University of Virginia Library

Minerals.

ALBEMARLE county possesses deposits of iron ore,
slate, soapstone and building stones, which have been
and some are now, worked with profit. Besides these,
there are deposits of graphite, zinc, and clay, which may develop
in the future and become valuable. In addition to these
minerals of industrial importance there are found specimens
of galenite, gold, quartz of different varieties, including the
amethyst, orthoclase, albite, oligoclase, muscovite, biotite,
amphibole, asbestos, epidote, chlorite, serpentine, pyrolusite,
psilomelane, rutile, pyrite, chalcopyrite, azurite, göthite pseudomorphic
after pyrite and others.

Iron Ore.—Specimens of red and brown hæmatites and
magnetites are found abundantly at many localities, but have
been worked at only three localities.

The largest known deposit is near Stony Point, not far from
the Virginia Midland railroad, at about ten miles north of
Charlottesville. A track runs from the Virginia Midland railroad
up to the mine, though it is not worked now.

The ore is a brown hematite with some specular. Averages
of numerous analyses, give—

       

Metalic Iron	55.00	per cent.
Silica	5.00	per cent.
Phosphorus	0.16	per cent.
Sulphur	trace.

Six shafts have been put down varying in depth from 50 to
180 feet. The width of the vein varies from 4 to 6 feet, and
it has been traced by shafts for a distance of a half a mile.

Ore of the magnetic variety was taken from Cook's Mountain,
near North Garden, several years ago and shipped to the
North. This, and a deposit one mile south of Covesville, belonged
to and were operated by a Pennsylvania company,
which ceased its operations several years ago for unknown
reasons. The Covesville deposit is larger, perhaps, than the
North Garden, but is injured somewhat by the Titanium oxide
which it contains.

Specular ore is frequently met with along the James River,
between Scottsville and Howardsville, and at some localities,
as at Mrs. Scruggs, it appears to be in large quantity. Mr.
George W. Clarke, a gentleman who takes great interest in
the development of this county, had samples of this ore analyzed
abroad, and the great metallurgist, Prof. Siemens, in
speaking of it, pronounced it as quite valuable for conversion
into steel by the direct process. Analysis of this ore gives—

               

Peroxide of Iron	91.10.
Protoxide of Iron	1.10.
Phosphoric Acid	0.03.
Sulphuric Acid	0.07.
Siliceous Matter	7.20.
Water	0.50.
Total	100.00.
Metallic Iron	64.63.

Slate.—Slaty rocks are abundant in Albemarle, and in the
neighborhood of Slate Hill church, which is about 7 miles
south-east of Charlottesville, a deposit of this valuable material
has long been worked. The Albemarle Slate Company
has operated the deposit very successfully for a number of
years, and now employ 75 persons in the manufacture of slate
pencils; their sole product at present. There is a vein of slate
so soft and free from grit as to make the finest quality of slate
pencils known in the trade.

Adjacent to this property lies that of L. W. and A. D.
Cox, which is larger and contains a greater variety of valuable
slate than the other. It is not operated at this writing but will
be before the end of the year.

At both these deposits valuable slate for manufacture into
mantels, window caps, sills, coffins, &c., is also found, and
both companies are arranging to manufacture these goods.

Building-Stones.—The brownstones of the southern part
of the county have never been utilized, although in some
places their quality is such as to indicate valuable properties.

A greyish sandstone occurs west of the Southwest Mountains.
It has been quarried at several points near Charlottesville,
and used in the construction of the Brookes Museum
and Chapel of the University of Virginia. From the results
of the practical tests thus made, there can be no doubt as to
the value of these deposits.

A soft, bluish, black schist has been worked near the gasworks
of the city of Charlottesville, being used for paving,
curbing and building purposes. Though so soft as to be
easily sawed, it proves quite durable on exposure.

