Exploration for mineral deposits in White County, Georgia [1981] (2024)

Exploration For Mineral Deposits
In
White County, Georgia
In Cooperation with THE WHITE COUNTY REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
and the INSTITUTE OF COMMUNITY & AREA DEVELOPMENT
for the AREA REDEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Washington, D. C.
1964
Reprinted 1981 by the Georgia Geologic Survey Branch of the Environmental Protection Division, Department of Natural Resources

ARA CONTRACT NO. Cc~S960
EXPLORATION OF MINERAL DEPOSITS IN WHITE COUNTY, GEORGIA
FINAL REPORT
SUMMAR.Y OF RESULTS
White County has followed the development pattern of gold mining districts in other parts of the world through the first 3 stages. The County is now ready for the fourth stage: the consolidation of "worked out", low grade, or scatter .. ed holdings, and the commencement of large scale dredging or lod~ operations. Characteristically, the fourth stage is the most productive. In the major dis tricts, more ore was discovered during large scale development than was known befor~ systematic development began.
This report shows (1) where gold has been mined; (2) where there are known auriferous gravels which have not been mined; (3) where there are high-volume gravels which might be auriferous; and (4) the location and size of outcropping veins.
The volume and grade of gravels in the Nacoochee Valley, Sautee Creek, Be3r Creek, and Dukes Creek warrant a dredging operation. Smaller volumes of gravel at other places are rich enough to be worked with sluices.
Of the 284 quartz veins that have been sampled and assayed, 38 contain gold. Several veins are workable grade.
Three classes of aggregate can be produced: quartzite, stream gravel, and granite gneiss.
Other economic minerals which might be worked are asbestos, mica and soap~ 1tone.
Native platinum and the tungsten ore mineral, scheelite, have been discovered.
Location maps and orief descriptions are provided for 19 mineral collecting localities of interest to the hobbyist and tourist.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------ 2 PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS
Inventory of available information ---------------------- 3 Theoretical Analysis - Types of Mineral Deposits
Expected in White County ------------------------------ 3 Examination of Mines and Prospects ---------------------- 6 MAIN INVESTIGATION Search for New Deposits --------------------------------- 6
Alluvium Study -------------------------------------- 6 Search for Outcropping Veins ------------------------ 20 Reports on Economic Minerals ---------------------------- 21 Aggregate ------------------------------------------- 21 Asbestos -------------------------------------------- 23 Gold ------------------------------------------------ 24 Mica ------------------------------------------------ 64 Platinum -------------------------------------------- 65 Sillimanite ----------------------------------------- 65 Soapstone ------------------------------------------- 65 Mineral Collecting Localities --------------------------- 66 Available surface and ground water data ----------------- 96ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -------------------------------------------- 97 BIBLIOGRAPHY ------------------------------------------------ 97 APPENDIX I - Summary of Published Information on Ore Deposits and Mineral Occurrences in White County ------- 99 APPENDIX II - Mine and Prospect Examinations, White County -- 107 APPENDIX III - Report on the Martin gold properties and the Reynolds Vein (Hamby Mountain-Dean Property), White County -------------------------------------------------- 150 APPENDIX IV - Report on Glen Comyn gold mines, White County - 158
INTRODUCTION
White County is in the Northeast Georgia Highland. It comprises 243 square miles and has about 7,000 inhabitants. The county seat is Cleveland.
Although the scene of considerable mining activity in the past, White County now has few operating mines: a small production of clay1 for the man~facture of miscellaneous potter near Cleveland, and three sand-gravel operations at Helen.
Minerals are one of White County's three basic resources, and the one whose development has been most neglected. This special study has been undertaken to expand mineral production, increase employment and crea.te new economic opportunities in White County and adjacent areas.
1. Meaders Pottery, Cleveland, Georgia. 2. Helen Sand and Gravel Co., Vandiver Sand and Gravel Co., Helen Rock and
Sand Co.

3. PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS

Inventory of Available Information
Information on past mining and prospecting activities available at the beginning of the study was assembled. A summary of it is presented in Appendix I. The location of old mines and mineral localities is given by Figure 1; the locational symbol indicates when available information was insufficient for accurate location.
Thirteen ore minerals have been reported. Three have been mined: gold, asbestos, clay.

Theoretical Analysis - Types of Mineral Deposits expected in White County

The gross distribution of rock types is represented on the State Geologic Map of 1939 as a band of schist 2-4 miles wide cutting across the central part of the county from northeast to southwest. On the east side of the band is a prominent zone of amphibolite; farther east is shown a granite gneiss belt, bifurcated south of Cleveland.

This general representation was improved by the reconnaissance map of Yoho (prepared in 1951 from incomplete field work, and not published). Yoho's map as modified by Otwell (1962-63) is reproduced as Figure 2.

The major rock-types in the southeastern half of the county are sillimanite schist, mica schist, granitic gneiss and amphibolite. Major rock types in the northwestern half are fine-grained quartzose metasediments (muscovite and/or biotite gneiss or schist, garnet-mica schist, quartzite, hornblendic metasediments) and amphibolite. Small quartz veins and pegmatites are common.

SchistBsity is well developed and commonly rumpled, attesting to widespread post-metamorphic movements. The prevailing strike is NE-SW. Dips are mostly to the NW along the Gold Belt and to the SE in the southeastern half of the county. This suggests a major anticlinal axis extending NE-SW through Cleveland.

What is known of the rock types and what can be deduced in a general way about the geologic history indicate that the following types of mineral deposits might be expected:

(1) Those formed by high grade metamorphism of high-alumina sediments

sillimanite, kyanite, corundum

(2) Those associated with basic and ultrabasic rocks

olivine, chromite, magnetite, platinum

(3) Those formed by metamorphism of basic and ultrabasic rocks

asbestos, serpentine, soapstone, talc

(4) Sulphide deposits

pyrite, pyrrhotite, other metal sulphides

4.
WHITE COUNTY

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GEOLOGIC MAP

WHITE COUNTY

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6. (5) Quartz vein deposits
(6) Pegmatite deposits
(7) Deposits originating through weathering

gold
Mica, feldspar, beryl
clay, limonite, placer deposits

Examination of Mines and Prospects
A systematic examination has been made of all the mine and prospect localities previously reported. Many of them are poorly exposed, and many almost forgotten. Several prospects have been encountered for which there are no previous records. These also have been examined and are reported here.
Altogether nearly 200 mines and prospects at 63 localities have been studied. The information obtained is attached as Appendix II.

MAIN INVESTIGATION
Search for New Deposits
Alluvium Study
Explanation
All rocks near the earth's surface gradually are being broken down by the forces of mechanical and chemical weathering. As rock fragments and loose minerals are thereby produced, rainwater, gravity, frost and other agencies slowly move them downslope to the streams where running water continues their movement to the rivers, and eventually to the sea. Weathering continues during the slow journey from outcrop to the sea. Some minerals become altered, the less resistant minerals destroyed. The alluvium which finally arrives at the sea may be very different from that which left the source.
In the headwater areas, however, where weathering has not wrought too many changes, the stream alluvium is a representative sample of everything exposed now or during recent years upslope within the drainage basin. A sample of alluvium will contain traces of all the rocks cropping out upstream, and it may be truly representative of a large area.
Some of the economic minerals weather rapidly and are therefore present in the headwaters' alluvium only in traces, a few grains or a single grain per sample. Their appearance may be completely changed by weathering. Some are opaque and when represented by a single grain can be identified only by special equipment. For these reasons alluvium yields its full information only to the trained observer who examines carefully and has access to special equipment.
The study of alluvium is one of the most rapid and effective procedures for comprehensively surveying a large area to determine what minerals are to be found there and approximately where they are located.

7.
Sample Collection
By collecting at several points and compositing, local current segregations can be avoided and a more representative sample obtained. Collections are made from alluvial banks, sand bars, or stream beds. Interest being in the most recent alluvium, high level deposits, as old terraces, are avoided. Coarse gravels also are avoided, because many of the economic minerals originate in small grains and therefore may be scarce in the coarse gravels, or even lacking. Samples are taken to represent the size range of fine gravel to silt. From alluvial banks or stream beds the surface is scalped off, grab or channel samples are taken from several places and composi ted. Stream bed samples are taken oa.1ly when bars and alluvial banks are absent, as in small creeks. If collected underwater, care is taken to disturb the sample as little as possible and to avoid the winnowing action of water as the sample is undercut and raised.
A good drainage map aids the selection of sample sites. Each small tributary is sampled at least once a short distance upstream from its confluence with another tributary. Additional samples are spaced along the main streams. A sampling interval of 1/2-3 miles is satisfactory for reconnaissance. A sampling interval of a few hundred yards may be necessary for detailed tracing.
For the reconnaissance of White County, alluvial samples were collected at 79 places (see Figure 3).

Sample preparation

In the laboratory the alluvial samples are oven dried and sieved into 7 size fractions:

(1) +5 mesh

(2) -5+9

(3) -9+16

(4) -16+32

(5) -32+60

(6) -60+115

(7) -115

(pan)

The fractions chosen for detailed study are separated into light and heavy
portions by sink-float in bromoform (S.G. = 2.87). Each heavy portion, con-
taining the concentrated ore minerals, is spread out and examined particle-byparticle with a binocular microscope, both in white and in ultraviolet light. In coarser size fractions at least 1000 grains are observed. In finer fractions 5000 or more may be observed.

Positive identification is made of each grain. When sight identification is not possible, the grain is labeled and put aside for further study with the petrographic microscope, for X-ray diffraction or spectrographic analysis.

Choice of Size Fraction for Detailed Study

Because they are readily transported by streams, the finest particles of ore may be found far downstream from the source mixed with the minerals from several drainage areas. The coarsest particles, on the other hand, are found only near
the source. Thus an outcrop which is feeding ore minerals into a stream is most easily located by examining the optimum size fraction of the alluvium: that

WHITE COUNTY

ALLUVIAL SAMPLE LOCATIONS
DECEMBER, 1962

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fraction which is coarse enough to contain the ore mineral only near the source, and yet fine enough to yield a trail that will be intercepted by the sampling pattern.
Gossan and kyanite originate in large particles and offer moderate resistance to disintegration. They are best traced with +5 mesh or -5+9 mesh alluvium.
Asbestos also originates in large pieces but disintegrates more readily. The +5 mesh particles extend less than 1/4 mile downstream from the source. An alluvial trail only 1/4 mile long is too short. Therefore a finer fraction, -32+60 mesh, has been used for asbestos.
Diamonds may be sought in the -32+60 mesh fractions. Their specific gravity is greater than 3, so any that might be present will fall in the heavy mineral portion.
Platinum and gold originate mostly in very small particles. They are sought in the -60+115 mesh and the -115 mesh fractions.
Distribution of Coarse Gossan (+5 mesh).
Metal sulphides decompose when subjected to chemical weathering near the earth's surface. During decomposition the metals slowly dissolve in surface or ground waters and are leached away, iron usually at a slower rate than the other metals.
The end product is a brown or red-brown rock composed mainly of hydrous iron oxide (limonite) and having a characteristic spongy texture. This rock is called gossan.
As particles of gossan are exposed by erosion, they start to move slowly downhill to the creeks. During their downhill journey, particle size is somewhat reduced by continued weathering and abrasion. Once the particles reach the creeks they are subjected to greater abrasion by which their size is rapidly reduced. In general, only a half mile of downstream travel is sufficient to reduce all the gossan particles to -5 mesh. Only the finer sizes are found farther downstream from the source.
Figure 4 shows the general distribution of +5 mesh gossan in the alluvium of White County. The sources of the gossan, which are somewhere within the stippled areas, might be:
(1) Pyritic quartz veins. (2) Veins of massive base metal sulphides. (3) Pyritic schists. (4) Segregations of accessory sulphides in gneiss or
amphibolite.
Megascopic examination alone is not always sufficient to distinguish the type of source, but where the gossan is unusually coarse and abundant, the source is probably the first or second type.
A search has been made for gossan sources which might account for the anomalies in Figure 4.

10.

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The principal anomalies in the southeastern corner of the county are along the belt of quartzite. As described below under "Aggregate" there are numerous small masses and veins of weathered sulphide in the quartzite. So common are they in some areas that the residual soil overlying the quartzite is conspicuously littered. The largest observed masses are slightly less than 4 feet across. Where the gossan has "floated" downslope to the streams the anomalies are found.
The anomalies along Shoal Creek are from weathering sulphide veins. All those observed are small. Conspicuous gossan float is on the slope Nl5W about 0.5 mile from Shoal Creek Church, about 0.2 mile east of the dirt road (for location refer to Cleveland 7\ minute quadrangle).
The gossan sources for two of the major anomalies have not been found: (1) the anomaly along Tesnatee Creek near the SW county line, and (2) that near the head of Spoilcane Creek, north-central White County.
The superposition of Figure 4 and Figure 10 reveals little correspondence between gossan and alluvial gold anomalies. This might indicate that the sulphide masses whose weathering has yielded the gossan are not the principal sources of the gold. The superposition of Figure 4 and Figure 6 reveals, similarly, that the scheelite does not originate in the sulphide veins.
Sulphide mineralization is pronounced along the belt of fractured quartzite and in the gossan anomaly areas. Though none of the observed sulphide masses are large, the intensity and areal extent of the mineralization demonstrate the need for more detailed prospecting.
Distribution of Sillimanite (fibrolite), Graphite.
A plot of these constituents shows that they are shelling out in all parts of the county. Though more common in the southeastern half, no significant anomaly is observed.
Distribution of Asbestos (-32+60 mesh).
Figure 5 shows the distribution of asbestos in alluvium at 79 sites. The asbestos is fed to the streams from the small weathered basic masses which are mapped in Figure 2. The superposition of Figures 2 and 5 reveals, as expected, that asbestos is most common where the most basic rock crop out. Only one major asbestos anomaly is not accounted for this way: the , anomaly on York Creek in the north central part of the county.
The asbestos originated by metamorphism of the basic rocks. For further information, see the section on asbestos.
Distribution of Scheelite (-32+60 mesh).
Traces of scheelit~, one of the principal ore minerals of tungsten, are in the alluvium at several scattered places. (Figure 6). The superposition of Figure 4 and 6 reveals no direct relation between the distributions of scheelite and gossan. This implies different sources. Similarly, the superpoBition of Figures 6 and 10 implies different sources for the scheelite and the gold. This tentative conclusion depends on the validity of the assumption that the alluvial gold anomalies in Figure 10 relate to nearby auriferous veins.

12.

Asbestos in Stream Alluvium
(-32 +60 mesh)
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DISTRIBUTION OF ALLUVIAL SCHEELITE IN WHITE COUNTY
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14.
Although the percentage of scheelite observed at each locality is very small (less than 5 grains, 0.001-0.02. inches in diameter, per sample) the scheelite is easy to detect: it fluoresces a brilliant white or blue-white when irradiated by ultraviolet light. We therefore tried to trace the scheelite to its source by searching the stream beds, at night, with a shortwave light. Figures 7, 8, and 9 show what portions of the stream channels were searched. These efforts were not successful, but the possibility of tracing the alluvi~l scheelite to the source remains, inasmuch as all the stream cannels have not been searched.
When the stream beds were being searched, outcrops on the hillsides within the drainage nets were also examined with shortwave light, and one scheelitic outcrop was found. It is on U. S. Highway 129, 0.3 mile northwest of Tesnatee Church. The rock Is amphibolite striking N40E and dipping steeply to the northwest. The amphibolite is cut by calcite and quartz veinlets. Within the mineralized rock, associated with the calcite, are disseminated small grains of sulphide and scattered grains up to 1/4 inch across of scheelite, which has been softened by weathering. The extent of the mineralization will be hard to trace except by geochemical methods.
The mode of occurrence of scheelite near Tesnatee Church is unlike the mode of occurrence of the massive sulphide and the gold, supporting our earlier conclusion that the scheelite sources would be different.
While the total amount of observed scheelite is very small, it does prove some scheelite mineralization. Any new exposures in the county should be specifically examined for scheelite, which is not always easy to recognize in plain light.
Distribut i on of Al l uvial Gold.
Of the 79 alluvial samples collected in White County, 64 contained free gold. All the gold particles were -60 mesh, most were -115 mesh, or less than 0.00511 in diameter.
The distribution of alluvial gold, Figure 10, shows little relation to what has been called the "gold belt", that belt within which most of the gold has been mined. The two major concentrations are both upstream from the "gold belt" and are in areas where no gold mining has been recorded. One is the headwaters areas of Dukes Creek, 3~ miles west of Helen. The other is near the head of Shoal Creek in southwestern White County.
The distribution pattern of fine alluvial gold developed from the weathering of veins certainly has been modified in recent years by the widespread application of auriferous gravels to country roads. Most of the gravel operations at present are within old gold placer areas. The extent of "salting" is hard to appraise, and renders the interpretation of gold anomalies uncertain.
Distribution of Alluvial Platinum.
Small grains of platinum have been identified in the fine fractions of alluvial samples from 8 localities (Figure 11). The grains are gray, irregularly shaped and malleable. All are in the "heavy mineral" portion of the -115 mesh size fractions. The identification has been verified by X-ray diffraction. The highest observed concentration is 3 grains/0.04 gm.

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18.

WHITE COUNTY

DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN ALLUVIAL SAMPLES
Number of gold parllcln per 0.04 aroma of- 115 mash allu~lum

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19.
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20.
Because fine sieves are hard to clean, it is possible for a few fine particles to carry over from one sieved sample to another, i.e., for minor contamination to occur in the finer fractions. This is particularly true for platinum the particles of which are irregular in shape and easy to lodge on the screens. Such minor contamination must be taken into account when the concentration of a constituent is as low as that of platinum. Thus it is possible that platinum did not originate at all the locations indicated by Figure 11.
The platinum in White County probably is derived from small bodies of dunite, olive-pyroxenite or peridotite, possibly gabbro, as platinum always originates in basic and ultrabasic rocks.
The significance of this discovery of platinum remains to be determined. The limits of the platiniferous alluvium should be more accurately delineated and the sources located.
Alluvium search for tin.
A note published by Mr. William Blake in the American Journal of Science in 1874 reports wood tin in the Nacoochee Valley. Mr. Blake wrote: "In 1860, while examining a series of specimens of the residual black sand from the sluices used in collecting gold in North Carolina and Georgia, I found several minute grains of wood tin in the sand from the Nacoochee Valley, White County, Georgia. Although it occurs sparingly, the fact that it exists is worthy of record, as it may possibly be traced to larger deposits. I have examined the sand from a great number of other localities, southwestward from Rutherfordton in North Carolina without finding any traces of tin. The usual minerals of the "black sand" about Dahlonega, Georgia, are specular iron, magnetite, ilmenite, rutile, cyanite and garnet. At the Walton Branch, in North Carolina, corundum, zircon and monazite are abundant with the ordinary mixtures of iron minerals, and xenotime occurs in minute crystals, but no tin ore was found."
Our search of the alluvial samples from the Nacoochee Valley revealed no tin.
Alluvial search for diamonds.
During the 1800's diamonds were reported from some of the gold placers in White County, as on "Lot 1011 (Lumsden property). Information about the reported finds is meager, and there is some question as to their authenticity.
A special search, nevertheless, has been made of the alluvial samples for diamonds. The heavy mineral portion of each -32+60 mesh fraction has been spread out and examined particle-by-particle with the binocular microscope. Small diamonds generally are crystals with rounded faces, adamantine luster and characteristic habit .. A few other heavy minerals may have a similar appearance, as equant, rounded zircons. Each grain that resembled diamond in the -32+60 mesh fractions were examined optically.
No diamonds were found.
Search for Outcropping Veins
Vei.ns were sought by systematic traverses in the areas where there are gossan anomalies and gold anomalies. Weathered thin sulphide veins, sources of gossan,

2L
were located in South White County and along Shoal Creek. These are reported above under the heading "Distribution of Coarse Gossan". No auriferous veins were located in the two principal gold anomalies, but were found at one locality outside the "Gold Belt": Location P60K in south White County. The location and assay reports on quartz veins are given in the section on "gold".
Reports on Economic Minerals
For the location of mines and prospects refer to Figure 12 and to Tex Maps 1, 2, and 3.
Aggregate
Source of aggregate are quartzite, gneiss, and stream gravel. Only quartzite and stream gravel are being used.
Quartzite: Two varieties are found: (1) A tough massive bluish-gray quartzite which grades laterally into highly quartzose fine-grained biotite gneiss, and (2) a highly fractured, friable tan quartzite. The latter is easy to quarry and is widely used to surface roads. It is taken from quarries in the quartzite band 6-200 feet wide which enters White County from the south and extends to the northeast for several miles. The band strikes N65E and dips 60-700SE. It has been traced from a point on the Hall-White County line one mile west of U. S. 129, northeast for a distance of 5 miles to the vicinity of Mossy Creek Community where it is interlayered with sillimanite schists. It is expressed topographically as a ridge. The principal quarry is 1/2 mile NE from County Line Church. In the quartzite are streaks, pods and irregularly shaped masses of limonite which commonly litter the ground over the quartzite.
The massive bluish gray quartzite is not used as aggregate, probably because of its toughness. It parallels the "Gold Belt" on the northwest side, and is interlayered with a salt-pepper textured quartzose biotite gneiss.
Stream Gravels: The most widely used road surfacing material is stream gravel, abundant supplies of which are available throughout the valleys of the Chattahoochee River, Dukes Creek, and Town Creek, as well as numerous smaller streams. The gravel is heterogeneous, being a mixture of the rock types over which the streams flow. It consists of hornblende gneiss, amphibolite, mica schist, biotite gneiss, pegmatite, granite gneiss, chlorite schist and vein quartz. Jimmy Vandiver (Helen Rock and Sand Company) is presently sorting the gravels of Dukes Creek to be used as a surfacing material. More extensive gravel operations are on the Spoilcane Creek floodplain a few miles northwest of Robertstown, headed by Mr. Abernathy. On Dr. Walter's property near Echoee Girls Scout Camp is a third gravel operation near the confluence of Craig and McClure Creeks.
White County maintains a gravel pit on Town Creek, on the old Loud Gold Mine propert;. M0st of the gravel operations in White County are within old placer gold areas: auriferous gravels are being widely spread over the county's roads.
Gneiss: The distribution is shown by Figure 2. Most of the gneiss is

22.

WHITE COUNTY

LOCATION OF MINES 6 PROSPECTS
0'====="-===2 lot I LES 1963
KEY
AGGREGATE ASBESTOS CLAY MNFE MUSCOVITE PEGMATITE SILLIMANITE SOAPSTONE SULFIDES TALC LOCATION

_,
~ ~

~II

~ ~

112

(1)6

~~()32

()12

$
:1o 09

(1)4

() 191 ~95

()
()()
$5

9202

-0

$9~

0249

0 0

0140 G

Figure 12

23.
weathered at the surface. By stripping off this mantle, fresh:gneiss can be exposed over large parts of the county.
Asbestos
All the known asbestos deposits in White County are southeast of the "gold belt", within an area underlain predominently by granite gneisses, biotite gneisses, and mica schists. With the single exception of the Sal Mountain mine (Locality P9) which is on the east slope of Sal Mountain, the deposits are situated less than a mile southeast of the "gold belt", and occur along a line paralleling the northeastward structural trend. Three old mines are along this trend: P3, P33, and PlO.
The greatest production of asbestos was from the old Sal Mountain Asbestos Company mines, which operated over a 30-year period between 1890 and 1920. The property is now held by the L. G. Hardeman Estate. In the earlier years of this period, White County was the sole producer of asbestos in the U. S. (McCallie, 1910, p. 33). All the White County asbestos is anthophyllite.
P9 Prospect Area. This area is located on the south side of a long, low ridge which trends ENE from Sal Mountain. Two large pits evidence past mining activity. According to old reports (McCallie, 1910, p. 33), the asbestos was white to yellowish, and fibers rarely exceeded 1 inch in length. The first discovery of asbestos was a body 75 feet long and 50 feet wide; it was mined to a depth of about 50 feet, and mining is reported by Peyton (1950) to have stopped in good ore. According to McCallie (1910, p. 33), the rock produced about 90% fiber. The country rock enclosing the ore body is not exposed in the old workings, but is reported to be a peridotite with asbestos inclusions (Peyton, 1950).
The westernmost cut measures 200 feet long, 75 feet wide, and about 50 feet deep. The lower 15 feet of the pit walls expose granite gneiss above which is deeply weathered mica schist with stringers and pods of pegmatite and thin quartz veins. The bottom of the pit is filled with water. About midway the pit and 15 feet back from the northwest edge is a prospect shaft 4 feet in diameter and 30 feet deep. Some work was carried on just southeast of the above pit in the narrow valley near creek level. Local reports state that high quality asbestos was taken from the site, and that work was eventually abandoned because of ground water problems. The "vein" supposedly extended beneath the creek.
A second cut is approximately 500 feet east of the cut described above. It measures 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and about 30 feet deep. There are no exposures because of slumping and vegetation. The country rock is granitegneiss; no ultrabasic rocks are observed.
PlO Prospect Area. This area is located near the crest of a low knob west of Sal Mountain, 3000 feet east of Georgia Highway 75, and approximately 3000 feet NW of Union Grove Chapel. The asbestos was mined by the Calhoun Mining Company. Two contour trenches, one 15 feet higher than the other, are connected by a downslope trench which trends N80W. The contour trenches are approximately 50 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, and expose granite gneiss saprolite. Some soapstone is exposed in the upper trench, and has a strike of

24.
N28E, a dip of 25NW. Dumped materials show soapstone, mass fiber asbestos, and a very small amount of short cross fiber (less than 1"). Judging from the small size of the cuts, little asbestos could have been removed.
P3 Prospect Area. This area is in the 3rd District, Land Lot 164 (north part); about 2 miles north of Cleveland, Georgia, and is 500 feet west of Georgia Highway 75, and 1500 feet southeast of Tesnatee Creek. The old pits are on the southeast side of a gently sloping hill at a contour elevation of about 1580 feet.
The mines were worked by the Sal Mountain Asbestos Company, and are presently owned by Mr. Earl Thomas.
The main workings consist of a large cut 175 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 50 feet deep, slumped and partly filled by water. The pit wall on the north side exposes weathered feldspathic rock, asbestos, talc, and narrow quartz veins. The contacts between the quartz veins and country rock are highly chloritized. The talc occurring here is of exceptional purity, and represents high quality specimen material. The talcose layers from which it comes strikes N40E and are vertical.
Three hundred feet along strike from the main pit is a small prospect trench measuring 45 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. There are no outcrops.
P33 Prospect Area. This area is in northeast White County, approximately 0.85 mile ENE from the junction of McClure and Craig Creeks, at a Girls Scout Camp, and on the property of Dr. Walters, Sautee, Georgia.
Only a limited amount of work has been done at the site. A trench, trending N49W has been cut 50 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 25 feet deep at its northwest end, which exposes the working face 11 Rock types on the face include chloriteschist, fine-grained biotite quartzite, pure talc, soapstone, and a silvery white asbestos. Mass-fiber asbestos is exposed at the top of the cut, with fibers up to 811 01011 in length; it defines a zone 3 feet to 4 feet in thickness. Museum quality specimens can be collected here. Soapstone underlies the asbestos, and is about of equal thickness. Below the soapstone is a 0-;; 1 thick pure talc lay~ er whic~ grades laterally into coarsely-crystalline chlorite. Immediately below the tal~ layer is biotite quartzite and chlorite schist.
Three hundred feet S370W from the above workings, is a large outcrop of soapstone.
Although exposures are poor the quality of the asbestos at P33 justified additional prospect work.
Gold
Gold prospects and mines account for more than 90% of the past mineral activity in White County. Records exist for less than half the operations. Considerably more gold was produced than the records indicate.
Most of the auriferous veins are in and along a band of hornblendic rocks which runs NE-SW across the central part of the county. This has been called the "Gold Belt". The hornblendic rocks are bounded on the east by granitic gneiss and on the west by garnetiferous schist. The zone is characterized by

25.
rumpling, shearing and faulting. The auriferous veins occupy fault zones and dilation sites in hornblende gneiss and schist.
The gold placers are along the same band.
One of the best possibilities for mineral development in White County is a renewal of gold mining, both placer and lode.
Gold mining camps in other parts of the world have followed a common developmental pattern.
First stage - Discovery of gold and the intensive working of numerous small placer deposits.
Second stage Depletion of the richer placers and a decline in mining activity.
Third stage - Search for lode deposits and the development of many small vein workings.
Fourth stage - The legal consolidation of "worked out" or lowgrade deposits under a few owners and the beginning of large scale dredging or lode operations.
The major production may come during the 4th stage.
The White County gold district has known only the first 3 stages. Small lode deposits were mined and a start was made on dredging, but for several reasons the development chain was broken and stage 4 has never been realized.
Auriferous veins: The locations of quartz veins that were sampled and assayed are given by Figure 13. The veins range in size from thin seams a fraction of an inch thick up to long veins 60 inches thick. Both large and small veins are auriferous. A total of 284 veins were sampled and assayed. Of this number 38 were found to be auriferous. Assay values are reported in Table I and shown by FiguLe 14. An.auriferous vein was found outside the "Gold Belt" at only one place: P60K in the south-central part of the County (see Figure 14).
Assay values are generally less than $5.00/ton; the highest value is $16.00/ton. These results are consistant with assays of the past. Richer veins certainly exist, but the ones that are known are not exposed for representative sampling.
Auriferous placers: Auriferous gravels are delineated on Text Maps 1, 2, and 3. Those which show evidence of having been worked are distinguished insofar as possible from those which are unworked. Probably there are auriferous gravels that have not been mapped along some of the smaller creeks; some of them might be rich, but their volume is small. In addition, it is likely that there are minable bodies of auriferous saprolite. These could be delineated only by a greater effort than was allowed by the scope of this study. Maps 1, 2, and 3 accurately delineated the major auriferous gravels.
Description of auriferous properties: In the sections below are brief description of the auriferous properties in the gold belt. For their location, refer to Maps 1, 2, and 3. Additional information on many of them may be obtained from Appendices II, III, and IV.

