and the lead crosses several small valleys. Geology.-The deposits of the Villa Rica pyrite lead occur in a belt of Roan hornblende gneiss, along the northwestern border of a large mass of granite gneiss. The lead is at least 5 miles in length, extending from the Villa Rica mine to a point 2 or 3 miles west of Villa Rica. The deposits follow closely along the granite contact, so that some genetic connection with the latter may be inferred. The granite belt is elongated northeast and southwest, and has a width of 2 miles or more, extending from a few hundred yards north of the station at Villa Rica to Mud Creek, a quarter of a mile south of the mine, where the creek flows approximately along the contact 1 Sweetwater Creek is marked Turkey Creek on the topographic map. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA PLATE Ill OF GEORCfA RAILWAY Cl.:T. WHERE GOSSAN IRON ORE, REEDS MO UNTAIN, HARALSON B. SULPHUR MINING & RAILROAD COMPANY PYRITE MINE, DOUGLAS COUNTY, SHOWING CONCENTRATING PLANT AND DUMPS OF W AS~'E ROCK AND TAILINGS. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA !!3 between the granite and the hornblende gneiss. The granite is fine to medium in grain, and distinctly gneissic, but becomes more massive toward the north. It is light gray in color, and consists of quartz, feldspars, hornblende, and muscovite, with little or no biotite. In the granite area are some small pegmatite veins and some bands or included masses of hornblende and hornblende-epidote gneiss. The banding of the gneiss strikes a little north of east, and dips to the southeast at high angles. The hornblende gneiss, which forms a belt about a mile wide northwest of the granite area, is when fresh a dark-colored rock made up principally of hornblende, quartz, and feldspars. It weathers to a dark red, blocky, residual clay, like the "brick-bat" of the Georgia gold belts. Although the pyrite vein occurs in .the hornblende belt, the immediate wall rock, some of which may be seen on the dump at the main shaft, is a garnetiferous gneiss, made up of quartz, feldspar, biotite, garnet, and a little pyrite. The garnets are clear, well crystallized, of light red color, but almost colorless in thin section, probably of grossularite variety. In the rock from the shaft they do not constitute more than a quarter of the volume, and the largest crystals are a quarter of an inch in diameter, but along the strike northeastward, probably beyond the limit of the workable pyrite vein, there is much float of garnet rock, with garnets as large as half an inch in diameter making up over half the bulk, while the matrix is principally finely crystalline quartz. Parallel to the PJ1ite '<~in, but not apparently touching it, are a number of small pegmatite veins. Three of these are exposed in the railroad cut just west of the mill, and some fresh fragments were found on the dump. rAse veins are fine-grained pegmatite containing few crystals more than a quarter of an inch in diameter, and consisting entirely of quartz, feldspar and muscovite. The average strike of the pyrite vein and associated rocks is N. 70 E., with a dip about 80 SE. Ore deposits and underground workings.-Tbe underground 94 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA workings were inaccessible when the property was visited by the writer, but information was obtained from J. B. Gunter, formerly foreman, and others familiar with the workings. The main shaft is 500 feet deep, inclined 81 o, direction S. 32 E. The Durgy vertical shaft, 300 feet deep, which has been used for ventilation, is 125 feet east of the main shaft. The ore body has the form of a shoot pitching northeast. On the upper levels it extended 200 or 300 feet southwest of the main shaft, but in the lower levels all ore lies to the northeast of the shaft. On the 300- and 400-foot levels the ore has been worked to a distance of 700 feet northeast of the shaft, without reaching the end of the shoot. The thickness ranges from 4 to 25 feet, with a probable average of 10 feet. Most of the ore above the 400-foot level has been stoped out, but on the 500-foot level only a little drifting has been done. Not much exploration work has been done, but there are several shafts which have cut probably workable deposits at other points along the lead. About a quarter of a mile northeast of the mine are three shafts, now caved in. It is said that 2lj2 feet of good ore was encountered in one of these, and 6 feet in another. 'l'here is a twocompartment, timbered vertical shaft near the point where the lead crosses the public road, about 150 yards southwest of the mine, and another deep shaft at the top of the hill100 yards farther southwest. It is said that some ore was taken from the latter. Character of ore.