In the Appalachian Country
Limestones, marbles, sand and freestone; slates, calcareous marls, brick-clays,
etc.; various deposits of red, brown and other ores of iron, plaster,
salt, etc., and a large area of all varieties of bituminous coal.
It is very difficult, within the limits of a publication like this, to present
with anything like detail a fair statement of the enormous mineral
resources of the State. For all practical purposes, they are boundless in
extent, and their distribution is such as to warrant the assertion that
before the close of the present century the aggregate product of our mines
will surpass in value those of any other State in the Union.
Between the Atlantic coast and the western boundaries of the State,
the whole "geological column" is represented, from the foundation granite
to the capstones of the upper carboniferous. And in these successive
strata are found the rocks and minerals peculiar to each all over the world,
and usually in greater abundance and of greater excellence than anywhere
else within the same area.
It would require the space of a large volume to indicate all the localities
where these underground treasures are now known to exist, and to
describe their specific qualities and estimate their quantities.
In 1891 the Commissioner of Agriculture reported from statistics that—
"In Virginia there have been found, tested and developed, immense
deposits of minerals richer than in any other land. The coke from her
immense coal fields is higher in fixed carbon and more valuable for smelting
than any other, and has been carried hundreds of miles by rail to
make cheap iron in other States. Her iron for steel, for cannon, for car-wheels,
for stoves, etc., has been given upon test the highest place. Her
immense deposits of manganese stand before the world without a rival.
Her zinc has long had a reputation based on a large contract with the Italian
Government, and both the mines and the smelting are increasing.
Her granite was accepted by the Federal Government for building after an
official test, and the finest pavements in many cities of our sister States
are of her Belgian block. Her large deposits of magnesian lime still furnish
the celebrated James River cement.
"Her Buckingham slate stands without a rival in roofing. These all
have had official and practical tests.
"Add to these, minerals that have been developed and believed to
have shown paying quality and quantity, the pyrite of Louisa, mica of
Amelia, fire-clay and ochre of Chesterfield, gold of the middle counties,
baryta, soapstone, lead, copper, tin, asbestos, plumbago, kaolin, gypsum,
salt, lime, marble, lithographic stone and many others, and Virginia may
well be proud of her mineral wealth."