26.

LOCATION
Of
ASSAY SAMPLES
WHITE COUNTY
'===~==tt.tllu

Figure 13

27.

TABLE I - GOLD VALUES OF ASSAYED SAMPLES, WHITE COUNTY (for location of samples see Figure 14)

Gold value Sample No, Dollars/ton

Gold value Sampl e No. Dollars/ton

Gold value Sample No. Dolla rs /ton

PlS Pl6B Pl7A Pl8 Pl9A Pl9B Pl9C P20 P22A P22B P22G P23B P25D P25G P25I P34Al P34A2 P34C P3SE P35G P35H P3SI1Fl P35I1/2 P35I1F3 P36A P36B P36C P36G P37#1
P371F2
P38A P38B P38C P38D P39A P39C P41B P41E P41G P42B P42C P42Fl P42G P42I P42J P42K P43A P25E

ND* ND T * ND
II
II
II
II
II
T ND T ND
II
" "
T ND ND T $1.05 T $1.75 T T ND ND T T $1.05 $3.15 T ND $4.38 ND T ND $2.60 ND ND T ND ND $16.00 ND ND ND T

* ND = Not detected,

P44A P45A P46 P47 P48Bl P48B2 P50F P50G P50H P51A P51B P51C P51E P53A P53B P54A P56C P56F P56G P56I P56J P57B P59B P59C P59D P59E P59F P59I P59J P59K P59L P59M P59N P590 P59P P59R P60A P60B P60C P60D P60E P60F P60H P60I P60Kl P60K2 P60K3 P60K4
T = trace

T T ND ND T T ND
II
II
II
II
T $1.75 ND
"
II
II
II
II
II
$0.87 ND
II
II
II
"
II
II
" "
II
"
II
"
II
II
"
II
"
"
"
II
II
"
II
II
II
ND

P60K5

P60K6

P60K7

P60K8

P60K9

P60K10

P60Kll

P60K12

P60K13

P60Kl4

P60L1

P61A

P61C

P61D

P61E

P61G

P61H

P61Il

P61I2

P61J

P61K

P61L

P61M

P61N

P610

P61P

P61Q

P61R1

P61R2

P61S

P61T

P61U

P61V

P61W

P61X

P61Y

P61Z

P61AA

P61BB

P61CC

P61DD

P61EE

P61FF

P61GG

P61HH

P61II

P61JJ

P61KK

28.

Sample No.
P61LL P61MM P61NN P6100 P61PP P61QQ P61RR P61SS P61TT P61UU P61VV P61WW P61XX P61YY P61ZZ P62 P62A P62B P62D P62E P62F P62G P62H Pl59D
40

Gold value Dollars/ton
ND
II
" " "
II II II
"
II II II II II II II II
ND
T
ND
II II II II
ND

Sample No.
63E 66E 74E 81B 83B 85 93D 93E 93F 93G 101 107 110 112A l18A 120 123 124 124A 125 129 130 147 149 157

Gold value Dollars /ton
ND
II
II
" " "
II
II
II
II
ND T
ND
II
II
II
"
ND $1.05
T
ND
"
II
II
ND

Sample No.
214A 214B 214C 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 Sta. 192 Sta. 206 Sta. 207

Gold value Dollars/ton
ND
II
" "
II
II II II
"
II II II
ND
T ND
ND
T T T

WHITE COUNTY

29.

GOLD ASSAYS
sornphtd quartz vein, barren.

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30.
Loud Mine (Pl on Map 1) - !be Loud gold mining area is 3~ miles WSW of Cleveland, Georgia in the NW~ of the Cleveland quadrangle. Early mining was for the ~ost part along the broad lowlands of Town Creek, near its confluence with Tesnatee Creek. Past records (Jones, 1909) report the mine as comprising portions of Land Lots 39 and 40 of the 1st District. At present most of this acreage is owned by White County which uses the auriferous gravels to surface county roads. A small part of the acreage is held by Mr. Helton who resides on the property.
The Town Creek flood plain is marked by large ponds, the scars of early placer operations. Over a linear distance of about three-fourths mile, the creek bottom drops roughly 10 feet. This low gradient prevents the most efficient type of sluice operation. Early operators were always hampered by ground water and the low gradient. They generally resorted to selective pit-mining, using a small hydraulic lift (Jones, 1909).
Several moves have been made to remedy the drainage problem. The Hand Mining Company began a large cut toward the southwest with the idea of connecting Town Creek Valley with Tesnatee Creek at a point lower in elevation, thus causing a reversal of drainage in the Town Creek Valley. Later the Canadian American Loud Gold Mining Company became holder of the property and extended the cut along its planned course, but not to the point of completion.
Although most of the gold taken from Town Creek valley came from placer mining, an unusual quartz vein was discovered in the bottom of a pit. The vein contained rich specimens of crystallized and wire gold. A shaft (location "B" on Map 1) was sunk over the vein but inability to cope 'vith ground water finally forced the operation to cease. Later work on the vein was carried on by Mr. R. K. Reaves, of Athens, Georgia (Jones, 1909). Attempting to overcome the ground water difficulties, he lined the shaft with concrete. Old records indicate the total depth of the shaft to be 60 feet; mention is made of drifts extending approximately 30 feet to the NE and SW (Jones, 1909, p. 207), (Yeates, 1896, p. 76). Six hundred feet NE of this shaft two other shafts reportedly were sunk to a depth of 70 feet following an auriferous vein. The general NE-SW trend of the shafts conforms to the strike of the country rock, so these veins might be ~he same. Only one adit is known on the property. It is located just SW of the Helton house and trends N65W across the strike of the country rock, which consists of intercalated mica schist, fine-grained biotite gneiss, and hornblende gneiss. The adit appears to be exploratory rather than for mining. At a point 12 feet beyond the adit entrance the adit changes course sharply to the left for a distance of 10 feet, then resumes its original trend (N650W) for 25 feet. No quartz veins were observed inside the adit.
Most of the placer mining was carried on along the south edge of Town Creek floodplain in the vicinity of the previously mentioned ponds. The area indicated as having been placer worked (see Map 1) has not been uniformly and thoroughly turned. Many portions have not been distrubed at all; others have been worked over perhaps several times by various mining concerns.
Northeast of the main placer workings (location "F" on Map 1) Town Creek has cut through 15 feet of alluvi\.un, exposing approximately 13 feet of siltsand overburden overlying 2 feet of cobbly gravel. It is not known whether the gravel continues downward to bedrock. One reference to the Loud placers (Yeates, 1896, p. 75) states that the alluvium is characterized by a maximum

31.

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GOLD IN WHITE COUNTY

MAP I - CLEVELAND QUADRANGLE

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J

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1963

I Mile

LEGEND

C$J Gold placer, worked

en Gold placer, unworked

Prospect pit or trench

" Shaft or old mine

Adlt, symbol point at entrance

P-numbers refer to prospect areas

(

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32.
of 20 feet of overburden with basal gravels averaging one to four feet in thickness.
The Loud mine area is underlain entirely by hornblendic rocks and intercalated schists. Probably the alluvial gold came from the quartz veins in these underlying rock. Nuggets of the size found in the Loud gravels, some of which weighed more than 15 ounces (Jones, 1909) cannot have migrated far from the source.
Figure 15 is an early sketch map of the Loud area. Though representation of the veins is grossly inaccurate and the map is undated, it does show the position of placer pits, pipe line and mill at one stage of development and is offered for historic interest. For an appraisal of the Loud area see the section on Gold Placers.
Old Asbury Placers (P55) - Southwest of the Loud mine, along Chateen Creek, are the old Asbury placers.
Most work is evident near the junction of Chateen Creek and its northwestern-most tributary. Though thick vegetative cover obscures the limits of placer gravel, it is still apparent that the area has been well turned,
Fifteen hundred feet northeast of the stream junction, along the crest of a NE-trending ridge, are several small prospect pits (A on Map 1), the largest measuring 15 feet in diameter and 10 feet in depth. A composite sample of vein quartz float in the vicinity of the largest pit contatned no gold.
Courtney Placer (P53) - Southeast of the Loud Mine, on Land Lot 33 is the Courtney property, which comprises a large portion of the broad floodplain at the junction of Town and Tesnatee Creeks. The property is largely owned by White County.
Evidence of past placer workings is most abundant along a small NE-flowing stream which joins Town Creek just north of the Dahlonega highway bridge. Piles of discarded quartz cobbles are particularly abundant near the edge of the main floodplain. Placer furrows and steep-walled hydraulic cuts follow the small stream valley southwestward to the vicinity of the highway. Coarse gold can be panned from some of the undisturbed gravel zones adjacent to the old placers.
The floodplains of Town and Tesnatee Creeks unite on the Courtney property to form the widest portion of the floodplain. Here the alluvium probably has its greatest thickness. The larger portion of this alluvium appears to have never been mined.
Henderson Property (P54) - The Henderson property, known as the old "Rider Place", is on Land Lot 34, immediately north of the Courtney property and east of the Loud mine. The prop,arty includes a small portion of the broad TownTesnatee floodplain. Evidence of old placer workings can be seen along a small SE-flowing tributary to Tesnatee Creek. Some trenching and pitting can be seen along the ridges of the property. No important discovery of gold was reported (Yeaces, 1896, p. 74). Interest in the property as a possible gold producer evidently was enhanced by its proximity to the Loud workings.
The NE-SW trending ridges on the property are underlain by the hornblendic rocks of the "gold belt".

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34.
Lots 37 and 38, 1st District - Lots 37 and 38 of the 1st District are between Etries property on the southwest and the McAfee and Atkinson properties on the northeast.
The area is characterized by steep valley slopes and narrow channels, so the volume of gravel on the lots is small. Jones (1909, p. 212) mentioned a limited amount of vein mining as having been done.
Matthews Lot (Lot 49, 4th District) -As with Land Lots 37 and 38, only brief mention is made of the Matthews Lot in early publications (Jones, 1909, p. 212). The property is farther northwest than most of the other gold mining areas, more or less outside the "gold belt".
Etries Property (P39) - The Etries property is in the NW~ of the Cleveland quadrangle, about one mile east of Town Creek Church, on Land Lot 62, 1st District.
Placer mining was concentrated along a small NE-flowing tributary to Glade Branch, and was confined to the immediate vicinity of the stream. Hydraulic cuts extend NW and SE from the placer workings into saprolite derived from finegrained quartzose-biotite gneiss and intercalated schists. Undisturbed gravels that were panned showed no colors.
The main hydraulic cut is on the NW side of the stream about midway its course (locality "A" on Map 1). The trench averages 15 feet wide by 15 feet deep, and extends N550W for a distance of 150 feet from the stream. At this point the cut turns northeastward for another 125 feet, increasing in width to 50 feet. On the NW wall of this extension a 2 inch quartz stringer was sampled. Its assay showed no gold.
A smaller cut is 600 feet downstream from the main cut. It is roughly 5 feet wide and 8 feet deep, and follows a shallow draw S38E for a distance of 100 feet then proceeds northeastward another 30 feet. Ten feet beyond the end of this trench is a small prospect pit.
The placer area along the stream is cut by numerous channels. In some places the stream has cut down through the alluvium and exposes bedrock beneath 2 feet to 4 feet of gravel. Only one adit was observed on the property (Locality "C" on Map 1). It is 300 feet NNE of the main hydraulic cut. It extends N37W for a distance of 10 f~et across the strike of the country rock, which is contorted biotite mica schist containing a few thin quartz stringers. The assay of a composite sample of these stringers showed no gold. The cross-strike trend of the adit suggests it was driven for exploratory purposes.
A rectangular prospect pit (20 1 x 15 1 x 10' deep) is located 30 feet N820W from the adit entrance. The pit is badly slumped and no veins are visible.
A shallow trench cut, beginning at a point 10 feet N32E from adit entrance, extends toward N250W for a distance of 15 feet; then alters its course to N35E for an additional 20 feet.
Mr. Etries who lives near Town Creek Church was one of the early miners of this property. His last operation was in 1896, but the property has been worked on several occasions since that time. Mr. Etries described an adit driven at an angle for a distance of 100 feet into the hillside near the adit mentioned above.

35.
A thorough search of the area failed to locate it; possibly the entrance is completely obscured by slumpage. Judging from Mr. Etries' directions, it might be located in the bottom of the rectangular pit described above.
McAfee (P41, P45) - The McAfee property is in the NW\ of the Cleveland quadrangle, on Land Lot 36, 1st District, and Lant Lot 25, 4th District.
A small tributary flowing east-southeastward to Jenny Creek shows signs of intermittent placer working immediately adjacent to the stream channel and at its confluence with Jenny Creek (Locality "A" on Map 1). The downstream portion of this tributary is flowing on bedrock. Due to the scarcity of alluvium along the creek, most of the work appears to have been concentrated on vein deposits on the ridges to the south, northwest, and northeast. For location of these workings refer to Map 1.
Locality "B": An adit extends N500W generally down the dip of the country rock, which is mica schist intercalated w"ith fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss. The adit is inaccessible due to slumping but exceeds 15 feet. A thin quartz pod at the adit entrance was sampled for gold assay and gave negative results. Twenty feet west of the adit entrance is a rectangular prospect pit (15 1 x 10' x 5' deep) obscured by slumping.
Locality "C": A trench extends N42E along the strike of the country rock for 150 feet, at which point it offsets 20 feet northwest and continues another 50 feet parallel to its original coarse. Seventy-five feet northeast from the offset is a circular prospect pit 8 feet in diameter. Twenty feet beyond this pit in the direction N400E is another prospect pit 5 feet in diameter.
Locality "D": A gently inclined adit is 100 feet N40W of the 8-foot diameter prospect pit mentioned above. Its entrance is blocked by slumping, but the general trend appears to be S22E.
Locality "E": An adit is located 100 feet N58E of adit entrance at "D", and extends S250W for a distance of 10 feet in fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss. The adit follows the axis of a minor fold which plunges slightly to N250E. Associated with the fold is a concordant quartz vein. The southeast limb dips less than the northwest limb. The quartz vein is 4"-14" thick on the southeast limb and 2"-4" thick on the northwest limb. A sample of the vein assayed $2.63/ton in gold.
Locality "F": Sixty feet Nl5E from the adit at "E" is another adit. The entrance is blocked by slumping, but the trend appears to be N30W.
Locality "G": 2150 feet WNW of the adit at "D" is a series of small prospect pits and trenches which trend N30E following the general strike of the country rock. The rocks around the perimeter of some of the pits indicate that a rather large quartz vein was intercepted. An assay of this quartz showed no gold.
Locality Pl~SA: An adit and related trenching are located 1300 feet east of the junction of Gold Branch and Jenny Creek and near the top of a NE-trending ridge. It is not certain that these workings are a part of the McAfee mining. The adit extends N36E for 15 feet in fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss and

36 .
crenulated mica schist. The entrance to the adit, blocked by slumping, is at the northeast end of a 50-foot long trench. The trench is aligned with the trend of the adit. Several l-inch quartz stringers were sampled above the adit entrance; gold assays gave negative results. Twenty feet S720W from the adit entrance is the NE end of a similar trench. Placer ground is scarce at this site.
Atkinson Property (P41) - The Atkinson property is in the NW~ of the Cleveland quadrangle on Land Lot 48, 4th District. It is owned by the Atlanta Jewish Community Center, and has been converted to a summer camping area.
Past records (Yeates, 1896, p. 72) indicate that most of the mining was centered along Gold Branch which is the first SE-flowing tributary to Jenny Creek encountered south of Twin Lakes. Evidence of placer gouging can be seen along the branch for a distance of 1/2 mile from its junction with Jenny Creek. Jenny Creek shows signs of having been randomly placered from near the Matthews property northward to the vicinity of the old Sprague or Blake workings.
In addition to the placer workings there are saprolite cuts near the upstream limits of the Gold Branch placer ground.
The line of prospect pits and trenches on the McAfee property (locality "G" of Map 1) terminate at a large hydraulic cut on the southwest side of Gold Branch. The cut extends 350 feet in a southwesterly direction from Gold Branch. Hydraulicking was made possible by the construction of a small concrete dam at the top of a 30-foot waterfall near the head of Gold Branch. The dam and reservoir 600 feet NNW of the hydraulic cut are still in fair condition.
Sprague or Blake Mine Area (P40, P42, P43, P44, P46, P47) - In the SW~ of Cowrock quadrangle about 1/2 mile west of Tesnatee Church on Lots 26 and 47, 4th District are the old Sprague or Blake workings. Mr. Blake was the property owner; "Sprague" is the name of an important vein of the property and is presumed to be the name of its discoverer.
A considerable amount of prospecting and mining has taken place in this area, the greater part of it on vein deposits. Some placer work was done along a prong of Jenny Creek southwest of the main "diggings". Adits, pits, shafts and trenches are numerous, scattered over a large area, and represent a long period of activity. The most recent work was done in 1934-1935 by C. 0. Poland and W. B. Beach of Cleveland, Georgia. To facilitate description the area is considered section by section. See Map 2 for locations.
P42: The southwest portion of P42 is owned by Mrs. Ida Allen, the mineral rights py Mrs. Mary Lou Harkins. The north and northeast portions are owned by Mr. David Dockery and the Atlanta Jewish Community Center, respectively.
P42A is a rectangular shaft (15 1 x 12 1 ) open to the water level at a depth of 35 feet. Its orig_inal depth was 60 feet (R. W. Smith field notes, 11-30-34), and was sunk over an 18" quartz vein with the attitude N50E, 60NW. The vein pinched to a width of 14 1 toward the bottom of the shaft. A grab sample of the quartz assayed $19.00/ton in gold.
The rock exposed on the shaft walls is a quartzite fine-grained biotite gneiss which strikes N50-60E and dips steeply to the northwest. Seventy-five feet Nl5E from shaft is slumped pit 10 feet in diameter.

37.

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MAP 2 - COWROCK QUADRANGLE
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1963
LEGEND
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P42B is an adit 300 feet N70E from the shaft at "A". The "B" adit extends Nl40W for 135 feet in quartzose biotite gneiss. Sixty feet from the entrance, drifts extend at right angles to the adit. The SW drift is 15 feet long; the NE drift is inaccessible due to back-filling from main adit, but it is at least 30 feet long. Immediately beyond these cross drifts, the main adit is partially blocked by backfill probably removed from the SW drift. Numerous quartz stringers and pods 1"-2" thick are exposed along the adit walls and ceiling. A composite sample of these stringers and pods assayed no gold.
P42C is an adit 700 feet southwest of the shaft at "A". The adit entrance is blocked by slumping, but according to R. W. Smith (field notes, 3-6-35), the adit was driven across the strike of the country rock for a distance of 240 feet. A few quartz veins 111 thick are exposed in the roadcut just northwest of the adit. An assay showed no gold.
P42Dl is a prospect pit 90 feet N33E of the adit at "B". The pit is circular, 12 feet to 15 feet in diameter, and 12 feet deep. Between this pit and the adit at "B" are shallow trenches.
P42D2 is a prospect pit 40 feet east of "Dl". Diameter of the pit is 15 feet, depth 12 feet. P42D3 is another prospect pit 30 feet SB0E from "D2"; its diameter is 10 feet, depth 5 feet. P42D4 is a north-trending trench 30 feet SB0E from "D3". "DS" is a prospect pit 50 feet N50W from "D4" with a diameter of 15 feet, a depth of 15 feet. "D6" is a prospect pit 100 feet east from "D5", lB feet in diameter and 12 feet deep. "D7" is a prospect pit B5
feet east from "D6", 25 feet diameter and 15 feet deep. "DB" is a prospect pit
30 feet south of "D6". It is rectangular, 10' x 6' x 4' deep. "D9" is a pros-
pect pit 30 1 south of "DB", diameter B', depth 5'. "DlO" is a prospect pit 75'
S50W from "D9", 12 1 diameter, 8' deep. "Dll" is a prospect pit 20 1 N250W from "DlO", diameter 10 1 , depth 5 1 "Dl2" is a prospect pit 25' N700W from "DlO", diameter 10 1 , depth 4 1 "Dl3" is a prospect pit 25 1 N40E from "DlO". It is
rectangular 12 1 x B' x 3 1 deep. "Dl4" is a prospect pit 60 1 N37E from "DlO". It is rectangular B' x 4' x 3' deep. "Dl5" is a shaft 75' S72W of "D6". The
diameter is 12 1 , depth 25 1 , An inaccessible adit extends N50E from the bottom of the shaft. "Dl6" is a prospect pit 60' S500W from "D6", diameter 25', depth 12'. "Dl7" is a prospect pit 70' S45E from "D7", diameter 20 1 , depth 10'. nDlB" is a prospect pit 75 1 S400W from "Dl7", diameter 7', depth 3'. "Dl9" is a prospect pit 25 1 S75E from "D17", diameter 12', depth 5'. "D20" is a prospect pit 35 1 S650W from "Dl7", diameter 12', depth 6'. A shallow trench extends a short distance to the west of this pit. "D21" is a prospect pit 30' S350W from nD17", diameter 15', depth 8 1 "D22" is a prospect pit 65 1 Nl8E from "D7", diameter 18 1 , depth 12 1 "D23" is a trench 125 1 S53E from "Dl7". The trench is 15 1 wide and 10 1 deep. It runs N 25 for 75 1 and then extends N500W for 30'. "D24" is a trench 125 1 N450W from the NE-trending portion of the trench at "D23". The "D2411 trench extends N20E for 25'. "D25" is a trench 30 1 SB50W from "D24". It appears to be a large hydraulic cut about 30' wide, 15' deep, and 300' long. The cut follows a natural draw which trends downslope S42E. From the head of the cut a small trench extends N200W for 150 1 before it flares into an area of many prospect cuts.
P42E is an adit 300' southeast of "D25". The adit is inaccessible, but trends N25E a minimum distance of 75'. A flowing stream emerges from the adit to join the natural surface drainage. Upslope (north) from this adit much open-cut prospecting and mining was carried on. The trenched and pitted area expands to a width of about 400' as it continues up the hillside.