-The ore minerals are pyrite and pyrrhotite. Pyrite is the dominant mineral, but pyrrhottite is abundant locally, especially near the footwall. The principal gangue minerals are quartz, magnetite and garnet. Calcite, while not an important gangue mineral, is found in small veins, and lines cavities in the ore, sometimes occurring in crystals more than an inch long. The more massive ore consists of pyrite with minor quantities of magnetite and pyrrhotite, which can not be separated by jigging, but this is rich enough in sulphur to burn as lump. In the lower grade ore the pyrite is finely intergrown with quartz and garnet, PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 95 which makes clean separation impossible without very fine grinding. The average grade of the ore is high. Lump ore was shipped dur- ing a period of two years, about 19'10, but in recent years all of the ore has been crushed and concentrated. It is reported that the ratio of concentration was 5 to 4, and even with that low ratio, a great deal of pyrite went into the tailings. The following are analyses of typical ore from the Villa Rica mine. The complete analysis was made of a sample of lump ore from a specimen in the State Museum. The sample of concentrates for analysis was taken from the ore remaining in the loading bin after work had stopped. This sample contains considerable magnetite and garnet, and does not run as high in surphur as the reported average shipments.. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA Analyses of ore from the Villa Rica mine LUMP ORE Constituents Soluble in ) aqua regia Insoluble Cmtcentrate~ Silica (SiO,) & insoluble.............. I Silica (SiO,) ........................ I I Alumina (Al,O,) .................... . Ferric oxide (Fe,O,) .............. .. Magnesia (MgO) ..................... 'I I Lime (CaO) ......................... . Soda (Na,O) ........................ Potash (K,O) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moisture ........................... . Titanium dioxide (TiO,) ............. . Pyrite (FeS,) ....................... . 1.08 9.30 .00 .00 .06 89.83 15.!l-l . 78 .06 .20 1.96 .03 .00 .00 .00 1.00 .00 71.06 Total 100.:27 1.01 95.9G Iron (Fe) .......................... . Sulphur (S) ........................ . Copper (Cu) ........................ . Arsenic (As) ....................... . Lead (Pb) ......................... . Zinc (Zn) .......................... . I Phosphorus (P) ............... . 48.3:2 48.0:2 tr. tr. .00 .00 .024 "! 38.64 37.9!1 .00 .00 Sttrface alteration.-The showing of weathered pyrite, or gossan, on the surface is not large, considering the size of the deposit. However, a few carloads of iron ore were shipped from a point near the mine. Of the associated rocks, the garnet rock made up largely of garnet and quartz is very resistant and is practically unweathered even in surface boulders. The hornblende gneiss weathers to porous, punky "brick-bat." The pegmatite dikes are completely kaolinized near the surface, while the biotite gneiss weathers to a ferruginous clay. The following section is exposed in the railroad cut just west of the mill. The formations are numbered from north to south, and PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 97 the measurements are horizontal distances, almost at right angles to the steep dip. Section across pyrite fonnation at Villa Rica mine Feet 8. White, kaolinized pegmatite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7. weathered ferruginous schist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 6. White, kaolinized pegmatite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5. Weathered ferruginous schist ......................... 30 4. White, kaolinized pegmatite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3. Mixed ferruginous schist, weathered red, black, and ocher yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 2. Gossan from pyrite vein. The good hard gossan is split into two veins, with softer and more siliceous material between ................................... 10 1. Footwall of weathered ferruginous schist............... V Northeast of the mine there is not much gossan in sight, but to the southwest an area of high grade float gossan starts at the point where the public road crosses the lead and extends about a quarter of a mile farther southwest. Besides the two shafts previously mentioned, a number of shallow pits have been dug along this lead. Weathering evidently does not extend very deep, for some of the float fragments still contain centers of fresh pyrite. Equipment.-The plant equipment consists of hoisting and mill engines and compressor, two crushers, two sets of rolls, and three 3-compartment jigs. The ore was broken to a rp.aximum of % inch, and separated by a trommel into 1\ and 1,4 inch sizes, which were concentrated in separate jigs. Only two of the three jigs were used at one time. Most of the mill machinery was allowed to deteriorate before the abandonment of the mine, and is now in need of extensive repairs. Some of the machinery, including all air drills and some of the pumps, was shipped to other mines operated by the same company in Virginia. Production.