Soapstone.—A valuable deposit of this material is worked
near Hardware P. O., about 4½ miles from North Garden
station, of the Virginia Midland Railroad. The quarries here
were first opened in 1883, and in spite of a destructive fire,
and other impediments, the company has overcome all obstacles
and is now doing a large and profitable business. Sixty
to seventy-five men are kept constantly employed in the quarries
and in preparing the rough goods for shipment to New

York, where they are finished and placed upon the market. It
has no superior for fireplaces, register borders, laundry tubs,
sinks and bath-room fixtures, it being non-porous, acid and
fireproof; and as it is a large absorbent of heat and a slow
radiator of it, it is much used for heaters and radiators in the
public and private buildings of the East.

Graphite.—A belt of slate passes through Charlottesville
in a northeasterly direction, which contains considerable
graphite, or black lead, and at Hardware P. O. there is so
much of it in the slate as to give it a probable value for the
manufacture of crucibles.

Graphite of good quality is found in the northwestern part
of the county, at Shifflet's Hollow and at Mr. Naylor's, about
one half mile north of Wesley Chapel on the Nortonsville
road. These deposits have not been developed enough to
form any definite idea as to their value. The mineral occurs
as a vein in a decomposing feldspathic rock. It is found
amorphous and also in crystallized aggregates composed of
long, narrow prisms, apparently of a monoclinic habit.

Analysis of the two varieties of the Naylor Graphite show—

         

	Crystals.	Amorphous.
Carbon	90.799	74.645
Ash	6.555	19.195
Moisture	2.646	6.160
	100.000	100.000

The large amount of ash shown by the amorphous variety
was due to some mechanically adherent mineral silicates.

Clay.—Clay for the manufacture of building brick is
quite plentiful and of good quality. No china or firebrick
clays are worked. Near the Tilt Hammer road in Turk's
Gap, and near Christ church in the Scottsville district, there
are deposits of fine clay worthy of examination, for the manufacture
of queensware.

Zinc.—On the eastern slope of what is known as Lead
Mine Mountain, there exists a vein of mineral which, during
the war, was operated by the Confederates for lead. The
shafts which were opened then, and the buildings which sheltered
the operatives, have all fallen in, and it is only with

some trouble that specimens of the ore can now be secured.
Zinc blende is more abundant than the Galena, and the reputation
of the deposit has no doubt been injured by calling it a
lead mine, for there is but little lead there.

In 1883 the writer collected an average sample from the
"dump" and submitted it to analysis, with these results:

                 

	Pts. in 100.
Zinc Sulphide	48.22	per cent.
Lead Sulphide	4.65	per cent.
Calcium Fluoride	17.75	per cent.
Iron Sulphide	2.92	per cent.
Insoluble Silicious Matter	25.24	per cent.
Silver (two-thirds ozs. to ton).
Copper and Arsenic	traces.
	98.78

There is good reason to believe that this, and other undeveloped
mineral resources of Albemarle, may one day become
as valuable as other deposits more favorably situated.

Limestone.—At Buckeyeland creek, on the property of
Mr. Frank Glimer, and elsewhere in the same locality, there
is an impure limestone, which has furnished agricultural lime
on burning; containing, as it does, from 70 to 80 per cent. of
calcium carbonate. It is surprising that the farmers of that
neighborhood do not take advantage of the opportunity to
improve their farms by use of this most valuable fertilizer.

Mineral Springs.—The mineral springs of the county are
chiefly of a chalybeate character. That of Fry's Spring, about
one mile from Charlottesville and the University of Virginia,
amongst many others, enjoys a considerable local reputation;
an analysis, by R. D. Bohannon, made in the Laboratory of
of the University of Virginia, under supervision of Prof. Dunnington,
shows it to be an excellent water of its class.

One imperial gallon contains—

             

Carbonate of Iron	1.010	grains.
Sulphate of Lime	.490	grains.
Sulphate of Soda	.640	grains.
Chloride of Sodium	.260	grains.
Chloride of Potassium	.030	grains.
Silica	1.320	grains.
	3.840	grains.