39.
P42Fl is a shaft about 290 1 ENE from "Dl9". Diameter of the shaft is 20 1 , depth 30'; it is situated in the path of a drainage ditch which follows around contour of hill. Rocks piled adjacent to the shaft and apparently removed from it contain quartz, biotite, chlorite, and tiny cubes and blebs of sulfide. The chlorite in some cases is s.o abundant that the rock approaches a chlorite schist; it contains numerous small garnets. "F2" is a prospect pit 65 1 S57E from "Fl11 , diameter 5 1 , depth 3 1 "F3" is a prospect pit 25' S630W from "F2", diameter 8', depth 2 1 "F4" is a prospect pit 25 1 S630W from "F3", diameter 10', depth 6 1 Among the rock debris removed from this pit is a fragment containing mass fiber asbestos.
P42G is an adit 150 1 Sl3E from "Fl". The adit extends N20E for more than 100 1 ; beyond 100 1 it is impassable. The country rock is fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss and schist containing bleached chlorite spots. A few pegmatite dikes cut the country rock. Qua~tz stringers and pods 1"-211 thick are abundant. A composite sample assayed no gold. Much trenching and shallow pitting has been done in the area between this adit and the shaft at "G".
P42H is a shaft 130 1 S700W from "Fl". The diameter of the shaft is 20', depth 20 1 Fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss is exposed in the shaft.
P42I is a mining cut located near an old house site 2300' WNW of Tesnatee Church. The cut follows a small draw toward the northwest almost to the top of the hill. Pyritic quartz float near the head of the cut assayed $16.63/ton in gold. The high value of the float justifies further search to locate its source.
P42J marks the location of quartz veins up to 3" thick on the SE slope of a hill 200 1 SSW of the old house site mentioned above. The area is being used as a borrow pit for road work. A composite of the quartz veins assayed no gold.
P42K is an adit 300 1 NNW from the old house site. The adit extends Nl20W for a distance of 20 1 , at which point drifts extend at right angles to the adit. The SW drift is 6 1 long; the NE drift 25 1 The country rock is a hornblende-biotite gneiss with intercalated thin schistose layers. Thin quartz pods and stringers in the.adit assayed no gold.
P43: - The land is owned by Mrs. Sara McKensie. P43A is an adit 110' S770W from Mr. John Jarrard's house. The adit trends S780W for a distance of more than 35 1 ; beyond 35 1 it is impassable. The country rock is a hornblende-biotite gneiss with chloritic zones. Thin quartz pods and stringers are seen along course of adit; a composite sample assayed no gold. P43B is a prospect pit 50' S600W from "A", diameter 15', depth 12 1 P43C is a prospect pit 25 1 west from "B", about the same size as "B", but badly slumped. A trench begins at the pit and extends S60E upslope for a distance of 50 1 Twenty feet beyond the end of the trench is another pit, diameter 30', depth 15'.
P43D is an adit 100 1 N58W from "A". It is inaccessible but appears to trend S250W. Inunediately southeast of the adit is a 25-foot long trench trending Sl70W and ending at a face in the hill. This face might represent a slumped adit entrance.
P44: Mr. Miller resides on the property and might be the owner. The headwaters portion of a tributary to Jenny Creek has been placer worked here; most of the mining was confined to the stream channel. The stream has cut through the alluvium in places exposing 1' to 2' of basal gravels overlain by 3' to 51

40.
of clayey alluvium. P44A is a prospect cut 300 1 S6E from the Miller house and 1000 1 east of BM 1639, which is marked on the Cowrock quadrangle. The cut extends S300W for 10 1 into the hillside. Several vein quartz cobbles are piled along side of the cut, which is roughly 12 1 wide. Associated with the vein quartz are large pieces of pegmatite. A composite of the vein quartz assayed no gold.
P46: The owner is the Atlanta Jewish Community Center. P46A is an adit 2150' WSW of Tesnatee Church. The adit trends north; its entrance is blocked by slumping. The country rock near adit entrance is fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss with intercalated schistose layers. Quartz veins up to 3" wide cut across the foliation of the country rock. A composite sample assayed no gold.
P40: The mine workings are the northernmost evidence of gold activity associated with Sprague. The valley floor of Jenny Creek to the north is relatively flat and shows no signs of having been worked.
P40A is a hydraulic cut 700 1 NE of U. S. Highway 129 and just west of Jenny Creek. The cut is roughly circular with a diameter of 35 1 and a maximum depth (at the back wall) of 20 1 Immediately upslope from the cut is a drainage ditch which follows a contour around the hill. Other cuts of similar size occur on the slopes south of here as well as across Jenny Creek. The country rock is predominantly fine-grained biotite gneiss with intercalated schistose layers. P40B
is an adit 500 1 NE of U. s. Highway 129, and 200' west of Jenny Creek. The adit
entrance is blocked by slumping; it trends N65W. Coarse granite gneiss boulders are near the entrance.
P47: The property belongs to the Atlanta Jewish Community Center. A small prospect pit 8 1 in diameter and 4' deep is 1700' WNW of Tesnatee Church and about 350 1 west of Jenny Creek. Broken pieces of quartz scattered about the perimeter of the pit contain weathered sulfide but assayed no gold.
Longstreet Mine (P51) - The Longstreet mining operations were reported to have been conducted principally on Land Lot 162 in the 3rd District (Jones, 1909, p. 213). The area is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle about 1.3 miles southeast of Loudsville Church, in the vicinity of Turner Creek. Most of the workings are near the contact of the hornblendic rocks in the "gold belt11 and the granite gneisses and schists to the southeast. Signs of early placer work are along a 2000 1 strip of Turner Creek and confined for the most part, to the east side of the channel. Merging with the Turner Creek workings are more extensive workings concentrated along a southeast-flowing tributary which enters Turner Creek from the west. Most of the vein prospecting and mining at this site was conducted west of Turner Creek where there are several prospect pits and trenches. P51A is an adit at the south side of the observed workings. The entrance is completely blocked by slumping. The adit is at the SW end of a hydraulic cut which trends S500W into the hillside. The country rock in the cut is garnetiferous gneiss and schist saprolite. The unweathered equivalent of this rock crops out in Turner Creek 400 1 ESE of the adit. A few discontinuous quartz stringers 111 thick are in the country rock over the adit entrance. A composite sample assayed no gold. PSlB is an outcrop of hornblende schist containing numerous thin quartz stringers located 200 1 N500W from A 11 11 The adit is 10 1 wide x 7 1 high and extends N55E for a distance of 50', at which point a drift takes off 20' to the northwest. The country rock, which strikes N55E and dips 60NW, is finegrained quartzose biotite gneiss with intercalated hornblendic layers. The hornblendic layers are generally chloritized. A few concordant quartz stringers

41.
1" thick were sampled and assayed with negative results. P51D ia an adit 200 1 ESE from "C". The entrance is completely blocked by slumping. Its trend is probably the same as that of a long trench a short distance to the SW which extends downslope for a distance of 250 1 to the valley placer ground. The trench widens in places to 60', and has an average depth of 30' to 40'. A smaller trench extends N30E from the adit a distance of 250 1 P51E is an adit at the northeast end of the smaller trench just mentioned. The adit entrance is completely blocked by slumping. Very thin quartz stringers over the adit entrance assay at $1.75/ton in gold.
Downstream a thousand feet from P51 a SW-flowing tributary to Turner Creek shows signs of placer activity for a distance of several hundred feet to the northeast. At the head of this tributary, a mile NE of its junction with Turner Creek, placering is again evident over a distance of roughly 800 1 At both places the placer work was confined to the stream channel. None of the intervening area appears to have been worked.
Another small placer is located about 1 mile from P51 up Turner Creek along a shallow draw which drains almost due south into Turner Creek. Auriferous gravels of unknown thickness have been distrubed over a distance of 1300 1 Panning of the gravels along the draw yields good shows of coarse gold.
Wyman Hood Property (P38) - The Wyman Hood property is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle, immediately north of Loudsville Church. The property is owned by Mr. Wyman Hood, who resides on the land. It formerly was known as the old Rance Allen property, and prior to that as the John J. Allen place.
P38A is a shaft 700 1 NNE from Loudsville Church. The diameter of the shaft is 25 1 , depth about 25'. Saprolitic quartzose biotite gneiss is exposed in the shaft walls. A 4"-6" quartz vein cuts across the country rock on the northeast shaft wall; another vein 1"-3" thick is exposed on the east wall. Considerable work has been done in recent years on the smaller vein which is concordant with the country rock, strikes N48E and dips 50NW. The vein has cellular boxworks of limonite and looks promising, but a sample assayed only $3.15/ton in gold,
P38B is a trench just east of "A". It is 35 1 long, 5 1 -10 1 wide, and 4'-6' deep; it trends N45E. At tre NE end a quartz vein with a maximum width of 12" is exposed. The assay of a sample showed no gold. P38C is a prospect pit 200' Nl2E from "A", diameter 20', depth 8'. Immediately downslope, to the east, is another pit 8 1 in diameter and 5 1 deep which exposed a discontinuous quartz vein with a maximum width of 6". An assay of this vein showed no gold. P38D is a prospect pit 80' S470W from "A". The pit is 10 1 wide, 15 1 long, and 8 1 deep. Work was concentrated at the NE side of the pit where there is a narrow zone of discontinuous quartz stringers and pods. The quartz resembles that in the smaller vein at "A". The shaft at "A" and this pit are aligned along the strike of the country rock and are likely along the same veined zone. Two small prospect pits are between this pit and the shaft at "A", apparently sunk to test the zone's continuity. A sample of the quartz at "D" assayed $4.38/ton in gold. The veins of the Hood property are promising. Still, very little prospect work has been done. According to Mr. Hood, early ownership prevented prospecting.
The gold potential of the Hood property is not limited to the hillside veins~ A southeast-flowing tributary to Turner Creek traverses the property and has alluvial gravels. In addition, there are terrace gravels on the hillslopes. A 2'-3' thick deposit just west of the Hood house yields coarse particles of gold when panned.

42.
The Hood property is one of the better gold prospects and should be further explored.
Cox and Merritt Property (~ mile south of P48) - The Cox and Merritt property is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle on Land Lot 132, 3rd District. The owner is Mr. Ollie Turner. The only evidence of mining is on a broad placer area situated near the confluence of Thurmond Creek and a southeast-flowing tributary to Thurmond Creek. Most of the alluvium downstream from this area along Thurmond Creek appears never to have been worked.
Bell Property (P48) - The Bell property is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle on Land Lot 132, 3rd District. Mr. William Thurmond who resides on the property is owner. P48A is an adit 2300 1 NNW from Asbestos Church and 7SO' SSW from the Thurmond house. The adit entrance is completely blocked by slumping. Atrench leading to the adit trends generally southwestward. Immediately southeast of the adit is a hydraulic cut SO' x SO' into the hillside saprolite. P48B is a second adit 340' N660W from "A". The adit extends N4S0 E an undetermined distance and appears to follow the strike of the hornblendic country rock. It is open for 20 1 Thin quartz stringers in the adit assayed no gold. P48C is a trench at the mouth of a small SW-trending draw which is located 200 1 southeast from "A". The trench follows a sinuous coarse S700W for a distance of 700 1 , measured from Thurmond Creek. The cut varies in width from 20 1 to 30', and averages about 10 1 deep. The valley gravels of Thurmond Creek show no signs of having been worked. According to Mr. Thurmond, a little sporadic work was undertaken many years ago. Panning yields a few colors.
Castleberry Property (P49) - In the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle probably on Land Lots 131 and 132, 3rd District is the Castleberry property. In previous records (Jones, 1909, p. 216) the location of the property is vague. It is presumed to be northwest of the old Bell property (P48 on Map 2). A portion of the property is owned by Mr. Frank Baker, Sheriff of White County. Mr. Ollie Turner owns the mineral rights.
Beginning at the road intersection lSOO' NW of Asbestos Church placer ground can be ~ollowed upstream for 1200' to 1400'. At this upstream point, work was continued along a draw leading off to the north and northeast. The width of the placer area along the creek (a SE-flowing tributary to Thurmond Creek) averages about 200 1 , and in places widens to 300', or more. The width of the placer ground along the north-trending draw averages lSO'. Most of the work appears spotty, with occasional interconnecting channel cuts.
Old records give the locations of the mines in such general terms that relocation is often uncertain. Map 2 accurately locates the old working but there is uncertainty as to whether the Castleberry Prospect of the early reports is our P49, PSO, or both.
PSO: Much of the property is owned by Sheriff Frank Baker. A small portion extends northwestward into the Chattahoochee National Forest. Ownership of the extreme northern part of the area was not determined. A single adit was observed in this area, on property belonging to Mr. George Wheeler. Placer work in the area was mostly confined to Thurmond Creek and a southflowing tributary to Thurmond Creek, both near the Chattahoochee National Forest boundary. PSOA is a trench 2400 1 SE of BM 1624; it extends 1000 1 southwest from Thurmond Creek valley, averages 2S 1 wide and 20 1 deep. PSOB is a trench 1200' NE from "A".

43.
This trench extends generally WNW for 600' from the south-flowing tributary of Thurmond Creek, has a width of 8 1 -15 1 and a depth of 6 1 -10'. The course of this trench is sinuous with minor side-cuts 10 1 -20 1 long. P50C marks prospect pits just NE of "B". Two large pits average 50 1 -75 1 across and 6'-10 1 deep. P50D is a shallow prospect pit along the NW side of the placer workings. P50E marks 5 small prospect pits along the NE edge of the placer workings. P50F is a quartz vein 200' upstream from the junction of Thurmond Creek and the SE-flowing tributary. The vein is 18"-24" and is concordant with the country rock, a finegrained quartzose mica schist. The country rock strikes N42E and dips steeply to the northwest. P50H is an adit 100' northwest from the trench at "A". The adit extends N60W for 20 1 , cutting across the general strike of country rock. No quartz veins were seen. A hundred feet NE of this adit is a prospect pit 8' in diameter and 5' deep. Five hundred feet SW of the adit an old road cut exposes quartz veins 1"-2" thick in saprolite. A composite of these veins assayed no gold.
The alluvium of Thurmond Creek from the vicinity of Mr. William Thurmond's house to the prospe~t area described above does not appear to have been worked thoroughly. The only visible signs of mining are occasional cuts in the alluviurn. The stream has cut down into the alluvium in places exposing as much as 2' to 4' of cobbly gravel overlain by a clay-sand-silt overburden of about 5 1
Thurman Property (P36, Map 3) - The Thurman property is in the SW\ of the Helen quadrangle, near the headwaters of Freeman Creek. The property is owned by Mr. Frank Black, who resides on the property.
P-36A is a shaft 700' NNE from the Black house, diameter 20 1 , depth 15 1 The prevailing country rock is amphibolite which strikes N44E and dips 80NW. At the bottom of the shaft are two adits leading off in opposite directions. Only one is accessible. It runs S480W along the strike of the country rock for 60' and exits into a trench. Mining appears to have concentrated on stoping along the southeast wall. The adit is 8'-10 1 high, 8'101 wide, with 2'-4' of rubble littering the floor. The amphibolite along its course is weathered and highly fractured. The NE-trending adit is completely blocked by slumpage. Directly over this adit's entrance, on the shaft wall, are 3 prominent quartz veins in thin layers of mica schist. Two of the veins are 4" wide; the third has a maximum width of 9". A composite of the three veins assayed no gold.
P36B is an adit 350 1 southwest of the shaft at "A". The adit runs N50E (slightly sinuous) for a distance of 175'. Adit width is 4 1 , height 6 1 The country rock is amphibolite whose strike is parallel to the adit trend. A 12" zone of thin quartz veins, all less than 1" thick, can be traced along roof to near the adit's end. A composite of these veins assayed no gold.
P36C is a prospect pit 400 1 northeast of the shaft at "A". This is one of several pits along a line N500E. A large boulder of vein quartz adjacent to the pit indicates a large vein or quartz pod was intercepted; a sample chipped from the boulder assayed no gold. P36D is an adit 800 1 southwest of the Black house, and just east of Freeman Creek. The adit is near the water table, and is flooded. The entrance is blocked and partial ly camouflaged by a cultivation terrace. P36E is another adit 200 1 east of the Black house, near the 1.595 1 elevation. The adit has been obliterated by bulldozer work. Mr. Black gave the adit trend as N70W.

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1963

I Mile

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LEGEND

e:. Gold placer, worked

&b Gold placer, unworked

Prospect pit or trench

" Shaft or old mine

Adlt, symbol point

at entrance

P-numbers refer to prospect areas

45 .

P36F is an old stamp mill site, 200 1 NNE of the Black house. The mill was

used to process ore from the old Thurman workings.

P36G

quartz

vein

111 -

3" wide exposed at an old house site 1250 1 north of the Black house. An

assayed sample showed no gold.

The headwaters of Freeman Creek appear to have not been worked, perhaps because of the scarcity of water.

White County, or Thompson, Mine (P35, P37) -Most of these workings are on Land Lot 102, 3rd District, in the southwest \of the Helen quadrangle, and are owned by a Mr. Hogan of Dublin, Georgia.

Only a small amount of placer mining was done on this property, and it was in the extreme NE portion along the headwaters of a NE-flowing tributary to
Dukes Creek (Kelly Branch ?). P37 marks the locatibn of an adit running N32E
along the strike of the country rock for a distance of 45'. The country rock is feldspathic and biotitic quartzite. The adit walls are slanted with the dip of the country rock, which is 77NW. The height of the adit near its face is 9', width 5 1 Several thin quartz stringers are exposed on the adit walls and ceiling, but the most prominent vein is on the adit face; it has a maximum thickness of 18". The stringers along walls and ceiling were sampled separately from the larger vein on the face. The stringers show no gold, while the larger vein assays $1.05/ton in gold.

P35A is an adit trending S400W. The adit was flooded with water at the time it was visited, but according to Mr. Joe Franklin who resides nearby the adit extends "well into hill". The adit is 8' high by 6 1 wide. The country rock at the entrance is quartzose bibtite gneiss. A zone 8" wide of quartz stringers runs down the center of the adit ceiling. Several pegmatite dikes cut the gneiss.

P35B is an adit 45' S57E (downstream) from "A". It trends S350W for about 12'. It is 8 1 high and 6 1 wide. The country rock is the same as at P35A. No quartz veins are exposed.

P35C is the old White County Mill site; it is located 300' ESE from "B", at a fork in the stream. All that remains of the mill is waste rock and remnant walls.

P35D is an adit 150 1 S67W from the adit at "B". It extends S430W for 40', averaging 8' high and 5 1 wide. The country rock is quartzose biotite gneiss whose attitude parallels the adit. A single quartz stringer 1/2" wide is exposed at the top of the entrance.

P35E is an adit 150 1 S430W from the adit at "D". Its entrance is situated at the SW end of a cut which is 90 1 long, 12 1 wide, and 10' deep. The adit runs S430W for 65 1 At the rear of the adit a drift extends S47E for 10'. Fifty feet from the entrance the height decreases from 12 1 to 6'; the width remains 4'. The country rock is saprolitic quartzose biotite gneiss with schistose layers parallel to the adit. Intercalated in the biotite gneiss are a few thin layers of hornblende gneiss. On "the face of the adit is a 6" zone of 1/4"-thick quartz veinlets. Several pegmatite dikes cut both the country rock and the quartz veinlets. A composite sample of the quartz assayed no gold.

46.
P35F is a shaft 70 1 upslope from adit "E". The shaft is offset 20' southeast
of the trend of adit "E" the face of which comes close to intercepting the bottom
of the shaft. The shah has a diameter of 15 1 , a depth of 40 1 The country rock is the same as at 11 E". Here it strikes N45E and is near vertical. The ore body was a 6 1 zone of 1'' 3" wide quartz veins. Yeates (1896, p. 68) remarked "I have seen no instance, i.n the counties examined by me, of a similar vein of equal thickness carrying so many quartz lenses and stringers". At the bottom of the shaft an ad it leads S4.3W io;~ ':ln undetermined distance, and has its entrance within the
"ore zone". The sh.'lft lnc adit are inaccessible.
P35G is a shaft DQO 1 ~;1-: of shaft "F". The shaft has a diameter of 15 1 , a depth of 60 1 T~'elv,~ i:(!et 1.p from the bottom drifts lead off to the NE and SW. Shafts a.ud dri.ft s are i n.:ln essible. The country rock is the quartzose biotite gneiss common t c the area. Shallow trenches run NE and SW from the collar of the shaft. ImmE!diately SW of the shaft are twin ad its about 15 1 apart. The NW adit is in lill.e. with one of the drifts from the shaft and might be an extension of it. The !\fE acl*t js inaccessible, but appears to be about 2~ 1 wide by 15 1 high. A few quattz ~;et:i.ngcrs 1"-2" wide ar.e over the entrance to the adit.
P35H is a sh.:~ft 25 0 1 SVJ of the shaft at "G". It has a diameter of 10 1 , a depth of 10'. !\t the 'bottom of the shaft drifts lead NE, NW, SE, and SW. The N45E drift foll)I'S a et.1 thin quartz veins 1/4"-1/2" thick for 20 1 This drift lies "piggyh.u:k" (111er another which is parallel to it. The lower drift is blocked by !l~.,mp j_ng. /~ strong air current issues from a small hole in the slumped mate~~ia:: indicating another opening somewhere to the NE (possibly at "G"). The d .i.st:mee between the roof of the lower drift and the floor of upper drift is r.t~\ott 2.~'.
The ~~.:t:;. o;r hiL extends 20 1 across the strike of the country rock. Several thin quart2~ ve_ns are cut l:y it. A composite sample assayed $1.05/ton in gold. The SE and S ~v dr.iitg are inaccessible due to caving.
P35I gives th~ loc .gt ion of 3 adits that radiate from a common opening 200 1 SW of "H" (Figure 16).
Adit #1 runs N36cE for 120 1 , it is 7 1 wide and 8 1 -10 1 high. The country rock is qua.rt:z.ose biotite gneiss saprolite striking N36E and dip.ping 90. Along the first 75 1 of the adit are quartz veins less than 2" wide within a 12" zone exposed on the adit roof. Beyond 75' to the face are 2 quartz veins varying from 3" to 12" wide. Thinner quartz veins on either side define .a vein zone about 5 1 wide. Eight feet from the adit face a pegmatite 4 1 wide cuts the country rock and quartz veins, striking N-S and dipping steeply to the east, twi sting and off-setting the quartz veins about 12". A composite of the quartz veins in the adit assayed no gold.
Ad it ft2 ;:crt".s NS0E for at least 155 1 ; it is 5 1 wide by 7 1 high. It is caved and inaccessible beyond 155'. Its trend parallels the strike of the country rock and curves very slightly toward the north. About 1401 from the opening is a 6' di ameter cut off to the northwest. Slickensides are numerous, and the dispL1cement oi quartz veins conunon. The veins are neither as numerous nor as \>Ticle as those in Adit IFl. A composite sample assayed $1. 75/ton in gold.
Adit !f3 rnns S 78')E for 4.S' across the strike of the country rock. It cuts several thh quartz veins. A composite sample assayed no gold.

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48.
As the foregoing descriptions show, most of the activity on the White County, or Thompson, property focused on veins, generally not on single veins but on zones comprising several veins or veinlets. The zones are generally concordant with the country rock. Lensing and pinching out are common. Yeates (1896) stated "The average ore is low grade, probably varing from fifty cents to $5.00 per ton The picked ore runs high." His statement is supported by our assays which ranges from 0 to $1.75/ton. The gold is sporadically and unevenly distributed. Higher assays can be obtained, but composited samples of the exposed veins all assay less than $5.00/ton.
Yonah Land and Mining Company's Property, or Calhoun Mine (Map 3).
This company along with the Reynolds and Hamby Company at one time controlled most of the "gold belt" between Dukes Creek and the Chattahoochee River. This was during the turn of the century. The Yonah Land and ~ining Company property was a consolidation of three contigious mine properties known as the Tonton Mines, the Mercer Mines, and the Butt Mines. These mines were consolidated and given the name of "The Calhoun Land and Mining Company". After a number of years a new charter was applied for under the nwne of Yonah Land and Mining Company or the Yonah Gold Mines (Yeates, 1896, p. 69). The latter name has endured to the present time. Mining was carried on almost continually during the period 1830-1900. More recent mining was conducted during the 1930's.
P56A: The floodplain of Dukes Creek just east of Georgia Highway 75 is pockmarked by several large circular pits 15 1 or more in diameter, which are the traces of past placer mining.
The floodplain west of Highway 75 is similarly marked by early workings.
Gold was first discovered on Dukes Creek in 1828. During the following 50 years different small tracts were worked, but for several reasons large parts of the valley remained untouched. An early sketch map of the Nacoochee Hills Gold Mining Company, Figure 17, is included for historic interest.
A good description of the Dukes Creek gravels was given by Yeates in 1896 (p. 65): 11The different pits worked in this bottom, and the present working pit show, on an average, a nine-foot "topping" and three feet of gravel. The main body of thi.s overburden, being light alluvium is easily removed, but on the gravel there rests from six to twelve inches of peat and blue clay, which offers considerable resistance to hydraulic action. To a large extent, the gold is coarse, and many small nuggets, well-rounded and water-worn, abound. Not infrequently, moreover, the gold is found aggregated in pockets. Furthermore, the gold is especially fine in quality .. $1500 in nuggets was removed from one pit, in two days."
In about 1908, a dredge barge was floated in the Chattahoochee River somewhere east of the rive.r 1 s junction with Dukes Creek. The dredge worked its way up the river, confining its course to the immediate river channel, and turned south onto Dukes Creek, where the dredging continued along the creek channel upstream to the vicinity of Richardson Branch. This was a 1-bucket dredge. Pieces of it are occasionally dug up by the Helen Gravel Company.
During the 1930's, according to R. W. Smith (field notes, November 1934,
June 1936), w. C. Hudson leased a portion of the Hardeman property in the broad

49.
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Dukes Creek floodplain on the west side of Georgia Highway 75, and north of the Creek. Apparently, he concentrated his placer working near the western edge of the floodplain, because he later sub-leased smaller tracts between his workings
and the highway. One of the tracts (17 acres) was held, in 1934, by c. L. Dunbar
and L. E. Cobb, Nacoochee, Georgia, who did some pitting near the bridge. In 1936 another tract was let to H. L. Schualba. The latter operations is said to have penetrated a total of 13 feet of alluvium with 3 feet of bottom gravels. The largest nugget known to have been found in the course of this mining weighed 112.3 pennyweights and came from the Hudson workings.
During the period 1937-40 the Ferey Mining Company reworked a portion of the old placer gravels (Peyton, 1940, Eng. and Mining Journal, p. 39). A dragline was used to gouge pits through the alluvium to bedrock. The pits were, more or less, rectangular, measuring 70' x 90', and penetrated 6'-12 1 of alluvium, about 1/2 of which was basal gravels. The average gold content of the alluvium was 25 1 per cubic yard.
At present the Helen Gravel Company, owned by Mr. Jimmy Vandiver, is digging and processing the auriferous gravels of the broad floodplain immediately west of the highway. His digging is along the channel of Dukes Creek, at the southern edge of the alluvium. Total thickness of the alluvium at this point is 6'-8' with 3'-4' of basal gravels.
At the north edge of the widest portion of the floodplain, locality "B" a large cut extends northward up the slope. Several large nuggets reportedly were found in the gravels just south and southeast of this cut.
Gravels of Richardson Branch, a SE-flowing tributary to Dukes Creek, show signs of having been thoroughly worked (locality "C"). A heavy vegetative cover obscures the placer limits. From Richardson Branch westward, along Dukes Creek to Kelly Branch, a NE-flowing tributary, placer workings are confined to the north side of Dukes Creek. Past mining is evident from the way numerous quartz cobbles are scattered over the area.
Kelly Branch has been extensively worked throughout most of its course.
P34" This area is on the hillslope west of the lower course of Kelly Branch. Several adits comprise what has been known as the old Diltz Mines. Mr. Joe Franklin is the owner.
At "Al" an adit trends NS0W across the strike of the country rock, which consists of hornblende gneiss and fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss. The adit is 6. 1 high, 10' wide, and runs back 65 1 , where a raise connects with the ground below. The raise is 35 1 deep and has a diameter of 10'. Several discontinuous quartz veins from 1" to 10" wide are exposed along the adit ceiling and walls. A composite sample was assayed and found to contain no gold.
At "A2" an adit extends beyond the shaft for 8 1 , turns along the strike of the country rock S400W for 20 1 , and N40E for 30'. At a point 10' toward N400E a drift extends NSOOW for 10'. At a point 12 1 toward N40E stoping has removed 6'. The N40E extension is caved after a distance of 30 1 ; the adit probably continues beyond the cave-in. The adit extension to S400W, after a distance of 20', makes a 6 1 off-set to the .left, then continues another 15 1 The ceiling of this off-set extension is 18 1 high and is inclined along the dip of the

51.
country rock. The ore zone appears to have been numerous discontinuous quartz stringers, but a composite of those exposed assayed no gold.
At "B" is an adit 350 1 north of the adit at "Al". Its trend is S33W along the strike of the country rock. The entrance is blocked by slumping. Upslope about 125 1 from the adit is an old prospect pit.
At "C", 220 1 N32E from "B" is an adit which trends S530W for a distance of 65 1 At this point a stope extends upward 20 1 from the adit floor, and is inclined along the dip of the country rock following a 1"-5" quartz iTein. At the stope the adit changes course to S460W and 52 1 beyond this point is a drift 3 1 wide x 6' high extending N460W for 20 1 The main adit extends on beyond the drift S50W for 50 1
At P56I, the junction of Hamby Branch and Dukes Creek, the floodplain broadens considerably. This part of the valley apparently has been worked over several times in the past.
The junctions of Dukes Creek with two of its tr~butaries, Mercer Branch (south-flowing) and Pardue Branch (north-flowing) are close to the northwest border of the "gold belt". The westward-most mining along Dukes Creek was in this area. Speaking of the area, Yeates (1896, p. 65) stated: "In addition to the placers, prospecting has disclosed a large number of auriferous veins, which preserve, in some instances, considerable continuity along the strike. These are generally exposed by cross-cuts; some, however, have been stripped, for a short distance, but only by shallow cuts. All are intercalated with the micaschist, and apparently conform, in strike and dip, to the same. The major portion of the veins, now exposed, are on Lots 68 and 92. The veins on the latter lot are exposed only by three-foot cross-cuts, so that only a small part of the ore-body is exposed. These vary in width, from two to seven feet, and are much decomposed and weathered. Assays, made by the company, show them to run from $4.00 to $12.00 per ton On Lot 68 the vein strikes N20E and dips 65SE. Where exposed, it is not over 12" thick, and is rich in completely oxidized sulphides."
Reynolds and Hamby Estate Mortgage Company's Property: This company was one of the major land holders of gold property in White County in the early 1900's. Most of their activity was localized about the region of Dukes Creek and Chattahoochee River. Dukes Creek is known historically for its being the site of Georgia's first gold discovery (1828); although adjacent Lumpkin County also claims this distinction (McCallie, 1910, p. 97).
Vein, saprolite, and placer was mined extensively along Dukes Creek, especially along. the several small tributaries feeding Dukes Creek. Practically the entire course of Dukes Creek and the associated tributaries, flowing within, and immediately downstream from the "gold belt" were worked to some extent, in many cases, several times over.
One of the largest gold nuggets ever found in the eastern part of the u. s.
(25 ounces) came from a tributary to Dukes Creek - Black Branch (see locality P56E on Map 3). All the tributaries flowing within the "gold belt" have yielded coarse gold. The auriferous zones are not confined to the valley alluvium; where adjacent hillslopes are gentle, auriferous deposits exist as saprolite and alluvium, and locally there are terrace gravels.