-During the period of operation of nearly 20 years, the production is said to have averaged from 12 to 15 cars a week. 98 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA At times 3 or 4 cars a day were shipped. All ore was used at the plants of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company. Tailings.-It is estimated that the tailings dump from the former workings contains 100,000 tons of material. This has recently been sampled, and found to contain an average of 15 per cent of sulphur. The high percentage of sulphur in the tailings is due to the fact that the jigs were generally overloaded during the period of operation, and also because the ore was not crushed fine enough to secure complete separation. In October, 1917, the Southern Pyrites Ore Company put in operation a plant for re-concentrating the tailings. The old tailings are crushC'd in a Huntington mill through lrr inch screens, then put through a jig. The first hutch of the jig produces concentrates. The material from the second hutch goes to a Deister-Overstrom table. At first a Lane mill was used for crushing, and a table only for concentrating, but as the ore proved more difficult to concentrate than was expected, the mill was changed and the jig installed. The old tailings are concentrated about 3 to 1, producing a concentrate with 34 to 35 per cent. sulphur. It is impossible to bring the grade higher than this, on account of the large amount of magnetite and pyrrhotite in the ore. lTp to March, 1918, about 12 carloads of concentrates had been produced. Some time was spent in experimental work, but the plant now has a capacity of a ton of concentrates an hour, and is being operated day and night. The concentrates are shipped to plants of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, the owner of the property, although the reworking is done by an independent company. OTHER. PROSPECTS There are several properties along the Villa Rica pyrite lead east of the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company's property. The Hancock prospect, owned by the Hancock heirs and Will Willoughby, is about half a mile east of the mine. There is a shaft PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 99 at the top of a hill, where it is said that ore was struck, and that a few wagon-loads were shipped. Fragments of gossan are scattered along the ridge at this point, and garnet rock is abundant. Properties farther east are owned by Jim Tate (colored), V. M. Leathers, and John Ragan. No prospecting has been done on these properties, but surface exposures indicate that the lead disappears about a mile east of the Sulphur Mining & Railroad Company's mine. PAULDING COUNTY Paulding County is on the line between the crystalline and metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks. It includes parts of two pyrite belts. The Paulding County belt lies almost entirely in this county, extending from the central part across the eastern boundary into Cobb County. The Draketown area includes the southwestern part of the county. Besides two mines in operation, the county has numerous promising prospects. SWIFT PROSPECT (Map locality P-1) Swift & Company, Chicago, own 53 acres of property on lots 1184, 1197, 1198 and 1199, 19th district, 3d section, in the extreme southwestern part of Paulding County, 1% miles east of Draketown, which is situated just over the line in Haralson County. The prospect has been idle for a number of years and the shaft is inaccessible on account of water and debris. In the Draketown district, this prospect is often called the old McLarty or McClarity mine, or the Blake mine. A few years hefore the Civil War, Wilson l\fcClarity sank two shafts between 60 and 70 feet deep on his land east of Draketown. This work, it is said, did not cut the pyrite body, but about 1889, William Tudor had the shafts sunk only 6 or 8 feet deeper and found the ore. The copper content was not promising and the prospect was soon abandoned. In 1905 or 100 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA 1906, Henry W. Blake took charge of the exploratory and development work for Swift & Company. The diamond drill was used to test the extent of the deposit, and it is said that 9 holes, ranging in depth from 37 to 400 feet, were put Clown within a distance of 1200 feet along the strike. About 5 carloads of pyrite ore were shipped as a test lot. Blake and others who had opportunity to know the conditions underground say that this is a large and promising deposit, but in the 12 years since 1916 no work has been done on the property and water stands in the timbered shaft. The Swift prospect is situated at an approximate elevation of 1250 feet above sea level, on the same gently rolling divide as Draketown, between Tallapoosa River and its tributary, Bear Creek, both of which have a general northwestward course through the Draketown district. The shaft is at the intersection of two public roads, one leading south to Temple, and the other west to Draketown. It is less than a mile west