52.
The Reynolds Vein: This vein is located in the vicinity of locality P56F, Map 3. A great amount of work was expended on the mining of this vein, as observed in the area of White-McGhee Branch, a southeast-flowing tributary to Dukes Creek. Additional information on the Reynolds Vein and related workings is given in Appendices III and IV.
At locality P56F a hydraulic cut trends roughly SSSOW for 600 1 toward Dukes Creek. The cut averages about 30' wide and 10' deep. Immediately east of the cut is an area of wide and deep hydraulic gashes extending northeastward into hillside. Evidently these are hydraulic workings to which Jones (1909, p. 218) referred: "The first mining conducted here was of a hydraulic nature and a large cut or rather two cuts, which were later united, were made along the strike of the vein, which has a SW-NE trend. The most important mining carried on was done during the period from 1896 to 1902, the greater portion of the work being conducted by Mr. John Martin. In addition to some hydraulic operations, in the course of which the two cuts above mentioned were united forming the present cut which is about two hundred yards long, a shaft was sunk on the vein in the bottom of the cut to a depth of about a hundred and forty feet and considerable drift- ing done. The principal drifting was at the sixty-feet level. The longest drift was to the southwest and, combined with a tunnel, which had been driven on the vein from near Dukes Creek, had an approximate length of four hundred and fifty feet. To the northeast a drift was run for about one hundred and fifty feet The vein is said to average several feet in thickness and to consist of quartz with more or less interlaminated wall rock."
The adit referred to in the above description apparently is located at locality P56G. This adit trends N39E along the strike of the country rock, whi'ch is quartzose biotite gneiss with schistose interlayers. The adit entrance is badly slumped and the floor heavily flooded with water. Thin quartz veins are near the entrance intercalated in the country rock, which here dips steeply to the northwest. An assay of a composite of these veins showed no gold values. Yeates (1896, p. 52) was above to observe a well exposed portion of the Reynolds Vein and gave the following account of it: "It was found to consist of compact milkwhite quartz, from twelve to eighteen inches in thickness, carrying pyrite partially oxidized . An average sample of this vein, taken along a tenfoot exposure, gave, in the laboratory of the Survey, the following results:
First Assay 0.562 oz. of gold per ton Second Assay (duplicate). 0.520 oz. of gold per ton
At $20.00 per ounce, the value of this ore would be $11.24 and $10.40 per ton, according to the respective assays." Based on the current price of gold, $35.00 per ounce, the values per ton would be $19.67 and $18.20 respectively.
Richardson's Branch has its headwaters in Land Lot 71 and flows southeastward to join Dukes Creek. Extensive. placer worked ground is along the greater part of its course, as evidenced by numerous piles of discarded quartz cobbles. The lower course of the branch unites with Dukes Creek immediately west of Dukes Creek's best developed floodplain.
Black Branch consists of twin drainage lines extending upstream toward the northeast. Just before joining Dukes Creek on the south, the twin branches merge, forming a relatively broad alluvial area which has been extensively mined. It was in this general area that the large 500 plus pennyweight nugget was found by Mr. Thurmond many years ago. The entire course of Black Branch is

53.
said to have yielded very coarse gold (Yeates, 1896, p. 51).
The saprolite and alluvium or hillside placers on the ridges and valley slopes between Dukes Creek and Chattahoochee River, above the available water, were vigorously worked after construction of the Hamby ditch (Figure 18). "This aqueduct", Yeates wrote (1896, p. 54), takes its water from Dukes Creek, on lot 33, and winds around the slopes of Hamby mountain, with a gentle and uniform grade, five feet to the mile. Its course must necessarily be uneven; but it is rendered more so, by the engineer's endeaver to avoid the building of trestles. On account of its elevation, which, in Lot 36, is 350 feet above Dukes Creek, th~s was rendered possible. Although the lower end of the ditch is only three miles, in a direct line, from the darn, its complete length is about seven and on-half miles. Its elevation above, and its location in respect to, the known deposits is such, that it is universally acknowledge to be the key to the entire auriferous area between Dukes Creek and the Chattahoochee River."
P22 Prospect Area: Long Hungry Branch is eastward from the terminal end of Hamby ditch, and is an eastward-flowing tributary to the Chattahoochee River, junctioning 1000 1 southwest of Old Nacoochee Station. The present owners of portions of the land over which the stream courses are Dr. L. G. Hardman, Commerce,
Georgia; Mr. Shackleford, Blackshear, Georgia; and Mr. c. c. Blalock, Cleveland,
Georgia. Old placer workings are evident all along the stream route, and appears to have been thoroughly turned. The bedrock exposed in the stream channel grades from very garnetiferous-mica-schist in the eaotern portion to slightly garnetiferous in the western portion. A few layers of intercalated feldspathic quartzite were observed.
At the tip of the northwest prong of the indicated placered area, an open cut was made in garnetiferous mica schist and feldspatic quartzite carrying pods and stringers of vein quartz (locality "A"). A 12" pyrite-bearing quartz vein intercalated in quartzite was sampled for gold assay, but showed no values.
Outcrop of fresh garnetiferous mica schist with pods and stringers of vei~
qua~z all at locality "B". The outcrop is 1200 1 ESE from "A". An assa; of
a composite sample of these stringers showed no gold.
Locality "C" is an open-cut in saprolite meaAuring 200 1 long x 75' wide x 30' deep. A cut of comparable size joins this one from the east, following a shallow draw.
Locality "D" is an outcrop of mica schist with intercalated quartzite layers striking N32E and dipping 88NW. This outcrop is 1200' southwest of "A".
Locality "F" is a cut on the north side of the creek in a relatively high level alluvium which shows the alluvium. The top of the cut is roughly 25' higher than the stream level, and exposes fragments of garnetiferous mica schist, quartzite, vein quartz and other rock types - all in a matrix of reddish-brown clay. Some of the blocks of schist are as much as 2' long and 1 1 thick. The rock fragments are oriented in such a way to indicate that the stream course during the time of their deposition flowed essentially parallel to its present course.

HAMBY SAPROLITE AREA AND DUKES CREEK PLACER

RED SHADED AREA- GOLD BEARING SAPROLITE - 1600 ACRES- KYDRAULICABLE WITH HAMBY DITCH WATER

DEAN JUNE 1932

LAND- BOUNDARY 1334 ACRES- WHI'TE LAND-1818 ACRES

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55 .
At locality "G", 6200' west of Old Nacoochee Station, the placer workings end with a 20' face in saprolite of talcose mica schist containing a few small pods of feldspar and mica. Several thin stringers of vein quartz are intercalated, and were sampled for assay. Results were negative.
Undisturbed gravels are still to be found in the area of Long Hungry Branch. Upslope deposits, veneering the more slight inclines, and counterpart saprolite deposits, represent promising grounds for future prospecting.
P27 Prospect Area: This area is along Pitner Branch, a northeast-flowing tributary to Chattahoochee River. Placer mining along Pitner Branch was confined to the immediate vicinity of the stream channel.
P28 Prospect Area: The area is 4700' southeast from the center of Helen, Georgia, and 700' southeast from the intersection of Pi~ner Branch and Georgia Highway 75. The property is presently owned by Mr. Jewel Vandiver (?).
An adit extends S77E for 50 1 ; it is 5 1 high and 5 1 wide. The country rock is a quartzose biotite gneiss with thinly intercalated schistose layers striking N37E and dipping 78~.
P29 Prospect Area: An adit 800 1 of "P28", southeast, extends N26W for an
undetermined distance. The adit entrance is blocked by slumping, but the amount of dumped material suggests a depth less than 30'. Two-hundred feet northwest of this adit are several shallow prospect pits which are slumped and covered. Two-hundred feet to the southeast is a shaft 6' square and 30 1 deep.
P30 Prospect Area: The location is at the head of a small draw 5200 1 southeast from the center of Helen. P30A is an adit which trends N460W for an undetermined distance. Large blocks of rock hanging from ceiling make entry hazardous. Judging from the amount of dumped material, adit is probably less than 50' long. The width of the adit at its entrance is 6 1 , height 5'. Locality P30B is another adit 50 1 S87E from "A". Its entrance is completely blocked by slumping. The trend appears to be N28E; the amount of work dor.e here waA slight, judging from the dumped material.
P25 Prospect Area: The St. George Property, part of it known as the Dean Gold Mines (Figure 19). The mining area is roughly divided by the SW Helen town limit line along two north-flowing tributaries to Chattahoochee River known as England and Old House Branches. England oranch is the longer of the two, and has most of the placer mining activity associated with it.
At "A" a hydraulic cut into saprolite of quartzose biotite gneiss extends for 100 1 northwest into the hillside. The cut is approximately 50 1 wide and 30 1 deep. At "B" a hydraulic cut into saprolite extends 125 1 into the hillside S450W and is approximately 50 1 wide and 50 1 deep.
Several other hydraulic cuts are associated with a small draw which trends west from the main tributary, location ''C". The largest cut observed is about 200 1 long, 150' wide, and 80' deep. Large boulders of pyritic vein quartz, some up to 3' in diameter, are along this cut. No veins of comparable size were found. The ore veination related to the "Dean Cut", which trends generally southward and west of Old House Branch was described in 1886 by Mr. R. W. Rickard, a mining engineer, and is quoted by Yeates (1896,

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57
p. 57): "The precious metal occurs in the following manner: n--Several large bands, or adopting the local term, courses, of gold-bearing schist, run parallel through the gold belt, southwest and northeast. They all contain small quartz veins throughout, and the schist, which generally is comparatively hard, in these courses is quite soft, and can be worked almost with a shovel. It is difficult to determine the cause of this softness; one thing is remarkable, that quartz veins, from the thickness of letter paper up to eighteen inches, exist throughout this soft and productive ground, having the same run and dip, as the courses themselves, and to these veins, probably, is attributable the deposition of the precious metal, as well as the softening of the mica schist. The gold is free from sulphurets (sulfides), and consequently may be treated effectually by amalgamation. In connection with these veins of quartz, there is a concentration of gold-bearing material; in fact, the quartz itself is auriferous, showing, upon assay, from 3/4 ounces upwards, per ton." ($26.25 per ton at present price).
At locality "D" an adit trends S270W for 30', its entrance partially
blocked by slumping. The adit is 11 1 wide by 7' high, and was driven within an 8'-10' amphibolite unit. The amphibolite is intercalated with quartzose biotite gneiss. Both are highly fractured. Near the adit entrance are 1" quartz veinlets which cut across the country rock and a few small lenses and pods which are concordant. A composite of the quartz assayed negative.
At locality "E" is a trench, which is irtnnediately northwest of the adit
at "D" and parallel to it. After a distance of 50', the trench ends at a
10' face of fresh rock. In the center of this face is a pyritic quartz vein 21 wide which assays negative. After an interval of 10', the trench continues an additional 60' and ends as a 40' deep cut in saprolite. The trench runs along the str.ike of the above-mentioned quartz vein and apparently was excavated for the purpose of mining it. Immediately west of the 10' face is another adit, inclined, plunging N75W. It was driven across the strike of the country rock to cut several thin quartz pods and stringers. The adit is flooded from 30 1 down.
Abput 75 1 north of the adit entrance is another trench which roughly parallels the adit trend. It is open for about 75'; it ends at a saprolite face which represents another adit now obscured by slumping. A cave-in is found along the projected trend of the trench 30' up the hillslope. Roughly aligned with the above trend, broken rocks are piled in tramway fashion from the obscured adit a distance of 250' to the center of the main valley.
At locality "F" and adit trends N62W for 15 1 across the strike of the
country rock. The adit is 6' wide and 4 1 high; its entrance is partially blocked by slumping. Upslope from adit is a water-diversion cut more or less following contour of hill. Beyond the cut and on trend with the adit are a few pits and trenches.
Locality "G" is 200 1 south of the above adit. It marks a quartz vein 3-\'
wide which strikes Nl8E and dips 70NW. Some fresh pyrite is in this quartz, and several voids, or "casts", indicate spots where pyrite has weathered out. A sample of the vein assayed no gold values. S650W fo~ 100' there is a shallow prospect pit 5 1 in diameter and a 15' long trench.
At locality "H" is a shaft with a circular diameter of 20 1 and a depth of
20'.

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About 200' southwest of the shaft at "H" is a massive quartz vein trending about N28E. This is locality "I". The exact thickness is not observable but it probably exceeds 5 1 A sample collected across the vein assayed no gold.
P26 Prospect Area (Map 3). Placer ground along this tributary to Chattahoochee River is evident from the abundant quartz boulders heaped into discarded piles. The tributary is known locally as Gaten Branch. The perimeter of the placer workings, as indicated on the map, actually include hydraulic cuts along the edge of the placer ground. It is somewhat difficult in some cases to distinguish between the two.
At locality "A" a hydraulic trench runs southeastward up the hillslope. It was reported that low water pressure caused the abandonment of these workings.
P7 Prospect Area: The land is owned by Mr. c. C. Blalock, Cleveland, Georgia,
and a Mr. Shackleford, of Blackshear, Georgia. Old placer workings are evident along a northeast-flowing tributary to Chattahoochee River just northwest of England Branch. The point marked at P7 on Map 3 represents old mine workings concentrated along a 3' wide quartz vein. The country rock is quartzose biotite gneiss with thinly intercalated schistose zones and quartz stringers. The massive 3 1 vein strikes N40E along the strike of the country rock and dips 47NW. The quartz is highly pyritic, the pyrite in irregularly shaped masses 1"-2" across and in minute disseminated grains. At the northeast limit of the workings is a prospect pit 12' long by 8' wide and 4 1 deep. A 45' long trench extends to within 5 1 of this pit from the southwest, and exposes the 3' quartz vein. Six feet to the northwest of the vein is a prospect pit which appears to have been sunk to intersect the quartz vein downdip. A sample of the vein assayed no gold.
PS Prospect Area: According to report the land is owned by Mr. Taylor, Cincinnati, Ohio. The placer gravels of the P8 area extend to within 400' of P7.
There are two adits in the P8 area. The southeasternmost has its entrance comgletely blocked by slumping. A trench which approaches the entrance trends N40 E, the general strike of the country rock. The second adit is N450W about 250 1 from the first; its entrance is partially shored by timbers. This adit t rends N460W across the strike of country rock, a contorted quartzose biotite gneiss containing thinly intercalated quartz stringers, and dipping steeply to the northwest.
Conley Mines
A number of old mine workings are apparent on the hillslopes and in the valleys just north of the Chattahoochee River floodplain in the vicinity of Helen, Georgia. These are west of the old Plattsburg mines of Bell Creek. Included are prospect areas P24, P23, P20, Pl9 and PlS. Although some of the workings might not have been associated legally with the Conley Mines, they are physically together and are therefore described as a unit.
P24 Prospect Area: The property is owned by Mr. James Wilkins, Helen, Georgia whose house is situated about 700' east of the site. On the site is a

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hydraulic cut in saprolite derived from fine-grained biotite quartzite with intercalated hornblendic layers. The cut is forked. The westernmost prong extends upslope for 450', the easternmost about 700'. The combined width of the lower portion of the cut is about 100', and the maximum depth is SO'. Only minor lenses of vein quartz were observed.
P23 Prospect Area: The workings are also on the James Wilkins property and situated immediately north and northeast of the Wilkins' house.
Locality "A": Gold placers follow two shallow draws, one toward NNW, the other toward NNE. Workings to the NNW appear to have been more thorough. The country rock is fine-grained biotite quartzite with intercalated hornblendic layers and thin layers of schist. Locality "B": 800 1 ESE from the Wilkins' house at the north edge of the Chattahoochee River floodplain are outcrops of quartzite containing vein quartz. The quartzite was recently exposed during the excavation of a drainage ditch along the perimeter of the floodpl~in. The quartz veinlets are stained a brownish color, probably from the former presence of pyrite in it. An assay gave negative results. Locality "C": A small prospect pit badly slumped is mid-way between the two draws, about 900' NNE of the Wilkins' house.
Pl9 Prospect Area: This area is also a part of the Wilkins' property. It is about 3750 1 east of the center of Helen, Georgia.
An open cut extends up the west side of a narrow ridge for 250'. The cut is roughly 75 1 wide and rises about 80 1 along its N72E course. Exposed in the cut is saprolite of feldspathic quartzite and quartzose mica schist in which there are tiny pods and stringers of vein quartz. A composite assayed no gold.
At several places in the cut are quartz veins as much as 12" wide are exposed. These and the quartz veins on top of the ridge also assayed no gold.
Two hundred feet to the southeast is a similar but somewhat larger trench slumped and overgrown with vegetation. Local residents do not recall mining here.
Across the ridge to the northeast a narrow valley has about 2 acres of placer that apparently was never worked. The overburden is estimated at 3' to 5 1 The hillslope on the west side of the valley is littered with boulder of vein quartz on strike with quartz veins to the SW. A grab sample assayed no gold.
P20 Prospect Area: Two small prospect pits are on an outcrop of vein quartz 3 1 wide which strikes N35E and dips steeply NW. The vein is about 3100' east of the bridge on Georgia Highway 75 over the Chattahoochee River. A sample assayed no gold.
PlS Prospect Area: This area is within the corporate limits of Helen, north of Georgia Highway 17, and about 1600 1 NW of the bridge over the Chattahoochee River. An adit was driven for 40' into the side of a steep slope rising above Helen. The country rock is a feldspathic quartzose biotite gneiss, deeply weathered, and containing scattered pods and narrow veinlets of quartz. A sample of the quartz assayed no gold. The adit is completely dry and easy of access, although the roof has caved near the entrance.

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Plattsburg Mines
The Plattsburg Mines have been referred to also as "The England Mines". They are located on Land Lot 40, 3rd District, on a high ridge just east of the Chattahoochee River near the confluence of Bell Branch, a south-flowing tributary and the Chattahoochee River. The ore zone consisted of numerous quarz stringers in mica schist. In places the zone attained width of 6'-8' (Yeates, 1896, p. 40). The present owner of the property is Mr. Comer Vandiver, Helen, Georgia.
To facilitate mine site descriptions reference is made to the locality map.
Pl6 Prospect Area: The area is east of the Chattahoochee River and 4000' north of the junction of Georgia Highways 75 and 17 (see Map 3).
At locality "A" is an open-cut 30 1 -40 1 wide by 30' deep which begins near the river's level. The cut reaches almost to the top of the hill, following the strike of the country rock, about N630E.
At locality "B" is an adi~ 30' north of "A", was driven into garnetiferous mica schist along a zone of quartz pods and stringers. A composite of the stringers assays negative. The schist strikes generally N50E and dips steeply to the northwest. The adit entrance, now boarded up, is 5' wide by 6' high. Its course is parallel to the strike of the country rock.
Another adit 300 1 north from "B" is labelled "C". It is about 40' above the river's level and trends N830W across the strike of the country rpck which is quartzite with thin zones of quartzose mica schist. Thin stringers and pods of vein quartz are intercalated. The country rock dips 64NW.
At locality "D", 375 1 north of "C", a face 20 1 high was opened in quartzite similar to that at "C", also containing pods and stringers of vein quartz.
At locality "E", 400' east of "D", up a hollow, are two adits, one on each side of the drainage. Caving saprolite has blocked one entrance and partiallr filled the other.
In addition to the work on vein deposita, placer workings can be traced northward along Bell Branch.
Pl7 Prospect Area: 800 1 NNE from the mouth of Bell Branch is a high-level placer about 100 1 across. From this area most of the sand and silt has been removed, leaving a covering of quartz pebbles, cobbles, and boulders. This alluvial material is about 60' higher than the present drainage level. Trenches extend farther up the nose to the northeast for about 150'. North from this point, placer workings extend about l~5 00' up the narrow valley of Be11 Branch and its west fork. Old placer workings extend 500 1 up the east fork.
Twenty-nine hundred feet from the fork of Bell Branch, up the right (east) for, and 200 1 west of the b'ranch, a logging road exposes feldspathic quartzose biotite gneiss and mica schist, with veins of quartz as much as 1211 wide. Samples taken for gold analysis proved barren.

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The Childs Mine (Pl4)
The Childs Mine, also known as "The Jarret Property", embraces several Land Lots, but the most important mining was on Land Lot 23, 3rd District. The mine site is 4000' northwest of Bean Creek Church along an east and northeast-flowing tributary to Bean Creek. The property is presently owned by the A. L. Bellisle Estate.
It is reported (Jones, 1909, p. 223) that a large hydraulic cut was made on this property, and that adits extended from the bottom of the cut. It appears now, however, that most of the mining was centered on the placer ground along the northeast-flowing tributary to Bean Creek, joining Bean in the vicinity of the "Lot 10" workings. The placer-mined area is about 1800 1 long and varies from SO' to 350' wide. A water ditch cut along the property brought water to the placer and also served as a deeper channel for the stream, helping to drain the alluvium. Cutting the ditch entailed blasting in fresh rock, mostly garnetiferous mica schist with intercalated quartz pods and stringers.
The alluvial material thqt remains is mostly quartz pebbles and cobbles, with occasional boulders as large as 3' x 4' x 6'. Judging from the appearance of the surface, little of the alluvium was left unturned. Placer works continued to the southwest for about 1250 1 up the more narrow valley of the left fork of this tributary of Bean Creek. The entire course of the stream flows within an area underlain by garnetiferous mica schist, the country rock containing the auriferous veins of the "Lot 10" mines to the northeast. The most recent working in the Childs area was about 1933 (R. W. Smith field notes 11-10-34). J. J. Stevenson mined about 8~ acres of the alluvium along Bean Creek. The average thickness of the alluvium was 9 1 Stevenson's procedure was to open a pit about /5 1 x 45' down to bedrock and process the gravels at the base of the cut. It is interesting to note that the "worked-out" placers of earlier years proved to be more profitable than the virgin ground. Stevenson's gold recovery averaged 15 per cubic yard for all material moved, both gravel and overburden, and about 45 per yard for the auriferous gravels.
"Lot 10"
"Lot 10" has been used as a short term for the old "Lumsden Property" for many years. Still another conunon name is the "Jones Mine". The property includes a number of Land Lots in the third District, but most of the mining has been concentrated, as implied by the name, in Land Lot 10. First discovery of gold on the property was in 1830 (Yeates, 1896, p. 36). The property is now owned by Mr. Huber York, Mr. Earl Thomas and The Stovall Estate. The "Lot 10" area includes Pl3 and P57.
Pl3 Prospect Area (Map 3): The workings are 4500 1 NNW from Bean Creek Church, on the north side of Bean Creek next to a soil road.
An area 500 1 NW-SE by 400 1 -600 1 NE-SW has been mined to depths of as much as 50 1 , primarily by hydraulicing. In addition, several pits and adits were sunk in hard rock. The mines are in garnetiferous mica schist and saprolite derived from quartzose feldspathic biotite schist and feldspathic quartzite, all containing numerous pods and stringers of vein quartz. The country rock strikes N35E and dips steeply NW.

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In the northeasternmost pit, an adit has been driven along the strike of the countr~y rock, into a concentration of thin quartz veins and pods. The opening is about mid-way up from the floor of the pit and immediately southeast of a shear zone, the apparent control for the concentration of quartz. Another adit 75 1 north of the road trends N80E and is also opened along a concentration of thinly intercalated quartz pods and stringers.
Southwest of the road and Bean Creek a small amount of garnetiferous mica schist was mined. Several shallow shafts were sunk in the stream alluvium, which shows evidence of having been worked for placer gold. The placer workings extend southwestward into the Childs mining area. Extensive placer-worked areas are along Bean Creek and its tributaries tf) the southeast of "Lot 1011
The veins, saprolite areas and cuts of "Lot 10" have been given a complex of names. For further information see Appendix IV.
P5'7 !'respect Area: Locality "A" is where the soil road leading south to Bean CrF.!el: Church crosses Bean Creek. The most prominent placer workings are on either si.de of the road at this point. Large ponds fill the scars of placer gouging::.. Placer ground extends from this immediate area to the north and south along draws of tributaries to Bean Creek. The cobbly gravel in the Creek bed consists of vein quartz, quartzite, garnetiferous mica schist, amphibolite, biotite gneiss, and pewnatite.
Very old placer workings can be traced along the tributary leading to the south and scuthwest for a. distance of approximately 2000'. Most of the old work1.ngs are along the south side of the stream channel.
Old wo1:kings are evident along the full course of Bean Creek from the vicinity o:c "Lot 1011 mines southeastward to its junction with Sautee Creek. From Sautee Craek northwestward the placer gound, which has been thoroughly worked, is confined to the southwest side of the stream channel.
6th District
The south boundary of the 6th District is the north boundary of "Lot 10" and other Land Lots east and west of "Lot 10". The ~outheast edge of the "gold belt" passes through the 6th District in the vicinity of Community Church; thence northeastward to near Echoe Girl Scout Camp and on into Habersham County.
The "gold belt" becomes narrower as it approaches its northeast limits in White County. This h reflected by the fact that very little mining, placer or othe~~ise) has been carried on in this general area. One adit was found 3000' southt,1est of Community Church. It has a trend of NSOOW across the strike of the hornblendi<: <!ountry rock. The adit is 4' wide, 7 1 high and 110' long. There are several 1"-8" cor1ccrdant quartz veins in the vicinity of the adit, one of the largest on the adit face. None of the veins assayed gold. Another adit is said to be on Dr. Walter.s land (site of Echoe Camp) on a hillside just north of the junction of Chicamauga and McClure Creeks, but this adit was not located.
Renewal of Placer Hi.:o.ing in White County
Planimetry of Maps 1, 2 and 3 provides a measure of the area underlain by potentially minable auriferous gravels. These are minimal values inasmuch as they represent only thoae gravels which are known and have been mapped.

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TABLE II. Areas underlain by potential gold placer gravels, White County

Area

Thousands of square yards

Mostly Worked over, but reworkable

Mostly Unworked

Cleveland Quadrangle Turner Creek Tesnatee Creek Chateen Creek Jenny Creek

392.92 48.88 104.78

101.33 991.11

Helen Quadrangle Chattahoochee River Nacoochee Valley Dukes Creek Bean Creek Chickamauga Creek Sautee Creek

531.82
419.60 752.94

727.38 2,260.00
254.80 8.88
388.13 2,244.44

Estimates of gravel thickness come from records of test holes that have been sunk and from present exposures along the streams. Though these estimates are rough, they do when treated conservatively give reliable minimal yardages.

In Table III are shown the estimated yards of auriferous gravel in the 4 stream valleys which are amenable to dredging. The estimates of value are based on past production figures, on spot panning, and on exploratory test pits. At the east end of Nacoochee Valley, for example, west of where Sautee Creek enters, cased shafts were sunk to bedrock and average values from grass roots to bedrock are, according to Fearing, 1939, 38, 38, 24, and 39 for 4 shafts within an area 1000 fAet across. A brief operation by the Ferey Mining Company near the Sautee .Postoffice in 1937 reported an average of 21 per cubic yard. Mr. Cronheim1s operation on Dukes Creek in 1937-1940 yielded average values of 25 per cubic yard.

TABLE III. Auriferous Gravels in Sautee Creek, Bean Creek, the Nacoochee Valley and Dukes Creek

Square yards of alluvial
bottoms

Sautee Creek Bean Creek Nacoochee Valley Dukes Creek

2,244,000 752,940
2,260,000 1,644,000

Average depth to bedrock
12 1 6'
12 1 12 1

Estimated cubic yards
8,976,000 1,505,880 9,040,000 6,576,000

Estimated average
value per cubic yard

Gold Value

$1,795,000.

301,000.

1,808,000.

986,000.

Total

6,900,940

2 6 , 09 7,880

$4,890,000.

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The average depth of the Nacoochee Valley alluvium has been estimated at 15' by Captain Garland Peyton, Director of the Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology, who estimated the value to be 15 to 40 per cubic yard. The estimates of both value and ya1~dage in Table III are conservative. Somewhat less conservative figures would yield a total value of 7 million dollars or more in placer gold in the four valleys.
Though parts of the 4 valleys, particularly Nacoochee Valley, are cultivated, dredging for gold is still feasible. Experience elsewhere has shown that the land can be returned to agriculture a short time after mining and may be improved thereby.
Mica
Mica-bearing pegmatites abound in the sillimanite schist and granite-gneiss zones, but usually the mica in them is small or it has pronounced "A" structure, wedging, or staining. The production of mica from White County has been small. The more important localities are described below:
P52 Prospect Area: In t:he Blue Creek Community, 250 1 S76W from the county voting house on property of the StovaLl Estate, a down-sloping adit follows a mica-bearing pegmatite due west along its strike for about 8 1 into the hillside. The pegmatite is 2 1 wide and cuts across the enclosing country rock, which is mica schist. Sheet mica, the largest 5" across, are scattered over the ground near the adit entrance. Most of the mica is wedged and shows a pronounced- "A" structure: a few pieces, however, are without obvious flaws. Intergrown w~th the mica are large pink feldspar crystals.
The pegmatite was last worked about 14 years ago.
Locality 140: This site is along a soil road 0.4 mile northeast of Union Grove Church. A four inch pegmatite dike cross-cuts deeply weathered sillimanite schist. The dike contains clear mica crystals two inches in diameter and 1~ inches thick. Attitude of the pegmatite is N45E, vertical.
Locality 144: About 0.4 mile south-southeast of the White County Airport and one mile east -northeast of Mossy Creek Church, large sheets of mica float, some five inches across, litter the road and adjace nt fields. Although the mica shows "A" structure, it is very abundant, and might be considered a potential scrap mica deposit. .The zone over which the float is scattered trends N350W.
Rocky Mtn. Locality: Subsequent to this survey, a mica-bearing pegmatite has been opened in the north part of White County in the vicinity of Rocky Mountain, between Unicoi Gap and Indian Grave Gap. The operator is Frank Edwards, Helen, Georgia.
Locality 249: Three miles south of Cleveland and 0.2 mile north of Mossy Creek Bridge, just west of Georgia Highway 11, a mica-bearing pegmatite is exposed on the hill behind the Meader house. Judging from the float, the pegmatite strikes northeast. Two-inch sheets of exceptionally clear mica litter the surface.
Other mica occurrences are noted on the "Location of Mines and Prospects" map.

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Platinum
The discovery of platinum in White County is described under Distribution of Alluvial Platinum, page 14.
Sillimanite
Sillimanite is a common mineral in White County. It is most abundant in a belt of schist 1\-2 miles wide which runs N60E across the SE side of the county. The sillimanite is present as fine needles or small knots, often as silky coatings on quartz and slippage surfaces. Occasionally large but poorly formed sillimanite crystals are found. A search of the sillimanite belt has not yet revealed a commercial deposit.
Soapstone
Soapstone has been quarried in White County and used extensively in local construction. Many of the old houses and barns, especially those located near soapstone outcrops, have their chimneys, foundations, and garden walls made from it. The stone was sawn into blocks of the desired size; most of the quarries were small.
The soapstone now exposed is a low quality stone containing chlorite and conmon limonite boxworks suggestive of weathered hornblende. Often the stone is schistose. The deposits lie mostly along the central portion of the "Gold Belt".
P4 Prospect Area (Old Allison Mine): This mine is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle, east of Thurmond Creek, 6100 1 north of Asbestos Church, on the west side of a low ridge which trends south-southwest. It is located within 200 1 of a small southwest-flowing tributary to Thurmond Creek, at a contour elevation of 1600 1 Access to the mine is by an old trail road, now impassable.
The deposit is 1200 1 northwest of the contact between the garnetiferous mica schist and amphibolite of the "gold belt". The soapstone is schistose and contains chlorite and remnant boxworks suggestive of weathered hornblende. The unit strikes N42E and dips 72SE (?). The old mine is a trench which extends along the stri~ of the soapstone for a distance of 175' and has a width of 7'. Old tool marks are still visible from the last operation which is reported to have been about 1914.
Thirty feet southeast of the southwest end of the trench a shallow prospect pit exposes very chloritic soapstone; 15 1 to the SE of this pit is a second small pit which exposes fine-grained quartzose biotite gneiss.
P5 Prospect Area (Old Castleberry Place): This mine is in the SE~ of the Cowrock quadrangle, about 4500 1 WNW from Asbestos Church. Mr. Hoyt Elliot is the owner.
The deposit is about 1000 1 NW of the contact between the garnetiferous mica schist and amphibolite of the "gold belt" and within the predominantly schistose zone. The soapstone is schistose and impure. It strikes N450E and dips 610NW.

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The mine (trench) extends along strike for a distance of 100 1 and is about 25' wide. According to Mr. Elliot, 2 or 3 small pits were worked a short distance to the southwest but now are obscured by vegetation and slumping. The last mining activity was about 1914.
To the southeast along a tributary to Thurmond Creek is garnetiferous talcase schist.
P6 Prospect Area (Dean Property)" This mine is in the NW-\ of the Helen quadrangle about 1 mile south of Helen Georgia, near the headwaters of Long Hungry Branch. The property is owned by Mr. John Shackleford, Blackshear, Georgia.
There are two main cuts, one on either side of the creek. The southwest cut exposes schistose impure soapstone which is about 30 1 wide, strikes N37E and dips 70NW. The body is trenched for a strike distance of 200 1 The face of the mine is a sawn surface about 10 1 high. The northeast cut is across the creek and about 200' to the northeast. At this site a trench, 6 1 wide and 3'-6' deep extends along the soapstone for a distance of 80 1 The quality of the stone is better here than elsewhere.
All of the soapstone exposed in White County is chloritic and marred by limonitic boxworks though the stone is suitable for construction, its imperfections probably rule out those uses which require polished surfaces.

Mineral Collecting Localities

The hobby of mineral collecting is said to rank second only to boating in the total number of persons involved. Mineral collectors are attracted to a good locality from all parts of the country. Collecting localities can be a strong enough tourist attraction to appreciable affect the economy of an underdeveloped area.

In~idental to the mineral resource survey 19 localities were noted where crystals or unusual specimens of one or more of the following minerals may be collected:

Amethyst Asbestos Calcite Chalcopyrite Chlorite Feldspar Garnet Gold Graphite Hall'oysite Hyalite ? Kaolinite

Kyanite Limonite Magnetite Muscovite Pyrite Quartz crystals Rutile Scheelite Sillimanite Soapstone Talc Tourmaline

Amethyst

Bluish violet to purple quartz is called amethyst. It generally is found as

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crystals, less commonly massive. The composition is silicon dioxide. Like quartz it has a hardness of 7 and no cleavage.
Amethyst is a valuable gem stone.
Asbestos
Asbestos is a commercial term applied to several of the naturally fibrous minerals, as anthophyllite, actinolite, tremolite, and chrysotile. All the known asbestos in White County is the variety anthophyllite, which is a magnesium-iron silicate. Its color ranges from gray to brown. Mass-fiber is the descriptive term for asbestos exhibiting a matted, criss-crossing, or interlocking arrangement of the individual fibers. Cross-fiber refers to a regular .arrangement of the fibers perpendicular to the vein walls; slip-fibe~ refers to a general orientation of the fibers parallel to the vein walls. All three types are in White County, though mass-fiber predominates.
The principal commercial use of asbestos is the manufacture of friction materials, as brake linings and clutch facings. Asbestos fabrics are made into fireproof clothing, theater curtains, electrical insulation products, conveyor belts for hot materials, and gaskets. From asbestos mixed with cement is fabricated pipe, shingles, and wallboard.
Calcite
Calcite is a light colored soft mineral which has perfect rhombohedral cleavage and fizzes when in contact with acid. It is found in cleavable masses and in a wide variety of crystal shapes.
Chalcopyrite
The most common and important ore mineral of copper is chalcopyrite. It is a brass yellow color, a little deeper yellow than pyrite, brittle, and only moderately hard. During weathering it is apt to tarnish or become iridescent.
Chlorite
Green micaceous minerals having flexible but generally inelastic cleavage folia are called chlorites. They are hydrous alluminosilicates of iron and magnesium. Large chlorite books which make handsome display specimens are associated with asbestos in White County.
Feldspar
Feldspars, aluminosilicates of calcium, soidum and potassium, are hard, generally light colored and have two cleavages that intersect nearly at right angles. Large crystals of feldspar are in some of the pegmatites.

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Feldspar is used as a mild abrasive in soaps and cleaning powders. Ita main use is in glass, fired clay products and enamels. Iridescent or colored varieties are used as gemstones.
Garnet
Small twelve-sided garnet crystals are abundant in some of the schists in White County. At a few places the crystals are as large as 1" across. Garnet is hard and has no cleavage. When transparent it can be cut into gems.
Gold
Many of the quartz veins in White County contain .small irregularly shaped masses of native gold. As the veins disintegrate at the surface, the gold particles shell out and are moved slowly downhill by erosion to be concentrated in the streams. The larger particles, being very heavy, settled to the bottom of the valley gravels, while "flour" gold or "colors" may remain at the surface. Where the lowest gravels in the stream bed can be collected and panned they generally yield some gold.
Gold is yellow and malleable. It can be distinguished from all varieties of "fool's gold" by the fact that it flattens rather than disintegrates when hit with a hammer.
Nuggets weighing several ounces have been found in White County.
Graphite
Graphite, elemental carbon, is one of the softest known minerals. It is black, and often found in small flakes. When rubbed on a sheet of paper it leaves a black streak. Graphite is used as a lubricant, a paint additive,. in crucibles ;.;nd in pencils.
Halloysite
A waxy to pearly clay mineral which is very hygroscopic when dry. It is generally light colored and may be soft or hard. It is characteristically found in thin seams as the alteration product of other aluminous minerals. It is a hydrous silicate of almninum.
Hyalite
A secondary glassy, globular or concretionary form of silica, hyalite, often fluoresces brightly from impurities. Yellow green is the typical fluorescent color. It coats fractures and joint surfaces in rocks.
Kaolinite
The principal decomposition product of feldspar, a common mineral in nearly

69.
all rocks, is kaolin. It is light colored and usually soft, a hydrous aluminum silicate. When feldspathic pegmatite or granite are deeply weathered, kaolin is the principal residual product.
Kaolin is used in ceramics, to coat paper, as a rubber filler and in numerous other ways.
Kyanite
Kyanite is hard, generally gray to blue and in the form of blades. It is a metamorphic mineral, a constituent of certain schists. Being resistant to weathering it may accumulate at the surface over these schists.
The mineral finds application in spark plugs, laboratory ware, furnace linings as a refractory.
Limonite
Hydrous iron oxide, limonite, develops during the weathering of f~rruginous minerals. When the ferruginous mineral was a crystal, the limonite may retain the crystal shape. Brown pseudomorphs of limonite after pyrite are locally abundant in White County.
Where limonite has developed in large enough masses it can be mined as iron ore.
Magnetite
Magnetite is black, heavy and strongly magnetic. It is an ore mineral of iron.
Muscovite
White mica can be split into thin sheets which are flexible and elastic. It is colorless, gray, pale green or pale red and transparent. The principal use is in electronic parts as an insulator. Large clear sheets may be worth many dollars per pound.
Pyrite
Yellow iron sulfide crystallizes in cubes and octahedrons as well as in anhedral grains. It may resemble gold, and has been called "fool's gold", but it may be distinguished by its brittleness. Pyrite is a common mineral in veins and is found sparingly in most of the rocks. It weathers to limonite.
Quartz Crystals
Crystals of quartz are hexagonal prisms capped by pyramidal faces. Most of

70.
the quartz crystals in White County are clear to gray. A few are smoky to amethystjne.
Quartz is hard and without cleavage. When colored it may be fashioned into semiprecious stones. Clear untwinned quartz is cut into oscillator plates for radio transmitters.
Rutile
Rutile is red brown to hlack, hard, and has an adamantine luster. It is a principal ore minetal of titanium.
Scheelite
Scheelite is white to pale colored, brittle, and may closely resemble quartz but it is a little softer. It is easily distinguished by its brilliant white to blue white fluorescence when irradiated with ultraviolet light. It is a principal ore mineral of tungsten.
Sillimanite
Acicular crystals and gray fibrous masses of sillimanite are widespread in eastern White County where it is a constituent of schists and gneisses. In and along some of the quartz veins the sillimanite crystals are larger. The mineral is hard) t1ansparent to translucent. The larger pieces can be cut as semiprecious stones.
Soapstone
Massive rock tlu~ chief constituent of which is talc is called soapstone. Its composition is very variable, it being a common alteration product of several varieties of basic rock. The talc content may be as low as 50%. Chlorite is another common component. Soapstone is greenish gray. It is characterized by a soapy feel, and may be easily cut or sawn into slabs or structural shapes. Being acid resistant and refractory, soapstone is used for sinks, fume hoods, table tops, electrical switchboards and cores for electrical heating elements.
Talc
Talc is a soft, foliated or massive, gray to green mineral. It is the principal constituent of soapstone. Masses of more or less pure talc are ground to powder and used in paint, rubber, inser;ticides, paper and ceramics. Massive talc is shape.d into foundry faces and crayons.
Tourmaline
Host of the tourmaline found in White County is in black, striated, prismatic cr;stals, the largest sever.al inches long. Typically it is in pegmatites and

71.
quartz veins. Other colors may be found. Tourmaline is hard. When colored, it is prized as a gemstone.
Locality 1 - Asbestos, chlorite, garnet, soapstone, talc
From Robertstown, Georgia, northeastward on the Batesville highway (via Unicoi State Park) for about 5~ miles to a sign which indicates the direction to Camp Ecohee along a soil road turning off to theSE. Follow this soil road 0.7 mile and bear left at the road fork just north of Craig Creek. Continue past a house and two lakes to Camp Echoee, the mineral collecting ground.
Site A 11 11 is a small pit on the northwest side of the road, between a recreation building and a tent. The pit exposes good specimens of asbestos, soapstone, and chlorite. The chlorite is near the top of the pit in a two-inch wide vein which has yielded green books as large as 1" across.
Site "B" is a trench northeast of "A". It exposes soapstone and talc, the latter a pale-green to white color, excellent quality.
Site "C" is back along the dirt road between the Batesville highway and Craig Creek. Small garnets are scattered along the road and in the outcropping garnet-mica schist.
Locality 2 - Halloysite
Going NW out of Helen, take the first paved road to the right toward Unicoi State Park. Go past the second entrance to the park, a distance of 1.8 miles from Ga. Highway 75, stop at a road cut on the left side of the highway, across from a barn. Union Church is a few hundred feet farther down the road.
Thin veins of white and pink halloysite are exposed in the road cut. The halloysite is soft and smooth when moist, but either broken and crumbly or very hard when dry. The hygroscopic character of the dry halloysite can be tested by touching a piece to the tongue or to a moist fingertip.
Locality 3 - Fluorescent calcite, pyrite
From the Chattahoochee Grill in Helen, follow Georgia Highway 75 southeastward to the first road that turns right. Take this road across the Chattahoochee River and back toward the northwest. Bear left at a house and stop at a basketball stand near a spring. From here follow the sketch map to the old tunnel.
The calcite and associated pyrite are exposed in quartzose biotite gneiss in a 200 foot tunnel. The calcite is in veins. It fluoresces pink to red. The pyrite is octahedral. Crystals as large as 1/2 inch can be collected.
At times the floor of the tunnel is wet.

72.
REFERENCE MAP MINERAL COLLECTING LOCALITIES
WHITE COUNTY
Figure 20

73.

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76. Locality 4 - Quartz Crystals
Go southeast from Helen on Georgia Highway 75 to the Twin Tanks service station. A farm lane on the opposite side of the road has a high bank in which there has been digging. The crystals have been shelling out of a quartz vein. Crystal size ranges up to 1~".
Locality 5 - Kaolin, Graphite, Chlorite
From the junction of Georgia Highways 75 and 17, travel northward on Highway 75 for 0.15 miles to a soil road which runs northeastward. Follow it for 0.35 miles to an old burned house site on the left (NW) side of the road. The road cut at this point exposes what was once a feldspathic rock, now altered to residual kaolin.
Overlying the kaolin is a layer of gravel in which there are flakes of graphite up to 1/2" across.
At point "A" on Locality Map 5, just N of the Chattahoochee River bridge, chloritic schist crops out on both sides of the road. Where pegmatites have cut the schists, the chlorite has coarsened and good specimens can be collected.
Locality 6 - Gold, kyan~te, sillimanite, garnet, rutile
Go north of Cleveland on Georgia Highway 75 to Dukes Creek. Less than 1000' north of Dukes Creek, a sign points west to the Helen Sand and Gravel Company operation. This is about 0. 9 mile south of the. intersection of Georgia Highways 75 and 17.
Gold and alluvial kyanite, sillimanite, garnet and rutile may be panned along Dukes Creek or from the areas being worked by Helen Sand and Gravel Company. The gold is mostly fine, though small nuggets have been found. Bluish kyanite blades up to 2" across have been collected. The sillimanite may be in very fine crystals or fragments or in rounded nodules up to 1/2" across. The garnet and rutile are generally very fine, prominent constituents of the heavy sand.
Locality 7 - Soapstone, chlorite
From Cleveland, travel northward on Georgia Highway 75 for three miles to a
sign reading "Shewbert's Antique & Flower Shop". Turn left on a secondary road
and continue northwestward 1. 3 miles to a soil road that runs northeast. Follow this road 0.3 mile to an old school building on the left of the road. Locality Map No. 7 shows how to go from the old school building to the collecting site.
Soapstone was last mined at this site in 1914. Good specimens of soapstone and chlorite can be collected from a trench 175' long and 5'-10' wide.
Locality 8 - Soapstone
' I
From Cleveland travel northward on Georgia Highway 75 for three miles to a sign reading "Shewbert's Antique and Flower Shop". Turn left on a secondary

77.

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82.
road and continue northwestward one and a half miles to a road fork. Take the left fork (southwestward) for 0.4 mile to the Elliot house. Refer to Locality Map No. 8 for the exact location of the old quarry.
The soapstone was last worked in 1914. Massive soapstone is still exposed on the quarry face.
Locality 9 - Tourmaline Crystals
Go northward from Cleveland on Georgia Highway 75 for 3 miles to a sign reading "Shewbert's Antique and Flower Shop". Turn left on a secondary road and continue northwestward 0.65 miles to a road which turns off southwestward just beyond Freeman Creek.
The tourmaline crystals are in quartz pebbles and cobbles in the stream bed 100 1 to 1000 1 northwest of the lake. The crystals are black and up to 1" long. The source of the tourmaline is probably nearby but was not located.
Locality 10 - Asbestos, chlorite, soapstone, talc
Go northward from Cleveland on Georgia Highway 75 for 3 miles to a sign nshewbert's Antique and Flower Shop". Turn left on a secondary road and go to the Holiness Church. A trail passing on the south side of the Church leads to the old asbestos workings.
Old pits expose an ultrabasic rock which has altered to asbestos, soapstone and talc. Coarsely crystalline chlorite is along the contact.
A large quantity of asbestos is reported to have been mined from the large pit more than 30 years ago. The bottom of the pit is now filled. Fresh specimens of apple-green chlorite, and soft, short-fiber buff colored asbestos can be collected.
Locality 11 - Calcite, gold, pyrite, limonite
From Cleveland go northwestward on U. S. 129 about 2 miles to the westernmost entrance to Walters Tavern. On the NE side of the highway cubic limonite pseudo-
morphs after pyrite are scattered over the ground. This is ''B" on Locality Map
No. 11. The largest cubes are 1" across.
At site "A", a new road cut along U. S. 129, massive pyrite can be collected from quartz veins in biotite gneiss. Small calcite crystals up to 1/2" long are associated with the pyrite.
At site "C", gold"-bearing gravels are exposed in a shallow road cut. The bottom gravels yield coarse gold. They can be panned along nearby Turner Creek.
Locality 12 - Calcite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, scheelite
Locality 12 is 3/4 mile northwestward along U. S. 129 from Locality 11.

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87.
At site "A", a fresh cut in amphibolite exposes thin calcite pods and veins in which there are disseminated grains of scheelite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite. The calcite fluoresces pink to red. The scheelite fluoresces white. The best samples can be collected on the north side of the highway from the large boulders that were removed from the road cut.
At site "B" very small tourmaline crystals can be seen in the country rock, which is garnet-mica schist.
Locality 13 - Hyalite ?
From Cleveland travel westward on Georgia Highway 115 for 1.4 miles to a fork. Bear right and continue westward for 2.4 miles to the Tesnatee Creek Bridge.
On the east side of Tesnatee Creek a road cut exposes massive biotite gneiss. Hyalite is found along seams and fractures as a colorless globular coating which fluoresces a bright green under ultraviolet light.
Locality 14 - Magnetite
From Cleveland travel southwestward 4.2 miles on Georgia Highway 115 to a soil road that runs southeastward. From this junction follow the soil road as indicated on Locality Map No. 14 to the collecting site. The magnetite in fragments up to H;" across is strewn over a small open field.
Locality 15 - Halloysite
Two miles south of Cleveland on U. S. 129 is the Georgia Highway Department's barn. Farther south along U. S. 129 are several road cuts where halloysite can be collected (refer to Locality Map No. 15).
The halloysite is in thin seams 1"-3" thick along fractures in granite gneiss. It varies from white through pink to butterscotch. The fresh halloysite commonly exhibits fine banding and resembles banded agate.
Locality 16 - Feldspar, muscovite
Go from Cleveland eastward 2.7 miles on Georgia Highway 115 to its junction with Ge~rgia Highway 255. Follow 255 northeastward for 3.0 miles to the junct ion with a dirt road 0.28 miles beyond Blue Creek Church. Turn left (northwestward) onto the dirt road to Blue Creek Community voting house. The collecting site is 250 1 southwest of the voting house at the edge of a field.
The muscovite is in fresh pegmatite exposed by old mine workings. Sheets up to S" across have been collected. With the muscovite is specimen-quality pink feldspar.

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92. Locality 17 - Muscovite
Eastward on Georgia Highway 115 from Cleveland 4.6 miles is a road junction. Turn right onto the paved road that leads south toward Union Grove Church, then refer to Locality Map No. 17.
Road grading has exposed a mica-bearing pegmatite. The muscovite books are pseudohexagonal and up to 2" across.
Locality 18 - Sillimanite
From Cleveland travel east 6.3 miles on Georgia Highway 115 to Leaf Community and turn southeastward on State Route 13 for 2.1 miles to a road junction. Swing southwestward and go 0.7 miles to the collecting site.
White, yellow and brown masses and acicular crystals of sillimanite can be collected from the surface and from a road bank. Specimens as large as 4" across suitable for tumbling can be obtained.
Locality 19 - Amethyst, quartz crystals, sillimanite
Follow U, S. 129 from the South White County line 0.7 mile to a dirt road that leads eastward, Follow the dirt road 0.3 mile to the County quarry, which is in quartzite. At the north side of the quarry ("A" on Locality Map No. 19) are quartz veins in which there are euhedral quartz crystals up to 111 long. White silky sillimanite is along some of the veins and in thin intercalated schist near the center of the quarry.
At "B", on the Charles Soseby property, museum specimens of amethyst have been collected. The amethyst is a deep purple and may be free of major flaws. It is found in fragments and crystals on the surface ea~t of the Soseby house.
Additional Mineral Collecting Localities
Amethyst: From Robertstown go northeast 2 miles on the Batesville highway to Union Church. Continue past Union Church and around curve to the north for 0.3 miles. On the right side of the road is a 4" thick quartz vein varying from smoky to amethystine. Other veins might be found in the vicinity.
Garnet: Travel U. S. 129 north for 0.7 miles from the south White County line. Garnets up to 3/4 inch in diameter have been collected from the road cuts.
Magnetite: Go eastward from Cleveland 6.2 miles on Georgia Highway 115 to the Leaf Community. Turn onto Georgia Highway 13 southeastward for 1.3 miles to a soil road that runs westward. Continue along the soil road 0.8 mile to a fork; bear left and continue 0.4 mile around a sharp bend. Fragments of magnetite 2" across litter the hillslope northwest of the road.
Muscovite: From the southeast end of the White County airport, travel a soil road 0.6 mile to the collecting site. Muscovite is scattered over the road and adjacent fields.

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Muscovite: Go south from Cleveland 3.4 miles on Georgia Highway 11 to the ~eader's Pottery Works, which is on the west sid~ of the highway. On a hill behind the Meader's house are books of clear muscovite up to 2" across.

Water

White County is in the Piedmont-Mountain Province which is characterized by high water yields. Average annual precipitation ranges from 53 to 70 inches and the average annual runoff ranges from 27 to 37 inches.

The surface water is soft with an average pH of 6.0-6.8 and an iron content ranging from 0.01 to 0.13.

The minimum 12 months flow (in cubic feet per second) of White's streams during the 1954 drought (Cherry, 1961) are:

Smith Creek Chattahoochee River Dukes Creek Chickamauga Creek Sautee Creek Mossy Creek Dean Creek Tesnatee Creek Little Tesnatee Creek

20 274
38 33 62
9.4 4.1 12 42

The minimum flow per square mile during the 1954 drought was 200,000 to 500,000 gallons per day.

Weathering of the rocks in White County has produced a mantle 5 to 80 feet thick, which serves as a giant sponge, absorbing ground water during wet seasons and slowly releasing it during dry periods. A large volume of ground water is stored in this residuum and in cracks and crevices in the underlying rocks.

The rock structures are a primary controlling factor for movement and storage of water. Schists and gneisses, particularly hornblende gneiss and amphibolite, usually have a good foliation and joint systems which facilitate movement and storage.

The yield of wells is greatly influenced by their location with respect to topography. Those located in a valley are favored by three conditions: (1) ground water moves from the higher to the lower elevation; (2) the amount of residuunL available for storage is usually greater in the valley; and (3) surface drainage is from high to low ground. The ground water is soft to moderately hard.

Large volumes of high quality water are available.

97. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mr. William L. Otwell did most of the geologic field work and mine examinations. He was assisted by Mr. Thomas J. Crawford. Jack H. Medlin, William E. White, Billy B. Byars, Btdge E. Williams, Authur J. Goolsby, Jr., James N. Hauser, William H. McLemore, Kenneth B. Lanier, and William H. Smith collected the geochemical samples. Antoinette Medlin, Judith Marples, Martha Rogers, Jack H. Medlin, William H. McLemore, and Vernon J. Hurst processed the samples in the laboratory and performed the necessary assays and analyses. Roger Austin worked with the field geologists in assemblying the mineral collecting data. Elizabeth Kuo drafted most of the maps. Donnie Kitchens typed and proofed the manuscript.
Captain Garland Peyton, Director of the Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology, made available information and old reports in the department's files and provided 2 vehicles for field work.
The White County Redevelopment Corporation and particularly Dr. L. G. Neal, Jr., and Mr. Henry M. Watson helped to find housing for the field men, maintained good working relations between field men and residents, and assisted the study in other ways.
The study was planned and conducted by the Geology Department, Dr. Vernon J. Hurst, Head, acting through and aided by the Institute of Community and Area Development, directed by Mr. J. W. Fanning, and the Office of General Research, directed by Dr. Robert A. McRorie.
The Area Redevelopment Administration, U. S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, D. c. financed the project, Contract No. Cc-5960.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blake, William P. (1874) Wood tin in Georgia, Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. VIII, p. 392.
Cherry, Rodney N. (1961) Chemical quality of water of Georgia streams, 195758. Ga. Geol. Survey Bull. 69.
Fearing, Frederick C. (1939) Report on the ''McNear" Placers, Northeastern Georgia (unpublished).
Jones, s. P. (1909) Second report on the gold deposits of Georgia. Ga. Geol.
Survey Bull. 19.
Peyton, Garland (1940) Placer Mining for Gold near Dahlonega, Ga. Engineering and Mining Journal, April 1940.
Thomson, M. T. & Carter, R. F. (1963) Effect of a severe drought (1954) on
streamflow in Georgia. Ga. Geol. Survey Bull. 73.