of the river and less than 100 feet above it. No stream of water sufficient for mining and milling purposes is nearer than the river. The Southern Railway at 'remple is more than 7 miles south by dirt road and slightly lower in elevation. The road follows the divide except where it crosses a small branch of Little Tallapoosa River, near Temple. Standing timber for fuel is plentiful on this and adjacent property. The rocks in this vicinity belong to the Cambrian or pre-Cambrian crystalline formations, composed very largely of dark hornblendic gneiss and schist, decomposing to rich red clay loam soil. These basic rocks and their ferruginous soil, characterize an area more than a mile wide east of Draketown. The general strike and dip are N. 40 E. and 65 SE., though the gossan outcrops at the prospect indicate a decided easterly trend of the ore body. Within the hornblendic area are micaceous and quartzitic phases whose occurrence is shown in the numerous old copper deposits dug many years ago. About three quarters of a mile west of the Swift prospect, on the north side of the road to Draketown, the hornblendic rock exposed on the wooded slope is dark green, fine-grained, gneissic, and spotted with shiny chloritic PYRITE DEPOSI1'S OF GEORGIA 101 phenocrysts, as large as lJs inch in diameter. It appears to be com- posed of very fine hornblende and quartz, with subordinate chlorite and biotite. At the shaft, the fragments from underground, presumably wall rock, show none of the hornblende gneiss, but large bladed and fibrous crystals of the mineral, more than an inch long, occur in very dark green aggregates with rather fresh reddish garnets and pale green chlorite, together with scattered grains of pyrite and quartz. The small bright garnets are often well-formed tram;lucent dodecahedrons more than l 6 inch in diameter; they sometimes occur within the horn- blende. The ore deposit on the Swift property has been traced for a length of 1200 feet, and in the 78-foot vertical shaft the vein is said to have a thickness of 10 feet. 'fhe gossan, as exposed at the shaft in the extreme northwest corner of lot 1198, near the road, is high quality, indicative of lump ore in the unoxidized portion of the ore body; in fact, good limonitic material outcrops for several hundred yards through the woods along the north line of lots 1197 and 1198 on both sides of the Temple road. More than half a dozen pits and crosscuts on this gossan mark the almost east-west direction of the deposit, somew~at different from the usual strike of the country rock. According to Blake, who was in charge of the exploratory work in 1905-1906, the foot wall is a hard granitic rock. Fragments at the month of the shaft contain sharp contacts of rich sulphide ore and hard, gray, fresh quartzitic wall with dark masses of hornLlende crystals and small pyrite grains. The pyrite ore found in the prospect may be classed as ln mp and fines. It could not be ascertained in what proportion the two gr:. 1\es occur in the deposit. Of five carloads shipped some years ago for fn r_ nace testing, Blake states that one car of lump ore contained 47 pet cent sulphur; two cars of fines contained 42 per cent sulphur; a;, ! two cars of fines contained 37 per cent sulphur. He also says that the vein contains some pyrrhotite next the granitic foot wall. The insignificant amount of ore still remaining near the mouth 102 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GJiJORGIA of the shaft, probably as it came from underground in 1905-1906, has become disintegrated and is now (1918) largely fines. The grains of pyrite are irregular to angular and a few are as large as a quarter of an inch in diameter. A small magnet drawn over the loose material becomes loaded with magnetite. Pyrite is the chief ore mineral with traces of chalcopyrite, while the prominent gangue minerals are quartz, magnetite, hornblende, and garnet. This deposit has been untouched since 1906. No buildings and no equipment are on the property. It has evidently been thoroughly prospected, and the findings are said to be highly satisfactory. Judged by surface evidence and by the meager information obtained about underground conditions, a very reasonable and conservative estimate of the amount of pyrite ore available in the Swift prospect is much more than 100,000 tons. It may be concluded, therefore, that such a deposit could be made to play no small part in meeting our national exigency. The cost of an 11- or 12-mile branch road from the Southern Rail way near Temple to the three chief prospects of the Draketown district, would be almost negligible as compared with the enormous value of ore which would be produced. HELMS PROSPECT (Map locality P-2) The Helms prospect is on lot 861, 19th district, 3d section, in the western part of Paulding County. It is on the headwaters of one of the southwest forks of Pumpkinvine Creek, in an airline about 8 miles southwest of Dallas, the county seat, and 10 miles north-northwest of Villa