98.
Thomson, M. T., Herrick, s. M., Brown, Eugene, and others (1956) The availability
and use of water in Georgia. Ga. Geol. Survey Bull. 65.
Yeates, W. s., McCallie, s. W., and King, F.rancis P. (1896) A preliminary Report
on a part of the Gold deposits in Georgia. Ga. Geol. Survey Bull. 4-A.
OTHER REFERENCES ARE ON PAGES 105 and 106.

99. APPENDIX I
PUBLISHED INFORMATION ON ORE DEPOSITS AND MINERAL OCCURRENCES IN WHITE COUNTY, SUMMARIZED
(REFERENCE NUMBERS IN PARENTHESES)

ASBESTOS
(1)(2)(3) Amphibole asbestos. Located on the east slope of Sal Mountain. Asbestos is of mass-fiber anthophyllite type, and 90-95% of rock quarried was fiber. Deposits stated as being small masses, with the best grade near the surface. As a result, most available high-grade material has been exhausted. The original discovery consisted of a mass 75 x 50 feet and was mined to a depth of 50 feet. The fibers contain a little talc and lime carbonate as well as small grains of pyrite and magnetite. Mining was carried on by Sal Mountain Company. Within an area of 80 acres, 6 separate masses of asbestos have been discovered. Three largest deposits were close together and in a line running N800E. Largest mass was 100 feet by 50 feet.
Calhoun Mining Company's property is located on a southwest spur of Sal Mountain. The asbestos rock is associated with a biotite-granite gneiss and has a southwest-northeast strike. Length of intrusion probably 125 feet by 15 feet but exposures are poor. Along the contact with the country rock, laminated soapstone is developed. The central mass is composed of talc, chlorite, and anthophyllite.
Also small occurrences of fibrous anthophyllite have been discovered 2 miles north of Cleveland and about 5 miles southwest of the Sal Mountain Mine. They are also the property of the Sal Mountain Company. One exposure is about 60 feet wide by 100 feet long and the other is roughly circular of diameter 20-25 feet. This area has a larger percentage of talc. The asbestos is scattered over the surface on about 10 acres. At the present there are shown at least 4 elliptical bodies of asbestos lying in a N45E line, extending over a distance of 1/4 mile. The largest body, at the north end, has a length of 200 1 and maximum width of 50 feet. All the deposits at this locality lie near the western contact of the area of granite gneiss with the schists and hornblende gneiss.
There are a number of prospects on Wolfpit and Mack Mountains, in Habersham County, 6-8 miles northeast of the Sal Mountain Mines, mainly on the Martin and Wykle properties. Asbestos is associated with peridotite intrusions, talc and soapstone.

APATITE

(4)

In a fresh cut on the north side of the Clarkesville Nacoochee Highway (Ga.

17) several miles southeast of Nacoochee. The mineral occurs in coarsely crystalline

biotite gneiss which has been thoroughly injected by pegmatitic granite. Is of gem

quality.

100.

CASSITERITE

(5)(6) Records meager and legendary. Minute grains of wood. Tin reported in gold placers of Nacoochee Valley (1860).

CHALCOPYRITE

(7)

The principle "belt" of copper in the form of sulphides in Georgia extends

through White County, south Lumpkin, Dawson and Cherokee Counties.

CLAY

(8)

Plastic alluvial clay may be found in the valleys of almost any of the

streams. No extensive deposits occur and the alluvial deposits are usually quite

sandy. There are a number of potteries.

DIAMOND

(9)

White County reported to have yielded diamonds. Most reports of diamond

finds in Georgia lack verification.

(10)

Find reported by J. T. Henderson.

(11)

Four diamonds were found in the gold washings of the Nacoochee River and

two near Loudsville. (Itacolumite is probable diamond matrix).

FELDSPAR, MICA AND PEGMATITES

(12)

There is a belt 3-4 miles wide trending from 30-40 east of north in the

north and by northwest parts of the county containing pegmatite dykes with width

over 6 feet. Robertson and Nacoochee Valley lie within the belt.

Dukes Creek: 200 yards down stream from the point where the Kimsey-Robertson road crosses over Dukes Creek is a series of 3 cataracts caused by pegmatites lying at right angles to the stream bed. Some feldspar crystals measure 1 foot in diameter. Some muscovite, biotite, quartz and garnet is associated.

Robertstown: One dyke in this area is under the Tramway Trestle at Robertstown in the Chattahoochee River. It is 15-20 feet wide. Several other dykes occur within 2 miles above this point.

Nora Mills: Found just above the Nacoochee Station of the Gainesville and Northwestern Railroad a number of dykes here, 50-100 feet across.

Commerce: Larger outcrops north of the public road leading to Nacoochee Valley or the property of Dr. L. G. Hardman, of Commerce, Georgia.

Cleveland: 4-6 miles south of Cleveland are several dykes of medium coarse texture. The largest is 6 feet wide and near the center are some well terminated crystals of microcline, 4 inches in diameter. Some of the more southerly dykes in this group carry mica in plates 1~ x 3 inches.

GOLD

100.

(13)(14)(17)(18)(20)(21)(22) First discovered in Georgia at Nacoochee Valley, White County, in 1829.

In 1952 a large nugget of gold was picked up from a gravel road 4 miles north of Cleveland. Gravel from Dukes Creek (formerly Nacoochee River) and from Chattahoochee River has been used to surface the road. Spaniards had mined in this area long before the English discovered it in 1829.

A belt of schist - Ashland Schist - occurs along the east side of the high Blue Ridge Range and all along this belt have been placer and lode mining. This area can be viewed from Ga. 75 or 17, north of Cleveland, from the approximate position of the State marker. On the left is the valley of Dukes Creek near its confluence with the Chattahoochee.

Gold belt in Georgia parallels the Blue Ridge and varies from 2-6 miles in width and is about 150 miles in length. White and Lumpkin Counties contain the richest deposits.

White county gained notoriety years ago when placer m~n~ng was being actively prosecuted by reason of the number of large nuggets that were obtained from the Nacoochee Valley region, some of them weighing as high as five hundred pennyweights. Numerous nuggets of considerable size have also been fou~d at the Loud mine in the western part of the county. While considerable vein mining has been done, and some large excavations made at several localities in mining saprolite deposits, yet, near many of the more important placer deposits, prospecting for veins does not appear to have been carried on very vigorously. This county offers an interesting field for future vein prospecting.

Refers to beautiful specimens from Loud Mine, now in museum of Georgia Geological Survey. Gold also found in the Hamby Mountain placer mine in White County (nuggets in State Capitol Museum). Blacks Branch near Dukes Creek {White County) produced a very large nugget (wgt 535 dwt) and another large one from Dukes Creek was discovered.

Loud Mine: This mine, on lots 39 and 40, 1st District, is about four miles southwest of Cleveland. The area forms a prong of the extensive lowlands along Town Creek and extends back from where these occur on the eastern side of lot 39 to near a low divide on lot 40 known as Hog Back Ridge.

Southwest of the Loud Valley, considerable placer areas are found on lot 56 along two or three small streams.

West of the locality just mentioned along a ridge on lots 65 and 57, a line of old workings are to be found where mining operations were conducted on an auriferous vein many years ago.

Courtney Placer: On lot 33, southeast of the Loud mines, placer deposits of considerable extent have been worked by Mr. Courtney, of Cleveland, Georgia. A large cut was made in the course of this work extending from a point on a small branch at the edge of the extensive lowlands of Town Creek and the Tesnatee River westward past the old Courtney homestead almost to the house of Mr. Gabriel Furgerson. Fringes of unworked auriferous gravel are to be found at several localities along the edge of the worked area.

102.
Henderson Property: The Henderson property, on lot 34, lies to the north of the Courtney lot and east of the Loud mine. Both vein and placer deposits have been located on this property, but very little development work has been undertaken so far. Extensive lowlands occur here along Town Creek and the Tesnatee River.
In addition to the placer deposits on the Henderson property, several prospect shafts and pits have been sunk on auriferous veins occurring in a ridge in the northeast part of the lot.
Etries Property: On lot 62, 1st District, placer deposits occur along a branch that flows through the property.
Matthews Lot: On this lot, No. 49, 4th District, old placer works are to be found along a stream traversing the lot.
Lot 48: On lot 48, 4th District, some placer work has been done in the past on this lot along a small stream known as Gold Branch.
Lots 37 and 38: A limited amount of vein mining was done on lots 37 and 38 a number of years ago by Mr. R. K. Reaves, of Athens, Georgia.
McAfee Property: On lot 36, to the east of lot 37, a number of old shafts are to be found that were sunk years ago on what is supposed to be the continuation of the same vein that was worked on lot 37. Some placer deposits along small streams flowing through the lot have also been worked in the past. Some additional mining operations have been carried on on lot 25, 4th District.
Sprague, or Blake, Mine: This mine, on lot 26, 4th District, is a few miles northwest of Cleveland. Considerable work was done here years ago on an auriferous quartz vein known as the Sprague vein.
(16)(21) Longstreet Mine or Danforth Property: Property of W. A. Danforth consists of three 250 acre lots, including the old Longstreet Gold Mine, lot 162, 3rd District, 3 miles north-northwest of Cleveland. The main gold vein is about 6 feet thick and carries some pyrite. One-half mile northeast of the gold mine is a 28-foot fall in a branch of Little Tesnatee Creek.
Produced by a band of quartzitic schist with laminae and disseminated small crystals of pyrite. The schistosity strikes north 450 east and dips 80 northwest. A sample taken at random contains 8.57% pyrite and no gold.
One or two adjoining lots on which placer deposits have been located are also included in this property.
On lot 162 an auriferous quartz vein has been exposed by open cut work and a tunnel. The open cut is over two hundred feet long and at its northeast end a tunnel, reported to extend for approximately three hundred feet, has been driven into the hillside on the strike of the vein. The underground workings were inaccessible at the time the property was visited. The vein is exposed in the open cut southwestward from the mouth of the tunnel for about two hundred feet. It is composed of quartz with interlaminated bands of gneiss, or mica schist. The strike of the vein is about N45E with a nearly vertical dip.
A short distance northwest of the above described vein some open cut work has been done in saprolite material. In this cut a small vein or auriferous band yielding some very good panning results.

103,
(19)(21) The Lewis Gold Mine is \mile east of Loudsville Post Office and comprises the following pieces of ground:

District 4, Lot 22, 250 acres. District 4, Lot 3, (north half) 125 acres. District 4, Mill site (joining both), 12\ acres.

The mine is 5\ miles north of Cleveland, 31 miles north of Gainesville, 13\ miles from Dahlonega.

The surface of the property is hilly and mostly covered with forests. Two brooks cross it.

From north to south, called Mine and Mill Branches, and unite and flow into the Tesnatee River.

North Lewis Vein: Average thickness of 10 feet, strikes west-southwest to east-northeast, and steep dip southeast.

South Lewis Vein: 250 yards southeast of North Lewis Vein.

Gordon Vein: Worked on lot west of number 22, 1,000 yards along, with Lewis property.

In addition to the vein deposits, placer deposits occur along Turner's Creek on this property and also on some smaller tributary streams.

Bell Propert~: Placer deposits occur on lot 132, 3rd District. A considerable tract of valley land is on this property and old placer workings are to be seen on either si.de of a creek flowing through it. This mining done in the lowlands was carried on years ago.

Castleberry Property: This property adjoins the Bell property on the north. Some prospPct work has recently been done here near the line of lots 131 and 132.

:!:J2~rman Proper~: A limited amount of vein mining has recently been carr Led on on thls property, lot 102, 3rd District. Several shafts have been sunk and a couple of tunnels run into a hillside.

(21)(15) Wllitc County, or Thompson, Mine: This mine on lot 102, 3rd District, is situated about two miles southwest of Nacoochee post office. Considerable underground work has been prosecuted here at different periods on an auriferous vein consisting of quartz with intercalated bands of country rock. Near the top of a low ridge, a shaft, with a hoisting engine and shaft house, is located on the vein.

In addition to the principal vein, a smaller vein has been exposed in a lllnnel driven into the hill on its southwest side.

The workings at the White County or Thompson property is mostly in the Carolina gneiss at the ]{cad-Carolina contact. At many prospects in White County the ore bodies are in a crystalline micaceous schist and do not appear to be along contacts. The ore bodies here are localized or sheeted or sheared zones, particularly where these zones are sillcified and cut by later fractures. Ore consists mainly of quartz, galena, ankerite and gold in many of the prospects.

(21)

Conley Mine: A number of years ago a cut was made by hydraulic mining on

lot 39, 3rd District.

104.

Hardeman Prope rty : An extensive body of lowland along the Chattahoochee River i s embraced in t h is p roperty which i s in Nacoochee Valley near Nacoochee post off ic e . Owing t o he avy ove rburden, li t tle or no mining has ever been carried on in the place r depos it s here , t hough it is re ported that nuggets of considerable size have been secured from t h e be d of the Cha ttahoochee River at this locality.

Plattsburg Mine: This mine on lot 40, 3rd District, lies just east of the Chattahoochee River in the Nacoochee Valley region. The mine is situated on a ridge rising abruptly from the river bank. Vein mining has been conducted here on an auriferous zone said to be from six to eight feet in thickness and composed of quartz stringers and intercalated wall rock. Several tunnels have been driven into the hill and some shafts sunk and open cuts made.

Eranklin and Glenn Lot: This lot, No. 41, 3rd District, lies northeast of the Plattsburg property. Some prospect work has been done here, principally near the crest of a high hill, on an auriferous zone consisting of country rock with interlaminated quartz stringers.

Childs Mine: This n1ine lies a short distance to the northeast of the Franklin-Glenn lot. Several land lots are embraced in the property, but the most important mining operations have been conducted on lot 23, 3rd District. A large cut has been made here :in the saprolites by hydraulic work in the course of different mining operations. Underground mining has also been done from the bottom of the cut,

Jones Mine, or Lot 10: This mine lies immediately to the northeast of the Childs mine. A gold-bearing zone has been mined for a number of years, more or less

continually, at this locality. The greater part of the work has been done by hydraulic

mining in saprolite material on the side of a hill, and several large excavations have

been made. The gold-bearing zone is several hundred feet in width, the best values

being restricted to more or less parallel bands within the zone limits. The prevailing

country rock is mica schist, in which occur at some points thin bands of hornblende

schist. Many stringers and lenses of quartz are found within the gold-bearing zone.

There are, however, within this zone more or less parallel bands in which the quartz

stringers are unusually numerous and rather regularly distributed. One of these bands,

known as the Reynolds, or King vein, is probably near the center of the zone. Two

other auriferous bands, or zones, have been located to the southeast of the King vein,

the nearer one designated as the Queen vein and the other as the Bell vein.

LoLli: This lot adjoins Lot 10 on the east.

Lumsden Property: This property, embracing a part of lot 44, 3rd District, includes a portion of the lowland along Bean Creek lying inunediately below the property last described.

Monroe Lowlands: Other extensive lowlands occur on lots 27 and 28, 6th District, tra1ersed by a small creek. Considerable placer mining has been done in the past in deposits on lot 27 toward the lower end of this tract of valley land.

GRAPHITE

., .

(23)

O...:curs in White County. (May be in granite gneiss?)

HEAVY MINERALS

(24)

Str~ams of the Gold Belt. Portions of Lumpkin and White Counties, Georgia.

1~.

Collecting method given. Minerals collected; magnetite associated with hematite, zircon.

PYRITE

(16)

At the Loud Gold Mine, near Pleasent Retreat, there is a vein of quartz,

hornblende, garnet and pyrite.

Gold bearing veins of quartz with more or less pyrite occur on the many gold mining properties along the belt.

SCHEELITE

(25)

Traces associated with tungsten from the black sands of the Loud mine.

(Lots 39, 40, 41, 1st District).

SILLIMANITE

(26)

Some heavy pebbles of this mineral have been collected in the Nacoochee

Valley, below Helen.

SOAPSTONE
(2)(3) A. M. Allison Property: 5 miles northwest of Cleveland and 2 miles from Asbestos Station on the Gainesville and Northwestern Railroad. An outcrop projects above the surface some feet, exposing a mass of chloritic soapstone 12 feet or more in width and 100 feet in length. It is similar to the Elishe Castleberry lot, (lot 31, District 3) 1~ miles to the southwest. Here only 5 feet of it is exposed.
H. H. Dean Property: Similar to that of A. M. Allison property, this
deposit is located 1 mile south of Helen and 5 miles west of Nacoochee. Soapstone forms a body at least 40 feet thick and strikes north 40 east and dips about vertical. It is exposed near the crest of a small ridge. Similar deposits are to be found in the same section on the properties of Joe Fain, Charlie Williams and L. G. Hardman.

URANIUM

(27)

At Cleveland, Georgia, on the T. J. McConnell Farm, Route 3, Cleveland,

formerly the John C. Calhoun property on Dukes Creek, uranium is said to have been

discovered in a dike running from their house through a hill to Dukes Creek itself.

REFERENCES - WHITE COUNTY

(1)

Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1957, Vol. IX, Issue 1, p. 2.

(2)

Georgia Geological Survey, 1910, Bull. No. 23, p. 33.

(3)

Georgia Geological Survey, 1914, Bull. No. 29, p. 166, 270.

106.
(4) (5) (6)
(7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19)
(20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27)

Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1955, Vol. VIII, Issue 2, p. 77. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1960, Vol. XIII, Issue 3, p. 124. American Journal of Science, 1874, p. 108. (3rd ser. vol. VIII, No. 43-48) p. 392. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1952, Vol. V, Issue 5, p. 138. Georgia Geological Survey, 1909, Bull. No. 18, p. 381. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1948, Vol. I, Issue 6, P. 10. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1959, Vol. XII, Issue 3, p. 103. Geology and Mineralogy of Georgia, M. F. Stephenson, 1871, p. 104. Georgia Geological Survey, 1915, Bull. No. 30, p. 165. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1952, Vol. V, Issue 5, p. 129. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1955, Vol. VIII, Issue 4, p. 131. Georgia Geological Survey, 1953, Vol. 60, No. 11, p. 64, 65. Georgia Geological Survey, 1918, Bull. No. 33, p. 201. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1948, Vol. I, Issue 8, p. 13. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1948, Vol. I, Issue 9, p. 5-6. Lewis Gold Mining Co., Report on the White County, Georgia, Addellsburg and Raymond, 1866. Georgia Geological Survey, 1910, Bull. No. 23, p. 91. Georgia Geological Survey, 1896, Bull. No. 4A, p. 33-79. Georgia Geological Survey, 1909, Bull. No. 19, p. 205-229. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1948, Vol. I, Issue 6, p. 10. Georgia Geological Survey, 1953, Vol. 60, No. 11, p. 239-244. Georgia Mineral Newsletter, 1949, Vol. II, Issue 3, p. 5. Georgia MineralNewsletter, 1948, Vol. I, Issue 3, p. 8. Pamphlet Material - Georgia Minerals.

APPENDIX II

107.

MINE AND PROSPECT EXAMINATIONS WHITE COUNTY

Gold - Loud Gold Mine.

Location: 1st L. D., LL 39 and 40; about 4 miles WSW of Cleveland. Flood plain of Town Creek at its confluence with Tesnatee Creek (elevation about 380')~ Access by means of 1/2 mile of soil road.

Most of the placer ground reported as owned by White Count. Report not verified. Tract on which tunnel is located owned by a Mr. Helton; mineral rights uncertain.

Placer m~n~ng area is situated within the hornblendic belt SE of garnet-micaschist contact. NW of placer area a tunnel 40 feet in length was driven near the garnet-schist contact. Epidotized hornblendic rock float observed in NE corner of placer ground. Town Creek cuts through alluvium exposing bed rock. Thickness of alluvium estimated to be 20 feet plus in places.

Well described in Reference 8.

Gold - Joe Franklin.

Location: Helen quadrangle, SW 1/4, about 1000' S of Dukes Creek; 0.7 mile NW of Georgia Highway 75; 0.8 mile WSW of intersection of Dukes Creek and Highway 75.

Tunnel adit occurs SE slope of hill about 60 feet above branch level (at E). Contour elevation - 1520. Adit in hornblendic rock with hornblendic belt. This country rock strikes N40E; dips about 75 NW. Tunnel trends toward N380W and has vertical upshaft at rear. Tunnel length - 50 feet.

Mr. Ollie Turner and Will Thurmond at one time worked the mine, according to Mr. Franklin. Will Thurmond's father found the 535 pennyweight nugget of Black Creek. Tunnel is quite clean and with sufficient lighting could be mapped in detail. A quartz vein supposedly occurs about 40 feet from adit, and strikes generally NE (?) (Mr. Franklin).

P2A

Gold

Location: About 1000' NE of mine at P2. Adit about 40-60 feet above creek flood plain. Tunnel trends S530W. Near entrance (10 feet inside) cuts a large pegmatite dike. Country rock, amphibolite, as at P2. Length of tunnel not determined. Light penetrates about 30 feet.

Footnote: The prospects are numbered consecutively in the order in which they were examined. Where there is a number underneath the prospect number, it refers to a description in the field notebook.

108. P3

Asbestos -Earl Thomas (was Mrs. Pearl Westmoreland).
Location: 3rd Land District, Land Lot 164 (north part); about 2.5 miles north of Cleveland, Georgia, White County.
Situated about 500feet W of Georgia Highway 75; 1500 feet SE of Tesnatee Creek. Pits located on SE side of gently sloping hill at an elevation of about 1580 feet.
Site lies within the belt of acidic rock (biotite-gneiss and granite-gneiss) and is situated about 0.8 mile SE of acid-basic contact.
Rocks noticed in largest pit include weathered feldspathics, asbestos, talc, and quartz veins. Wall rock adjacent to quartz veins highly chloritized. Asbestos and especially talc masses appear to strike N40E; dip near vertical. One large pit (175 feet x 100 feet x 50 feet) seen on this visit. Projected along strike to NE about 300 feet occurs another smaller pit (18 feet x 45 feet x 10 feet). No outcrops in smaller pit. Both pits contain sediment and water. Most recent workings not exposed.
Air photos may reveal few other pits to SW.
Mr. Charlie Thurmond, who is employed by Stamey Chevrolet Company, and who has done quite a bit of asbestos (and gold) mining in the area, states a good quality of asbestos was mined here.
This site apparently represents the one listed under Par. 3, Item II of White County SUMMARY.

Soapstone - (Old mine workings).

Location: Cowrock Quadrangle; SE 1/4; east of Thurmond Creek, 9200' north ~f its mouth; 6100' north of Asbestos Church; on west side of low ridge trending SSW; 12,200 1 FSL and 1250' FEL.

Access by old trail road which is at the present time inpassable. Mine site is located within 200 feet of small tributary to Thurmond Creek, and at a contour elevation of about 1600 feet.

Deposit occurs about 1200 feet NW of the contact between the garnet-micaschist and amphibolite.; within the predominently schistose zone. Some outcrops of fine crystalline quartz-biotite (salt-pepper texture) rock observed near mine.

The soapstone is schistose and impure with chlorite and remnant boxworks suggestive of hornblendics. Strike: N42E. Dip: 72 SE (?). The mine (trench) extends along strike of soapstone for 175 feet. Width of cut 7 feet. Tool marks noticed on few outcrops.

30 feet SE from SW end of trench a small pit exposes very chloritic soapstone. 15 feet further to SE a shallow pit shows the very fine crystalline quartzosebiotite rock.

Last mining reported to have been about 1914.

109.
Mr. Will Thurmond, who lives 1/2 mile NW of Asbestos Church, can provide information regarding the history of this mine.

Soapstone - Mr. Hoyt Elliot.

Location: Cowrock Quadrangle; SE 1/4; about 4500 1 WNW of Asbestos Church; 7600 1 FSL and 5700' FEL.

Mine located about 500 feet SW of soil road leading to Loudsville, and 200 feet SW of tributary to Thurmond Creek; on NE slope of hill at contour elevation of about 1620 feet.

Deposit occurs about 1000 feet NW of the contact between the garnet-micaschist and amphibolite; within the predominently schistose zone.

The soapstone is schistose and impure with chlorite and remnant boxworks suggestive of hornblendics. Strike N45E. Dip: 61 NW. The mine extends along strike 100 feet, and is approximately 25 feet wide. According to Mr. Elliot, 2 or 3 very small pits were worked SW of here, but now are poorly exposed. Last mining activity was 1914. The soapstone was primarily used for chimney construction, foundations, etc. The chimney of Mr. Elliot's house is constructed entirely of soapstone.

Off-setting SE along tributary shows garnet-talcose-schist containing 1/16" garnets.

Soapstone - A. M. Allison Property (now Rudolph Allison).

Location: Helen Quadrangle; NW 1/4; about 1.0 mile south of Helen, Georgia; near headwaters of east running creek leading to Nacoochee, Georgia; 6000' west of Highway 75; 6000 1 FWL; 2400' S of Helen town limit line.

A - (S.W. workings): Schistose soapstone; impure with limonite spots and chlorite. Limonite spots resemble hornblendic boxworks. Face of mine is to SW, and shows sawed surface about 10 feet in height. Width of outcrop about 30 feet with strike N37E; dip 70 NW. Mine has been trenched intermittently along strike for 200 feet.

B - (N.E. workings): Located 200 feet (edge-to-edge) NE of SW workings. Here less mining activity. Mining (trench) extends along strike for about 80 feet. Cut is about 6 feet wide and 3-6 feet deep.

Soapstone at these mines appears to be better quality than previously seen. Creek dividing the 2 mines shows ledge due to outcroping soapstone. Also evident are numerous gold placer scars along creek.

Gold - Property reported by Helen, Georgia Mayor (Mr. C. M. Maloof) to be

owned by John Shackleford, Pierce County, Blacksheare, Georgia and Mr. Blalock

of Cleveland, Georgia. (?).

Location: Helen Quadrangle; NW 1/4; 1700' FEL.

110.

Country rock consists of the "gray rock", a quartz rich biotite rock with thinly interbedded non-garnetiferous-schist and discontinuous vein quartz stringers. At mine site a massive quartz vein was worked. The vein strikes about N40E (paralleling country rock) and dips to NW. Country rock dips 47 NW at outcrop just NE of mine. Mine is trench type.
Vein quartz is highly pyritic and appears as "good" ore. Pyrite present as 1"-2" masses and as disseminated grams associated with these masses. Where exposed, quartz vein shows thickness of about 3 1
Numerous small placer workings occur along streams to SW of here.

Gold -Mr. Taylor (was Dan Eastwood and Company).

Location: Helen quadrangle; NW 1/4; just NE of Highway 157 about. 50' above creek level.

About 50' above creek level appears to be an old adit entrance. Badly slumped - no openings visible. Trend of trench leading to entrance is N40E, which is the general strike of country rock in area. Country rock here is "gray rock", (a quartzose-mica rock).

About 250' N45W of this adit (across creek) is another adit with shoared entrance located on SE slope and at near the same elevation. (The hill slopes in the area are characterized by many terrace cuts which may have served as roadways during mining).

Adit trends N460W. Interbedded very fine crystal quartzose-biotite-gneiss, quartzose biotite schist, and quartzite. All contain pods and stringers of quartz and strike N45E; dip steep NW. Gneiss and schist are strongly contorte.d. Walls and roof of adit appear sound near entrance, but floor covered with water. No attempt to enter.

The valley between the two adits described above has been placer mined extensively throughout its course toNE (about 1300') to vicinity of Chattahoochee River. Width of placer ground near adits is less than 100 1 , and gradually widens to 500' at ENE end.

Just NE (SO') of #1 adit described above is a water system of uncertain purpose. It may have been used as storage for sluicing; or a part of Helen water supply system. (?).

Also the placer "gravel" of this valley is almost entirely quartz cobbles and boulders. Pegmatite and rock boulders minor part. Boulders angular.

Asbestos - L. G. Hardman Estate (was Sal Mountain Mining Company).

Location: White County; on south side of long, low ridge trending ENE from Sal Mountain; 14000 1 FSL and 16200' FEL of Helen quadrangle,

This asbestos deposit, on Sal Mountain, was worked for a numbe.r of years. Reports compiled during the time of operation give a detailed description; pits are now badly slumped and filled.

111. Pit No. 1 (westernmost) - is approximately 200' x 75' x 30' to 50' deep. Lower 10' to 20' is in granite gneiss; upper portion shows deeply weathered mica schist, with stringers and pods of pegmatite and thin quartz veins; bottom of pit filled with water. Basic body not exposed now.
Strike and dip change rapidly around perimeter of the pit, are not at all consistent.
About midway the pit and approximately 15' back from the northwest edge, is a prospect shaft, 4 1 in diameter and 30' deep.
Southeast of pit No. 1 some work was done in the narrow valley near creek level.
Pit No. 2 - approximately 500' east of Pit No. 1 is another large open pit, 100' x 50' x 30' deep. This opening is badly slumped and covered.
Granite gneiss is predominant country rock.

PlO

Asbestos - (was Calhoun Mining Company).

Location: White County; near crest of low knob west of Sal Mountain, 3000 1 east of Georgia Highway 75, 3000' NW of Union Grove Chapel; 14200' FSL and 12500 1 FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Two contour trenches, one 15 feet higher than the other, connected by downslope trench trending N800W. Contour trenches are approximately 50' x 6' x 5' deep and expose granite gneiss; some soapstone in upper trench. Dump shows soapstone, mass fiber asbestos, and very small amount of short (less than 1 inch) cross fiber. Country rock is granite gneiss, coarsely crystalline, pegmatitic; vein-quartz float.

Soapstone upslope strikes N28E, dips 25 NW.

Small size of trenches indicates removal of very limited amount of asbest(,s, if any at all.

Pll

Pegmatite.

Location: White County; northwest of Robertstown, in Chattahoochee River, west of Georgia Highway 75, 550' north of mouth of Church Branch; 13400' FNL and 1300' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Pegmatite crosses Chattahoochee River trending N57E. Approximately 20 1 thick. Composed primarily of feldspar, with some quartz and minor amount of small mica; garnets very small and scattered.

Pl2

Pegmatite - L. G. Hardman Estate (was L. G. Hardman).

Location: White County; Nacoochee Valley, Georgia Highway 17, north side of highway, 500 1 east of Crescent Hill Church; 23800 1 FNL and 13900' FWL
of Helen quadrangle.

112.

Roadcut, 400 feet long, exposes granite gneiss, with thin zones of mica schist and occasional hornblende gneiss. The entire sequence has been cut by pegmatite, medium-crystalline, composed primarily of feldspar and quartz, with only a minor amount of mica.
Approximately one-third of the exposure is, pegmatite, not a massive dyke, but bouldery and in some places layered and intercalated with country rock.
A poor prospect for minable feldspar or mica.

Pl3

Gold -Hubert York and Earl Thomas (was Stovall).

Location: White County; Bean Creek, NE of Bean Creek and adjacent to dirt road; 4500' m~w of Bean Creek Church, 10500' NE of Nacoochee; 13800' FNL and 17400' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Area approximately 500' NW-SE by 400' to 600' NE-SW has been pretty thoroughly mined to depths of as much as 50 feet, primarily by hydraulic method although several pits are in hard rock and two adits can still be seen.

Mines are in garnetiferous mica schist and tJaprolite of feldspathic quartz biotite scili.sL and feldspathic quartzite, all containing numerous pods and stringers (f quartz. Strike. is generally N30-40E, dip steep NW.

In the nortltcasternmost pit an adit has been driven along the strike of the country rock, in a concentration of thin quartz veins and pods. The opening is about midway up from the floor of the pit and immediately SE of a shear zone, the apparent control for the concentration of quartz.

Another adit, 75 feet north of the road, trends N80E and is also opened along a concentration of thin quartz stringers and pods.

Southwest of the road and Bean Creek a small amount of ga~netiferous mica schist was mined. Several shafts (very shallow) were sunk in the stream alluvium, which shows evidence of having been worked for placer gold in the area delineated on the map.

Pl4

Cold - A. L. Bell isle Estate (was Childes and Jones).

Location: White County; 4000' NW of Bean Creek Church, on east and northeastflowing tributary of Bean Creek; 15100' FNL and 16100' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Extensive placer mining of alluvium along tributary of Bean Creek; area worked is approximately 1800' long and 50' to 350' wide. A water ditch cut along this property b'rought water to work the placer and also served as a deeper channel for the stream and hc!lped drain the alluvium. Cutting this ditch entailed blasting in fresh rock, mostly garnetiferous mica schist with quartz pods and stringers.

Alluvial material rema1n1ng is almost entirely quartz, mostly pebbles and cobbles less than 6 inchE:~s in diameter, but with some boulders as large as 3 x 4 x 6 feet.

113.
It is not known how thoroughly the material was worked but certainly, judging from the appearance of the surface, very few shovels full of allu'vium were left unturned.
Placer work continued to the southwest for approximately 1250 feet up the more narrow valley of the left fork of this tributary of Bean Creek.

Pl5

Gold - Wilkinson and Maloof.

Location: White County; in corporate limits of Helen~ north of Georgia Highway 17, 1600' NW of bridge over Chattahoochee River; 16600' FNL and 5300' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Adit driven for approximately 40 feet into side of a steep slope of hill rising above Helen. Rock is feldspathic quartz-biotite-gneiss, deeply weathered, with some scattered pods and narrow veins of quartz (sampled for gold analysis).

Arlit is completely dry and easy of access, although roof has caved near entrance and partially blocked the opening.

Pl6

Gold -Comer Vandiver (was Plattsburg Mine).

Location: White County; east of Chattahoochee River, north of Nacoochee, 4000' north of junction of Georgia Highways 75 and 17; 19500' FNL and 11600' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

A. Open cut, 30' to 40' wide, approximately 30' deep, starts near river level and extends to near top of hill, following trend of country rock, approximately N63E.

B. Thirty feet to the north is an adit, driven in garnetiferous mica schist along zone of quartz pods and stringers (sampled to analyse). Schist strikes generally N50E and dips steeply to the NW. Entrance about 5' wide and 6' high, now boarded up. Adit trends along strike of country rock.

A quartz pod, 4 inches in diameter in the thickest part and approximately 8 inches long, when broken, revealed limonitic boxwork containing gold in the boxes. Boxes, less than one-eighth-inch square, appear to be filled with gold; however, this may be a thin gold film over pyrite. Area of boxwork is 1~ inches by ~ to ~ inch. Not all boxes are filled.

C. Three hundred feet north of "B" an adit enters the hill about 40 feet above river level and trends N830W. The rock here is quartzite with thin zones of quartz-mica schist and pods and narrow veins of quartz. Quartzite strikes N48E and dips 64NW. Associated with quartz pods is muscovite mica, plates as large as 0.5 inch diameter.

D. Three hundred and seventy-five north of "C" a face approximately 20' high was opened in quartzite similar to that at "C", with pods and narrow veins of quartz. Here, too, mica is associated with the quartz
pods.

114.

...

Approximately

400'

east

D 11

11 ,

hollow,

are

two

adits,

one

on each

side of drainage between. Caving saprolite has blocked one entrance

and partially filled the other.

Pl7

Gold - Comer Vandiver (was Plattsburg Mine).

Location: White County; 5400' north of Nacoochee (junction Georgia Highways 17 and 75), 800' NNE of mouth of Bell Creek (not named on topo.); 18200' FNL and 11700' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

High-level placer worked for gold. More or less circular pit approximately 100 feet in diameter. Sand and silt removed; area now covered by quartz pebbles, cobbles, and boulders, somewhat rounded.

This alluvial material is approximately 60 feet higher than present drainage level. Trenches extend further up the nose for about 150 feet to the northeast.

North from this point, placer workings extend for approximately 4500' up the narrow valley of Bell Creek and its left (west) fork, placer workings extend only about 500 1 up the right (east) fork of Bell Creek. Twenty-nine hundred feet from the fork of Bell Creek, up the right (east) fork and 200 feet west of the creek, a logging road exposes feldspathic quartz biotite gneiss and mica schist, with veins of quartz as much as 12 inches wide. Sample taken for gold analysis. (Pl7-A).

Pl8

Gold -Comer Vandiver (was Plattsburg Mine).

Location: White County; 5300' north of Nacoochee (junction Georgia Highways 17 and 75), east of Chattahoochee River, 1500' ENE of mouth of Bell Creek (not named on topo.); 18400' FNL and 12600' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Quartz vein greater than 3 feet wide, in quartzite and quartz-biotite gneisa, has been prospected for gold at this locality. Little work done except to clear off and expose some of the large quartz boulders. (Sampled for gold analysis).

Quartzite strikes N40-45E, dips steeply to the NW.

West of this point, toward the high-level alluvium, placer work has been pursued along the narrow valley; width of alluvium less than 100 feet in most places.

Pl9

Gold - James Wilkins.

Location: White County; 3750' east of the center of Helen, north of the Chattahoochee River, 3000' ENE of bridge (Georgia Highway 75) over river; 17500 1 FNL and 9300' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Open cut extends up west side of narrow ridge. Cut is approximately 75
feet wide, 250 1 long, and rises 80 feet (+) in elevation; trends N72E.
Exposes saprolite of feldspathic quartzite and quartzose mica schist. Tiny stringers and pods of quartz, very numerous, were sampled for gold analysis.

115.

At several places in the cut, quartz veins as much as 12 inches wide are exposed. These, along with quartz vein on top of ridge, were sampled for gold analysis. Quartz veins carry pyrite, and limonitic boxwork, as well as scales and thin books of mica, as large as 0.5 inch diameter.
Two hundred feet to the southeast is a similar trench, somewhat larger, but completely slumped and overgrown, so that no samples were available.
Local residents do not recall mining here, but evidence suggests it.
Across this ridge, to the northeast, a narrow valley contains a small area, less than two acres, of alluvial material that apparently was never worked for placer gold. Overburden estimated at 3 to 5 feet; thickness of gravel not known.
The hill slope on the west side of this valley is littered with boulders of vein quartz, on strike with quartz veins previously sampled. Grab sample taken here for gold analysis

P20

Gold - James Wilkins.

Location: White County; east of Helen, north of Chattahoochee River, 3100' due east of bridge (Georgia Highway 75) over Chattahoochee River; 18100 1 FNL
and 9400' FWL of Helen quadrangle.

Two small prospect pits sunk at outcrop of quartz vein, 3 feet wide, striking N35E, dipping steeply NW.

Quartz vein sampled for gold analysis.

P21

Pegmatite

Location: Helen quadrangle; Nora Mill.

Section along east bank of Chattahoochee River beginning behind building at Nora ~ill, along old railroad grade (?), moving south.

1. Interbedded quartzite and garnetiferous-mica-schist. Garnets becoming more abundant and larger (some to ~") in south direction. This zone may contain fault at point where 3 1 hornblendic layer is seen-fracture zone. 270'.

2. Pegmatite. 140'.

3. Serpentine (?) or chloritic gneiss (?); saprolite altered amphibolite (?)
with thin feldspar interbedded. Gradation zone between serpentine and
pe~gmatite (?). 12' -r

4. Feldspathic saprolite, with thin partially silicified layers and sericite layers. Few thin layers resembling phyllite. 25' t .

5. Serpentine (fresh) - texture varies from fine crystalline to porphyroblastic.
Across river this unit showed to be calcareous, but no calcareous zones
see here. 20' t

116.

6. Just SE of serpentine rock is thin (1') layer of quartz-sericite rock

(laminat~;d), 1'.

7. Serpentine, saprolite and interbedded feldspar as at unit 3. 25'.
- . 8. I lornb1~Nii.c zone appears gradually into 7. Saprolite. 5' + . St. Pegmat Lt(!. Mass saprolite high in feldspar. 60' +

Oi the arovc lllli ts, the general strike is N42E; dip 71 NW.

Off-setting down t.o water ~evel of river shows fresh rock of units. Unit 5 (fresh serpentine) was not observed at water level (only about 20' away). This may be d1Je to peg,mutite cutting across south at angle, obscuring it. Outcrops of pegrrrati.:.e. on top of cut suggest pegmatite strikes a little north than country rock.

I'22

Gold Plar.e1:

173

L-:Jcat:~on: lle len q~laJraugle, NWt, along Long Hungry Creek (not named on

t:op.~grapb:i.c map) which joins Chattahoochee River 1000' SW of Old Nacoochee

;;;t;at ion. cn~d'- U ,J~ts gem:rally eastward.

Own~n;hi.p: Noet of the place1 ground belongs to Dr. L. G. Hardman. Some of the INtsteru.n\st: pcrtion belongs to a Mr. Shackleford of Blackshear, Georgia. The l.1t1er portion also contains soapstone (see soapstone report). Possibly C. C. BJJl1ck owns a portion (?).

Geology: l:'ldcer ground has been thoroughly turned. Much quartz float as boulders and gravel. Creek at present time appears to be running on predominently bed rock (frt!sh in lower part of coarse; saprolite in upper). Country rock varies from very garnetiferous-mica-schist in east part of area to slightly garnetifero~s-mica-schist westward. Some feldspar-quartzite intercalated.

A. NE of prong of placer workings, open cut was made in garnetiferous-
mica-schist and feldspar-quartzite carrying pods and stringers of vein quartz. A 12 11 pyrite bearing quartz vein in quartzite was sampled for gold assay. Sample: P-22A quartz (pyritic).

B. Located about 1200' ESE of "A". Outcrop of fresh garnetiferous-mica-
schist with pods and stringers of vein quartz. Sample: P-22B.

C. Locarr~d about l ~00 1 SW of "A". Open-cut in saprolite measuring 200' x 75 1 x .)0'. Another saprolite cut meets this one from the draw E of here.

D. Loc;;,te<': 1200' w~;w of "A". Mica-quartzite and mica-schist strike N32E; dip alnost 90 NW.

E. Located about HOO' SSW of "D". Outcrop in creek of intercalated fine cryBtal line quartzite and talc-garnetiferous-mica-schist. Strike N43E; Dip (?).

F. Lccated about 500' WNW of "E". Cut on N side of creek shows alluvium to bf~ thicker than anticipated. Top of cut is 20 1 to 25' above stream
level. Material exposed is: garnetiferous-mica-schist fragments, quartz, quartzite-- all in matrix of red-brown clay. Schist blocks to 2 1 long

117.
and 1' thick. Blocks and rock fragments oriented in such a way to indicate that stream responsible for their deposition flowed essentially parallel to present coarse. Little or no soil cover.
G. Located 6200' W of old Nacoochee Station. Placer workings end with 20 1 face, exposing saprolite talc-mica-schist with stringers and pods of quartz, and some small (less than 3") pods of feldspar and mica. Sample: P-22G quartz pod.
NOTE: Topographic contours do not agree with topography in area where stream makes right angle bend westward.

P23

Gold Placer

174

Location: Helen quadrangle, NW~, about 700' E of Helen Town Limit, on James

Wilkins property (consists of a total of 600 acres), 8400' FWL and 17100 1 FNL.

(Wilkins house~.

Ownership: James Wilkins.

Geology:

A. Gold placers within valleys E of Wilkins house. Valleys extend NNW and
NNE. The one to NNW has been worked more thoroughly. Country rock fine biotite-quartzite with few hornblendic zones; also few intercalated schists.

B. Quartzite outcrop with vein quartz. Located 800' ESE of Wilkins house in flood plain of Chattahoochee River (N edge). Resistant quartzite contains veinlets of quartz which are stained brown, giving citrine appearance. Thin pyritic zones within. Quartzite is heaped into a pile, having been excavated from drainage ditch perimetering flood plain.

C. Small prospect pit (slumped in). Located between the 2 valleys, but nearer the eastern most, about 900' NNE of Wilkins house. Sample: P-23B quartz from quartzite.

P24

Gold Cut (hydraulic).

175

Location: Helen quadrangle, NW~, 700' W of Wilkins house; within corporate

limits of Helen; 7600 1 FWL and 17000' FNL.

Ownership: James Wilkins.

Geology: Hydraulic cut into saprolite in NNE direction leading into hillside. Saprolite shows various hues due to oxidation of country rock, which appears to be fine crystalline biotite-quartzite with intercalated hornblendic zones. Only a few quartz stringers seen. Cut appears well worked out (?).

Size of cut: Consists of 2 forks. Westernmost fork extends up ridge about 450'; eastern most about 700'. Width of lower portion of both combined about 75 1 to 100 1 Depth to SO'. Easternmost fork has few exposures; westernmost many.

118.
P25 176

Gold
Location: Helen quadrangle, NW\, mining area roughly divided by Helen Town limit line (~ within; ~ ~ithout corporate limits) in SW section of town; along N flowing tributary to Chattahoochee River. Southernmost point of mining activity here is located 3600' FWL and 20600' FNL.
Ownership: James F. Greer; C. C. Blalock.
Geology:
A. Hydraulic cut into saprolite (quartzose-biotite rock) extending about 100' NW into hillside. Cut is 100' x 50' x 30'.
B. Hydraulic cut into saprolite (quartzose-biotite rock) extending into hillside toward S45W. Size of cut is 125' x 50' x SO'.
C. Several hydraulic cuts associated with small draw trending W from main tributary. Draw joins main tributary at Helen town limit line in SW section of town. Many large vein quartz boulders (3') carrying pyrite are seen along this draw. Quartz veins of such a size were not observed in place.
Qountry rock is predominently the quartz-biotite rock, containing lenses and pods of veinlets of quartz. Largest hydraulic cut was 200' x 150' x 80'. Cuts are quite irregular and badly slumped.
D. Adit- extending to S27W for about 30'. Entrance partially blocked by caving. Inside dimensions: Width 10'-12 1 ; height 7'.
Adit was driven within an 8'-10' thick amphibolite layer generally along strike of the unit. Amphibolite is interbedded in country rock of quartzose-biotite rock, and is highly fractured. Contains (at entrance) 1" veinlets of quartz which custs S1. Many small lenses and pods of quartz also present.
At contact between the amphibolite and country rock, the amphibolite appears more schistose and sericitic. Floor of adit shows large blocks of fallen amphibolite.
Associated with the numerous fractures in amphibolite are slickensides.
One slickenside surface which appears parallel to s1 has strike N20E;
dip 56 NW. Another slickenside which cuts S1 strikes N54E; dips 59NW, and shows marks paralleling direction of dip.
Sample: P25-D (composite of quartz stringers and pods).
E. Immediately NW of adit at "D" is a trench cut which extends parallel to trend of adit. After about 50' there is a 10' face of fresh rock varying from quartzose-biotite rock to interbedded sericitic schists. In center of face is a 2' quartz vein containing abundant pyrite. A few spots of deep blue irredescence noticed on fresh surface. The vein appears to be generally interbedded with country rock. Sample: P25-E (2' vein quartz).
After the 10' rise the trench extends on for about 60', ending at a 40 1 cut into saprolite. The trench trends generally along strike, and apparently was cut for purpose of mining the 2 1 quartz vein (?).

119.
Immediately W of the 10 1 face is another adit (inclined)(?) trending to N750W. Adit is driven across strike of feldspar-mica-quartz-schist (garnetiferous) which strikes Nl2E; dips 56NW. Country rock contains pods and stringers of quartz.
Floor of adit filled with water and entrance badly slumped. Length of adit not determined, but exceeds 30'.
About 75 1 N of entrance to adit above is another trench which generally parallels tre adit. Trench is open for 75 1 , then ends at "saprolite" face which likely represents another adit now obscured by slump. A cave-in (or old shaft (?)) is seen along projected trend of trench about 30' up hillside. Trend of adit probably about N830W (?).
In line with the above trend, but toward S83E, is old dump haulage fill which extends to center of main valley. Scattered over this dump route are rock fragments of garnet-mica-schist and quartzose-biotite rock which apparently represents material removed from above adit,
Distance from supposed adit entrance to end of dump coarse about 250'.
F. Adit, trending to N620W (across strike of country rock). Extends back 15 1 Entrance slumped. Height 4~ 1 , width 6'. Upslope about 20' is a "water diversion" trench. Beyond this trench, some trenching has been done farther upslope in trend with adit direction.
G. Located about 200 1 S of adit at "F". Quartz vein (strike Nl8E, dip 70NW). Shows signs of having been prospected or worked in past. Width
of vein 3 1 t. Cavities within suggest large pyrite voids. Some fresh
pyrite observed. (Sample: P25-G (vein quartz)).
100' S650W of above quartz vein are a shallow prospect pit (5' diameter) and a 15 1 long trench (5 1 wide). Very little work done here.
H. Shaft, circular (20 1 diameter), badly slumped. Depth 20'. At bottom of shaft, excavation seems to have favored W side. A small room evidently was begun, then abandoned. Country rock here consists of: schist, calcarous (?) saprolite, feldspar and quartzose-biotite rock (laminated), and hornblendic zones. Thin quartz stringers and pods within.
I. Massive quartz vein. Located about 200 1 SW of shaft at "H". Trend of outcrops about N28E. Overall thickness questionable, but probably in excess of 5 1 (?). Sampl3: P25-I.
Gold
Location: Helen quadrangle, NW\, tributary to Chattahoochee River entering Helen town limits from south; placer area roughly divided by Town limit line.
Ownership: ?
Geology: Placer ground is evident from abundant quartz boulders and gravel heaped into discarded piles. Perimeter of workings, as outlined on map, include hydraulic cuts as well as placer area. It is somewhat difficult in some cases to distinguish between the two.

120. A. Hydraulic trench trending SE up slope of hillside. Actually, there is very little evidence of any extensive mining operations here. It is reported that a lack of sufficient water pressure was cause of abandonment of mining.

P27

Gold

178

Location: Helen quadrangle; NW~; along NE flowing tributary to Chattahoochee

River; joins Chattahoochee River at 10400' FWL and 18800' FNL.

Ownership: ?

Geology: Very little work evident; apparently mining was restricted to immediate area (channel) of stream.

P28

Gold

179

Location: Helen quadrangle; NW~; 4700' SE of center of Helen; 9700' FWL and

19950 1 FNL; 700 1 SE of intersection of NE flowing tributary of Chattahoochee

and Highway #75.

Ownership: Mr. Jewel Vandiver (?).

Geology: Adit extends S77E 50' (?); is 5' wide, 5' high. Height increases after 10' from entrance.

Country rock is a quartzose-biotite rock with thinly interbedded schistose layers, and strikes N370E; dips 78NW.

P29

Gold

180

Geology: Adit trends N26W. Entrance blocked by slumpage. Dump indicates

adit less than 30' in length. 200' to NW are several shallow prospect pits

slumped and covered. 200' SE is a shaft (6 1 square x 30 1 deep) in quartzite

and mica-schist.

P30

Gold

181

Location: Helen quadrangle; NW~; 850' SW of Highway #75; at head of small

draw, 5200' SE of center of Helen; 10100' FWL and 20650' FNL.

Geology:

A. Adit extends N460W for undetermined distance (probably less than 50 1 , judging from amount of dumped material). Entrance practically blocked by slumpage. Large blocks of rock hanging from ceiling considered hazardous for entry. Width of adit 6', height 5'.

B. Adit located 50' S87E of adit at "A". Entrance completely blocked by slumpage. Trend apparently N28E. Amount of dumped material suggest little work done here. Country rock same as at "A".

121.

P31

Gold

182

Geology: Adit extends an undetermined distrance N39E. Entrancebadly slumpted. Abdiitt.tfloor kcoveredd bty.k2 1 of.whatedr: Coundtry Rrockk is "grday rock", a

quar zose- o ~ e roc , an s r~ es w~t a ~t tren oc expose at entrance

is fairly fresh. Dip not certain, but appears steeply to NW.

P32

Pegmatites and Gold

183

Location: Helen quadrangle; NW~; NE trending creek paralleling soil road which

intersects Georgia Highway #75 at old Nacoochee Station.

Geology: A traverse along this stream valley showed no signs of it having been placer worked for gold. Some gravel is exposed in the stream cut (full thickness unknown).

One interesting feature observed along creek are the numerous massive pegmatite dikes which cut amphibolite. Amphibolite varies from deeply weathered to fresh. Pegmatites show no signs of mineralization. Contact effect seems to be only chloritization of wall rock. Pegmatites not zoned and consist of feldspar, quartz, and minor amount of small flake mica.

NOTE: About 2500 1 NE of Old Nacoochee Station, the gravels ~xposed in stream bank are 6" to 18" thick, and lie above stream level. Gravel is overlain by 2'-S' of clay and soil adjacent to stream.

P33

Asbestos - Talc - Soapstone

184

Location: Helen quadrangle; NE~.

Ownership: U. S. Government.

Geology: Old prospect trench trends N490W; length SO', width 15', depth 25'.

Rock types: (a) crystalline chlorite schist (b) fine-crystalline biotite-quartzite (c) pure talc (d) mixture: talc, asbestos, chlorite (soapstone) (e) asbestos (tan to blue-gray to silvery)

Strike and dip values vary within a very short distance (15'). Measures made at contact between talc layer and decomposed fine-crystalline biotite-quartzite (possible fault zone) give strike N20E, dip 33 to 50 NW.

At top of cut on face is exposed a blue to silvery asbestos (mass fiber with some crystals 8"-10" in length). Below the asbestos proper is a rock mixture (soapstone) of talc, asbestos, and chlorite.

Below soapstone is a thin (0' -1 1 ) talc layer which appears to grade lateral1.y into a crystalline chlorite.

Below the talc layer occurs what is considered to be the country rock into which the mafic body has intruded. This rock at prospect site is decomposed and resembles a weathered fine-crystalline biotite-quartzite. Fresh samples

122.

of this rock occur at creek about 150 1 from trench.

Below the quartzite is altered chlorite schist, brownish to coppery tan in color.

From boulders seen in creek, a pegmatite must intrude nearby (?).

NOTE;

The mafic body shows plainly to truncate ,S, on NE side of trench. Out-

crop of soapstone occurs S370W 300' from trench.

Samples: P33-A

Talc

P33-B

Asbestos

P33-C

Fresh fine-crystalline biotite-q~artzite

P33-D

Weathered biotite-quartzite

P33-E

Soapstone

P33-F

Rock showing contact between chlorite and asbestos

P34

Gold

186

Location: Helen quadrangle: SW~, on E slope of hill located about 4400 1 WSW

of junction of Duke 1 s Creek and Highway ff75. Adit A 11 11 is located about 1100 1

WNW of Joe Franklin's house, and 800' S of Dukes Creek; 6600' FWL and 16500'

FSL.

Ownership: Known as old Diltz Mines; now owned by Mr. Joe Franklin.

Geology:

Al. Adit extends toward N50W in interbedded hornblende-gneiss and lineated fine-crystalline quartzite. Several thin discontinuous quartz veinlets (1 11 -1011 ) are seen on adit walls and ceiling. Veinlets are concordant. Country rock strikes N40E, dips 65 to 70NW.

After 65' a shaft (raise) connects with surface. Shaft is 35 1 deep with a diameter of 10' (square). Size of adit: height 6 1 , width 10' (narrows toward back). Walls are clean and dry. Sample: P34-Al (quartz vein composite).

A2. Adit extends beyond shaft for about 8 1 At this point adit turns along strike of country rock; extends to left (S400W) for 20', to right (N40E) 30'. At 20' off to right (N40E) there is a 10' drift to left (N50W).

At 12' off to right (N40E) there is an upward extension (about 5 1 x 6') which extends up 20' from floor of adit.

NOTE: The N40E extension (to right) is caved-in at 30' - adit possibly extends beyond the 30' point (?).

Pegmatite dikes (1 11 -1~') are seen along walls of adit. They are discordant to country rock, broken and off-set by minor faults of low angle. Pegmatites cut across quartz veins in places.