Rica. The nearest settlement is a small place named Hay, a little more than one mile by road southwest of the prospect. The land in this vicinity is part of the farm owned by D. S. Barber, but the mineral rights on lots 861 and 820 adjoining on the north side, belong to George W. Helms, Dallas, Georgia. Information about this deposit is rather incomplete. The prospect is locally known as the Shepard prospect, and is also known as the PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 103 Jones shaft, named from Seaborn Jones who prospected for copper sometime subsequent to the Civil War, though the first work was undoubtedly done before that time. About a mile northwest of this prospect, however, on lot 719, there is another old shaft known as the A. Jones shaft on the property of Bob Reynolds (colored) .1 The ore in sight on lot 719 is rather doubtful in value, containing prob- ably less than 20 per cent pyrite. The results of the exploratory work at the Helms prospect are largely hidden beneath the accumulation of water and debris. W. T. White, who is familiar with much of the early prospecting work in this vicinity, was able to give some information on the extent of the development. According to him, of the two shafts sunk within 50 feet of each other, the eastern one was 70 feet deep and the western, 122 feet deep. From the latter, a tunnel 180 feet long led in a N. 80o E. course to the branch. The "mineralized sulphide vein" was found to be 8 feet 4 inches wide, containing both lump and concentrating ore. About 200 tons of material were taken out, but no ore was shipped. Fragments of gossan and ore found near the shafts indicate a good grade of concentrating ore made up of granular pyrite in a quartz- ose cementing material, with variable chloritic schist stringers. This ore is rather uniformly medium to coarsely granular, the pyrite par- ticles being mostly less than 1'\r inch in diameter. Fragments thus de- scribed and analyzed show a very desirable quality of concentrating ore. Analysis of concentrating ore from the Helms ptospect (H u-109) Silica (Si02) and insoluble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferric oxide (Fe20 8 ) Moisture at 1000.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pyrite (FeB,) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.20 4.07 0.32 63.44 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.03 Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sulphur (S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copper (Cu) ................... ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --1 E. W. Y. Allgood, of Draketown, Informant. 32.37 33.92 0.00 104 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA MCGARRITY PROSPECT (.Hap locality P-3) About llh miles south of Yorkville in the western part of Pauld- ing County is a pyrite prospect belonging to B. T. McGarrity.' This property consists of lots 361, 362, and 410, 19th district, 3d section, being the farm of Jim Townes (colored). It is west of the public road between Draketown, Yorkville, and Rockmart, on the low divide between the headwaters of Pumpkinvine Creek on the east and Wircher (Witcher) Creek on the west. The general elevation is over 1350 feet above sea level.2 The McGarrity prospect was first opened many years before the Civil War by a 20-foot shaft in the gossan. About 1878, J. C. Thomas, who owned the land at that time, sank the shaft to a depth of 68 feet. Limonitic gossan fragments lie on the dump and a gossan outcrop indicative of lean pyrite ore occurs from 75 to 100 feet northwest of the old shaft across the strike of the formation. The strike is N. 20 E., and the dip 60-65 SE. The rock is a quartzose schist with quartz eyes and lenses, and carries decomposed pyrite grains near the surface. Iron-stained schist may be traced a quarter of a mile or more along the strike. The property lies on the pyrite lead which has been prospected by the Rush-Banks shafts 3 miles to the northeast and by the Smith-McCandless shafts 4 miles to the southwest. Even nearer along the southwest strike several prospect pits prove the continuity of the lead. One of these is the Dever prospect on the land of E. L. Leggett, 31f2 miles south-southeast of Vinson on the east side of Wircher (Witcher) Creek east of the public road from Vinson to Embry. About 4 feet of low grade ore at the Dever prospect shows 15.37 per cent pyrite. At the McGarrity shaft, the richest fragments found on the old dump prove the presence of concentrating ore, though its extent as 1 W. T. White, Rockmart, Georgia, furnished Information about the history of this property. 2 U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Marietta .topographic sheet. PYRITE DEPOSITS OF GEORGIA 105 a commercial deposit is not fully known. The pyrite grains are less than l 6 inch in diameter and are uniformly distributed through gray, chloritic schist. Analysis of pyritiferous schist from the B. T. "McGarrity prospect (Hu-100) Silica ( SiO,) an