NOTE: The adit extension to left, after 20', makes a 6' off-set to left; then continues another 15 1 The ceiling of this off-set extension is about 18' high and is inclined along dip of country rock.

Ore apparently consists of the numerous discontinuous quartz veinlets. P34-A2 (quartz composite).

123. Sample:

B. Adit - located 350' N of adit at "Al". Trends S33Dw along strike of country rock. Entrance blocked by slumping. Up hill, and generally aligned with adit trend, (125 1 from adit) is old prospect pit.

C. Ad it - located 200 1 N32E from ad it at "B". Trends S530W for 65 1 At
this point a stope extends upward 20 1 from adit floor. Stope is inclined
along dip of country rock. At stope, adit coarse changes to S460W. 42' beyond stope is a drift (3 1 wide, 6 1 high) extending to N460W for 20 1

Main adit extends on beyond the drift for 50' toward SSOOW, and ends at this pain~. Much stoping has been done in main adit beyond the drift.

Rock exposed consist of: laminated or lineated feldspathic quartzite, thin zones of chlorite-mica-schist, hornblendics and pegmatite dikes. Quartz veins appear more closely associated with the hornblendics. Mining concentrated on these hornblendics which appear more or less interbedded with the quartzite. Thickness of hornblendic zone is about
2I

Massive pegmatite dikes cut discordantly across s1 in many directions.
Slickensides are well exposed in rear of adit and show various fault directions.

NOTE: The stope at 65' from entrance was following a discontinuous 0"-5" quartz vein. Sample: P34-C (vein quartz composite).

P35

Gold Adits and Shafts

187

Location: Helen quadrangle, SW~, near headwaters of generally NE flowing

tributary to Dukes Creek, tri-butary flows roughly parallel to Highway 4F75

which is 2800' to SE: 5400' FWL and 14900' FSL.

Ownership: Known as old White County property. Presently owned by a Mr. Hogan of Dublin, Georgia.

Geology:

A. Adit extends toward S400W, Was unable to enter due to water on floor. Adit is 8' high and 6 1 wide. Length and inside features not determined. According to Mr. Joe Franklin, adit extends "well into hill". Country rock observed at entrance is predominently fresh laminated biotitequartzite. An 8" zone of interbedded quartz stringers occurs in center of adit ceiling and extends along trend of adit. Pegmatite dikes cut
country rock.

B. Adit, located 45 1 S57E (downstream) from adit at "A". Very little work done on extending this adit. It trends to S350W for only 12'. Cut is 8 1 high and 6 1 wide. Country rock is relatively fresh laminated biotite-quartzite. No quartz veins observed.

C. Old White County Pounding Mill site. Located at fork of stream about 300 1 ESE of adits described above. Remnant rock walls and waste visible.

124.
D. Ad it - located 150 1 S6 7W from ad it at "B". Ad it extends S430W for 40 1 ; height 8', width 5'. Country rock is gray laminated biotite-quartzite. (slightly decomposed). Strike of country rock appears parallel to trend of adit. Only one thin ~" quartz stringer observed (top center at entrance).
E. Adit -located 150' S430W from adit at "D". Extends S430W for 65'.
At rear of adit is a drift to S47E (left) for 10'. 50' from entrance, adit ceiling drops from a height of 12' to 6'; width 4'. Country rock is saprolite of laminated biotite-qu1artzite and strikes parallel to adit trend. May be few hornblendics interbedded (?) . At rear (face) of adit occurs a 6" zone of ~" quartz veinlets interbedded in country rock. Appears to be the ore sought (?). Several pegmatite dikes cut country rock and quartz veins. Quartz vein zone narrows toward face. Adit entrance situated at SW end of trench cut (about go' long, 12' wide, 1.0' deep). Sample: P35-E (quartz vein composite).
F. Shaft - located 70' upslope from adit "E" entrance. Shaft is off-set 20' to left of the S430W trend of adit "E". It appears the drift at rear of adit "E" may have been close to intercepting bottom of this shaft (?). Perhaps drift was abandoned in favor of the shaft (?).
Shaft is circular and has a diameter of 15', depth 40'. Country rock is saprolite of laminated biotite-quartzite, and strikes N45E, dips goo. Ore body apparently is a 6' zone of 1"-3" wide quartz veins interbedded in and generally concordant with country rock. At bottom of shaft an adit leads off to S430W for an undetermined distance and has its entrance within the 6' "ore zone". Shaft and adit inaccessible.
G. Shaft - located about 1300' SW (generally along the S430W trend) from shaft at "F". Shaft is circular, having diameter of 15', and is about 55' to 60' deep. About 12' up from bottom of shaft adits extend toward the NE and SW. Country rock appears to be laminated biotite-quartzite. Shaft and adits are inaccessible. Surface trench cuts extend NE and SW Erom shaft and occur intermittently throughout entire coarse along the NE-SW trend.
Immed::.ately SW of shaft are twin adits about 15' apart. The NW-most adit appears to be in line with adit occuring at bottom of above mentioned shaft, and may well be an extension of it (?). This adit is inaccessible, but appears to be about 2~' wide and 12' to 15' high. Country rock is laminated biotite-quartzite saprolite. A few 1"-2" quartz veins are interbedded in country rock at top center of adit entrance.
The SE-most adit of the two is also inaccessible, but appears about 4'
wide and 15 1 high. A 1~' wide "one man" channel cut occurs on extreme left side of adit floor. Cut apparently followed veins (not observed)
to a depth of 15 1 to 20' below adit floor down dip of country rock (?).
Both adits exte:nd N40E along strike of country rock which dips near goo. Sample: !'35-G (quartz vein composite - taken from narrow divide between adits).
H. Shaft - located 250' SW from shaft at "G". Shaft has circular diameter of 10', 15' deep. At bottom of this shaft are adits extending NE, NW, SE, SW.

125.
Adit to N45E - extends 20 1 following thin interbedded quartz veins ~"
to~" and few 1" veins cutting s1 .
Adit to N45W - extends 20' drifting across strike of country rock. Several thin quartz veins interbedded.
Adits to S45E and S45W - are inaccessible due to slumping.
NOTE: Another adit (or drift) is bearly discernable underlying the N45E adit, and apparently trends in same direction. A strong air current emits from the small opening in this lower adit, indicating another opening somewhere to the NE (possibly at "G" (?)). Distance between
roof of lower adit and floor of upper about 2~'. S~mples: P35-H (quartz vein composite taken from adits tr~nding to N45E (upper and
N450W.
I. Adits - located 200' SW of "H". Workings consist of 3 adits with one main entrance.
Adit #1: Extends N36E, 7' wide, 8'-10 1 in height, 120' long. Country rock is laminated biotite-quartzite saprolite, and strikes N36E, dips 90. Ore body consists of quartz veins interbedded with country rock. Along first 75 1 of adit quartz veins are less than 2" wide within 12" zone (exposed on adit roof). Beyond 75', to face, 2 quartz veins, varying from 3" to 12" each, are evident. Thinner quartz veins interbedded on either side define an ore zone about 5' wide. Eight feet from adit face a 4" pegmatite dike cutting country rock and quartz veins strikes N-S and dips steeply toE, twisting and off-setting quartz veins about 12". Sample: P34-I(111) (quartz vein composite).
Adit #2: Extends N50E, 4'-5' wide, 7' high, 155'+ in length. Beyond 155' is inaccessible due to cave-in, but can see about 30' farther. Adit trend parallels strike of country rock and curves very slightly toward north (left). At 140' is a small (6' diameter) circular exploratory cut off to NW.
Numerous slickensides show slippage in various directions. Many quartz veins are displaced by minor faulting (measured in inches). Quartz veins more or less interbedded with country rock, but are not as thick or numerous as occurs in adit #1. Adit apparently was driven to follow an amphibolite unit (?). Samples: P35-I(#2) (quartz vein composite).
Adit #3: Extends S78E for 45', cutting across strike of country rock. Samples: P35-I(#3) (quartz vein composite).
P35-I (amphibolite for platinum assay).
NOTE: The country rock of laminated biotite-quartzite in these adits has feldspathic and sericitic zones.

P36

Gold

188

Location: Helen quadrangle, SW\, NW section.

Ownership: Mr. Frank Black. Was the old Thurmond property.

126. Geology:

A. Shaft - 20' diameter. Almost filled by slumping. Present depth about 15'. Country ' rock is amphibolite which strikes N44E, dips 80NW.

At bottom of shaft are two adits leading off in opposite directions. Only one is accessible. It extends S480W along general strike of country rock and exits into a trench cut after 60 1 Mining appears to have concentrated on stopeing along SE side of adit. Adit is 8 1 -10' high and 8'-10' wide. 21 -4 1 of rubble litters adit floor. Amphibolite is quite weathered and highly fractured.

A section across shaft wall just over entrance to inaccessible adit

which extends toward NE is as follows: (see field notes). Sample:

P36-A (quartz vein composite from shaft wall).

B. Adit - located 350' SW of shaft at A 11 11 extends N50E (slightly sinuous). Width 4', height 6'. Country rock is amphibolite and strikes with trend of adit, dips near vertically to NW. A 12" zone of thin (less than 1") quartz veins interbedded in country rock can be traced along roof to near back of adit. Country rock becomes progressively fresher toward rear of adit. Sample: P36-B (quartz vein composite).

C. Prospect pit - located 400' NE of shaft at "A". This pit is one of several along a trend of N50E. A large boulder of vein quartz seen adjacent to pit. Sample: P36-C (vein quartz float (from pit ?)).

D. Adit - located 800' SW of Mr. Black's house, just E of Freeman Creek. Adit extends N650E for an undetermined distance. Entrance almost concealed by cultivation. Adit floor filled with water. No entry.

E. Adit - located 200' E of Mr. Black's house (near 1595 topographic spot elevation). Adit entrance has been filled by bulldozer work. Mr. Black indicated the adit trended about N70W (?).

F. Old Stamp Mill site - located 200' NNE of Mr. Black's house. According to Mr. Black, mill was used to process ore taken from old Thurmond property mines (P-36).

G. Vein quartz - located at old house site 1260 1 N of Mr. Black's house. Vein is 111 -311 thick and is outcropping in country rock of amphibolite. Sample: P36-G (quartz vein composite).

P37

Gold

189

Location: Helen quadrangle, SW~, NW section, 800' NNE of Old White County

Ponding Mill site, 5100' WSW of Dukes Creek Bridge on Georgia Highway #75.

Geology: Adit extends N32E along strike of country rock for 45'. Country rock dips 77NW and is a partially weathered lineated-feldspathic-quartzite. Color varies from brown to magenta. Country rock has a very prominent blocky cleavage. Adit walls are slanted with dip of country rock. Height at rear (front badly slumped) is 9 1 , width 5 1 Several thin quartz stringers present on walls and ceiling of adit. At rear of adit, face exposes a 1'+ wide quartz vein.

127.

P38

Gold

190

Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SE~, SW section; "D" below is located 550 1

Nl5E of Loudsville Church on S slope of hill with spot elevation of 1820 1

Ownership: Presently owned by Wyman Hood; known as the old Rance Allen property. Prior to that, John J. Allen property.

Geology:

A. Shaft - circular, diameter 25 1 , depth 25 1 (badly slumped). Country rock is saprolite of lineated quartz-biotite rock with thin feldspathic lineations. Quartz veins and pods are exposed on shaft wall. One
vein 4"-6" in width cuts s1 of country rock on NE side of shaft. Some
work has extended bottom of shaft toward E, following a 1"-3" quartz vein striking N480E, dipping NW. Vein appears concordant to country rock which strikes N48E, dips 40-60 NW. Country rock includes a few thin interbedded schistose layers. Sample: P38-A (quartz vein (E. wall) contains limonite boxworks).

B. Immediately E of shaft is a trench cut which is 35 1 long, 4 1 -6 1 deep, 5 1 -10 1 wide and trends N45E,

At NE end of trench a 12" (maximum width) quartz vein is exposed. Sample: P38-B (quartz vein).

C. Pit - located 200 1 Nl2E from "A". Pit is circular and has a diameter

20 1 ,

depth

Pit is badly slumped.

Rock exposed is "gray rock'',

a fine-crystalline biotite-quartzite.

Immediately downslope (E), a small, circular pit 8 1 in diameter and 5 1 deep shows a discontinuous quartz vein with a maximum width of 6".

D. Pit -located S47W 80 1 from shaft at "A". This pit is 10' wide, 15' long, and 8 1 deep. Probably represents a proposed adit site (?). Work was concentrated in a NE direction following discontinuous quartz pods. Quartz similar to that observed at "A", containing numerous limonite boxworks. Some mica-schist in vicinity of veins. Sample: P38-D (quartz composite).

P39

Gold

193

Location: Cleveland quadrangle, NW~, NE running tributary to Glade Branch;

tributary valley heads at road fork located 4300' SE of Town Creek Church;

topographic spot elevation of road fork is 1634'.

Ownership: Old Etries property.

Geology: Placer ground obvio~s along stream.

A. Hydraulic cut - located 200 1 NNE of road fork. A trench extends N55W for 150' from stream, and is 10'-20' wide, 10 1 -20' deep. At NW end of trench cut, hydraulic cutting was extended to the right for 125', and varies from 30 1 to SO' in width. Depth is about 15'. Country rock appears to be "gray rock" with numerous schistose zones. One quartz vein (stringer) 1"-2" in width observed on NW wall of cut.

128.

B. Tre nch c ut -located 600' down s Lream (NE) from "A". Narrow trench (5 1 wi d e~ 8 ' dee p) fol l ows shallow draw toward S38E for 100', then turns l eft fo r 30'. Te n feet beyo nd e nd o f trench is a small prospect pit ( 5 ' dee p , 8 ' circ ul a r d imnete r ) .
C. Adit - loca t e d 300 1 NNE o f "A", 500' WNW of "B". Adit extends N37W fo r 10 1 a c ros s s trike o f co unt ry roc k whic h is contor t e d biot i te - mi ca sc his t with few thi n quartz s t ri ngers . 30 ' N82W from a dit e nt r anc e i s a pi t (length 20 ' , \tl id t h 15 1 , dept h 10 ' ) whic h is ba dl y s lumpe d. No good exposure s here . 10' N32E f rom a di t e ntra nce is begi nning of a trench cut which extends to N25W fo r 15 ' , t he n to N35 E f or 20 1 Probably, the adit, pit and trench are of a prospect nature rather than mining (?).

P40

Gold

194

Location: "A" is located on the Cowrock quadrangle, SW!t;, SE section, 700 1 NE

of U. S. Highway #129, 200 1 W of Jenny Creek, 1300' ESE of BM 1637.

Geology:

A. Hydraulic cut into SE slope of hill. Exposures poor, but country rock appears to be a variety of "gray rock". Cut is more or less circular with a diameter of 35'. Depth of cut at back wall is 20 1 Immediately upslope is a drainage ditch which follows contour around hill. Other cuts of similar size occur on the slope S of here and also across Jenny Creek.

B. Ad it - located 500' NE of Highway /tl29, 200 1 W of Jenny Creek. Extends an undetermined distance to N65W. Entrance blocked by slump. Very coarse-grained granite-gneiss, occurs near entrance as large boulders.

The valley floor of Jenny Creek was relatively flat and showed no signs of having been worked. No gravel noticed along stream.

P41

Gold

195

Location: Cleveland quadrangle, NW!t;, NE section, Jenny Creek (S of Twin

Lakes).

Ownership: Old Mathis (Matthews (?))property.

Geology:

A. Located 2000 1 SSE of SW end of dam of smaller lake (western-most). A few small shallow pits are the only evidence of placer work in vicinity of "A". A tributary to Jenny Creek located about 1300 1 SSW of SW end of dam (smaller lake) heads back to the NW. Placer work is evident for about 2200 1 up this tributary to a 35 1 waterfall.

Tributary downstream (1000 1 ) heading to WNW suggest some intermittent placer work almost throughout its coarse, but the amount of work done is negligeable. Creek flows mostly on bedrock in lower part of coarse.

129.
Adit - extends N500W generally down the dip of country rock. Entrance blocked by slumping. Able to see about 15' back into adit. Rock exposed at entrance is mostly mica-schist. Mica-schist probably is interbedded in "gray rock". Small quartz pod also seen at entrance. About 20' W of adit entrance is a small prospect pit (length 15', width 10', depth 5 1 ) which is badly slumped.
C. Trench - SW end of trench is located 130' N40E from adit entrance at "B". Trench extends N42E for 150', then off-sets 20' to left and continues another 50'. About 75' from point of off-set is a small prospect pit (circular, 8' diameter). 20' beyond this pit (N40E) is another smaller circular pit (5' diameter).
D. Adit - located 100' N400W of 8' diameter prospect pit. Inaccessible. Extends an undetermined distance to S22E. Adit appears to pitch
downward slightly, as did adit at "B".
E. Adit - located 100' N58E of adit entrance at "D". Extends 10' to S25W.
Country rock is feldspar "gray rock". Adit follows the axis of a minor fold which plunges slightly to N25E. Associated with the fold is a quartz vein which is concordant with the folding. The SE limb dips less than the NW limb.
The quartz vein is thicker (4"-14") on the SE limb than on the NW limb (2"-4").
F. Adit - located 60' Nl5E of adit at "E". Entrance blocked by slumping. Very little can be determined about adits interior. Trend is questionable, but appears to be near S300W (?).
G. Located 2150' WNW of "D". A series of small prospect pits with some
trenching. All trend generally NE (about NJ0E). Several quartz cobbles are seen on side of some pits.
H. Hydraulic cut - located 1000' WSW of SW end of dam of smaller lake. The series of prospect pits mentioned above trend toward this cut. Cut extends 350 1 in a southwesterly direction from creek. The creek is the first SE flowing tributary to Jenny Creek encountered S of the Twin Lakes.
The small draw immediately NW of the hydraulic cut has been placer worked back from stream to near a small clearing.
Near the headwaters of the tributary (600' NNW of "H") is a 30' waterfall with a small concrete dam at top. This apparently was used as a water reservoir for mining (?).
Tributary has been placer worked NW to the waterfall.
Rock type most abundant in the area is "gray rock".

P42

Gold

196

Location: (For "A" below) Cleveland quadrangle, SW.lt;, SE section, 1700' SW

of U. S. Highway #129, 13500 1 FWL and 2200' FSL.

P-42

...
\ADIT

~~T

./ ~li 1i AOIT

~liT

-~.~

.g,~

-~~NCH

.016 PIT

8 ADIT

-~~ -~.~
09 "PIT
014 "PIT

011

01>

"PIT "PIT 012

" PIT 010

"PIT

liD

IAJI

lllO

IZOFEET

.HJttE , 1963

-~~l

Resection point on top of hill (pine tree)

07 PIT

-~r;.o

. g:~
0 19 'PIT

-~rt'

Drainaae ditch follows eo~~tour around htll
Fl "SHAFT

H 'SHAFT

Fp2rr F3 "PIT
/~i\
One pece of asbestos float seen on nm of pit

018 "PIT
~'>-...

' .,
"< '(,..~. ."..'

\ '
\ "

' 1
' f

,.,, \ \

"' ').. ').. )...

,, 'e'; f f ' ' ! / ~-~f

\ \.Pi 1 ";

\ "'-'/

jADIT

'<.

'<. '<. "-?~' '"'

' "' '\ q. '

'<..\,.~. (0~

"' .,

"'"'oJ' ~..~' '

' '<..'<.. '"\0'~\~.".,~'"' '),.

'< '\, \ '\ \

...

"'"' \

/NJIT

'<. '<..\ ..

.
0
C"')
r-4
Figure 21

131.
Ownership: Property in the SW part of area owned by Mrs. Ida Allen (mineral rights by Mrs. Mary Lou Harkins). InN and NE part is owned by Mr. David Dockery and the Atlanta Jewish Community Center.

A. Shaft - roughly rectangular at surface (15' x 12'). Depth 35'. Water in bottom. Shaft inaccessible. Country rock is "gray rock" striking N60E, dipping steeply NW.

75 1 Nl5E from "A" is a circular pit 10' in diameter now slumped and partially filled.

B. Adit - located 300' N70E from "A". Extends 135 1 to Nl4W in "gray rock". 60' from entrance drifts extend at right angles in opposite directions. Drift to left (WSW) extends 15 1 Drift to right (ENE) is inaccessible due to back filling (apparently from main adit), but can see about 30'. Immediately beyond cross drifts the main adit is partially blocked by backfill assumed to have come from the WSW drift. Numerous pods and stringers of quartz are exposed along walls and ceiling. Trend of adit cuts across strike of country rock. Sample: P42-B (quartz pod composite).

C. Adit - located 700' SW of "A" in P-44 area.

Country rock is "gray rock" (hornblena1.c ?). Adit entrance blocked by slump and trash. True trend and length cannot be determined. A rough estimate of trend is N50Dw across strike of country rock.

It is reported adit extends under road, NW of here for a distance of about 250' (?). Amount of dump tends to verify the report. No quartz veins seen at adit. In road-cut just NW of adit are a few quartz pods and stringers.

Dl. Prospect pit - located 90' N33E of adit at "B". Pit is circular and 12'-15' in diameter. Depth 10 1 -12'. 40' E of this pit is another (D2) of similar size. Between pit "Dl" and adit at "B" there has been some shallow trenching.

NOTE: Due to the ubiquitous nature of the pitting, trenching, etc., their respective localities are determined by pace and compass as follows.

Station

Bearing Distance

Remarks

Dl-D2

40'

Pit diameter 15', depth 12'.

D2-D3

S80E

30'

Pit diameter 10', depth 5'.

D3-D4

S80E

30'

Small trench, possible adit at N end.

D4-D5

N5W

50'

Pit diameter 15', depth 15'.

D5-D6

100'

Pit diameter 18', depth 12 1

D6-D7

85 I

Pit diameter 25', depth 15'.

(Garbage dump here. Fence (parallel?) between D6 and D7, 20'

from D6).

D6-D8

30 1

Pit (rectangular), length 10', width

6', depth 4'.

D8-D9

30'

Pit diameter 8', depth 5'.

D9-Dl0

S50W

75 I

Pit diameter 12', depth 8'.

DlO-Dll

N250W

20 1

Dl0-Dl2

N700W

25'

Pit diameter 10 1 ' depth 5'. Pit diameter 10', depth 4'.

Dl0-Dl3

N40E

25 1

Length 12', width 8', depth 3'.

132. Station

Bearins Distance

Remarks

Dl0-D14

N37E

60'

Leng~h 8' , width 4' , depth 3'.

D6-Dl5

S72"w

75'

Diameter 12', depth 25'.

(Ad it at bottom of shaft trends N50E, inaccessible)

D6-Dl6

sso<>w

60'

Diameter 25', depth 12'.

D7-Dl7

S45E

70'

Diameter 20', depth 10'.

Dl7-Dl8

S400W

75'

Diameter 7' , depth 3'

Dl7-Dl9

S75E

25'

Diameter 12 1 , depth 5 1

Dl7-D20

S650W

35'

Diameter 12', depth 6'.

(Trenched to west)

Dl7-D21

S35"w

30'

Diameter 15', depth 8 1

D7-D22

Nl8E

65 1

Diameter 18', depth 12'.

Dl7-D23 (Bearing and distance to bend in trench. One coarse of trench

extends 30 1 to N50W, the other extends 75' to S25W. Depth

10 1 , width 15 1 .)

D23-D24

N450W

125'

(From center of SW end of above trench to center of this trench

(SW end) which is 25 1 long to N20E).

D24-D25

S850W

30 1

(Large trench cut within valley extending generally to SE. From

head of this large trench smaller trench extends on to about

N20"w to area of pitting (150't). Width of large trench 30',

depth 15' at head. Large trench extends S42E for about 290'.)

D25-D26

S42E

290'

From this reference point (D26) N57E

50' is entrance to adit.

D26-E

N57E

50 1

Adit - inaccessible, trends N25E a

minimum of 75'. Flowing stream on

adit floor emits to join natural

drainage.

NOTE: The large trench heading at "D25" extends on beyond the reference point at "D26" to valley bottom, decreasing in size. Water flows in lower coarse of trench.

The following is a traverse from an old house site (now burned) on old road (abandoned highway) looping to S (just W of Tesnatee Church) to ad it at "E". This traverse provides a check on the one made from the NW.

Station

Bearing Distance

Remarks

House site at A
A to B B to "E"
(ad it)

S5W
w
N58W

275' 540'
200 1

The following traverse is to determine the locations of various pits, shafts, adits, etc.

X Resection point of reference on top of hill at 8" pine tree.

Pine tree located 1600' SSW of BM 1637 (on U. S. Highway 129)

and 3200' WNW of Tesnatee Church.

X-Fl

Sl8E

70'

(Shaft - diameter 20 1 , depth 30', in path of drainage ditch following

contour around hill).

NOTE:

133.
Rock dumped beside shaft, and evidently removed from it, is a variety of "gray rock". Rock ( fresh ) contains much fi11e crystalline quartz, biotite, chlorite, and tiny cubes and belbs of pyrite. The.pyrite often has a peculiar color suggestive of gold film coating (?). The mineralized nature (disseminated pyrite) probably accounts for abundant fine chlorite representing altered biotite (?). Chlorite is so abundant in some rock to approach chlorite schist, which also is pyritic. Few chlorite-rich rock contain small (1 mm) garnetsl

Station

Bearing Distance

Remarks

Fl-F2

S57E

65'

Pit - diameter 5' , depth 3'.

F2-F3

S630W

25'

Pit - diameter 8', depth 2'.

F3-F4

S630W

25 1

Pit -diameter 10' ,.depth 6'.

(At rim of pit at "F4" a rock of mass fiber asbestos was seen.

not determined. Sample: P42-Fl (Pyritic "gray rock")).

Fl-G

s13E

150'

Source

G. Adit - extends 100' plus to N20E. Impassable beyond 100'. Country rock is "gray rock" saprolite showing quite a bit of mica (or chlorite) spots. A few pegmatite dikes and pods cut country rock. Ore apparently quartz pods and stringers.

NOTE: Much trenching and small pitting has been done between shaft at
"Fl and adit at "G".

Fl-H

S700W

130 1

H. Shaft - diameter 20 1 , depth 20', exposes "gray rock".

S420W

120'

(This shot made to tie in separate traverses for purpose of checking).

NOTE: From adit at "E" open-cut mining extends upslope (N) to near the crest of hill where the trenched area expands to a width of about 400'. Ad it at "G" is in one of these cuts.

I. Mining cut - parallels small NW-trending draw beginning at old house site (now burned) located on old Highway 129 looping to S (just W of Tesnatee Church).

J. Quartz veins in garnetiferous-mica-schist. Located on SE-facing slope of hill, 200 1 SSW of old house site mentioned above. Borrow site for road fill.

K. Adit- located 300' NNW of old house site. Extends Nl2Dw 20', at which
point right angle drifts extend in opposite directions. Drift to left (WSW) extends 6 1 ; drift to right (ENE) 25'.

Country rock is hornblendic "gray rock" with many schistose layers interbedded. What appear to be feldspathic lineations within the country rock are prominent near rear of adit. Thin quartz pods and stringers make up the ore.

134.

The following is a traverse to locate additional pits:

Station

Bearing

Distance

Remarks

X-L L-M

S64E

250'

Pit; diameter 12'' depth 12'

half filled with brush, etc.

sso<>w

60'

Pit; diameter 20 I' depth ?. '
filled with brush, etc.

P43

Gold

197

Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SW~, SE section, WSW of John Jarrard's house.

House located at 13100' FWL and 2250' FSL.

Ownership: Mrs. Sarah McKensre. Mr. John Jarrard lives on property.

Geology:

A. Adit -located S77<>w 110' from John Jarrard's house. Extends S780W 35 1 plus. Impassable beyond 35'. Country rock is hornblendic "gray rock" with chloritic zones, quartz pods and stringers.

B. Pit - located S60W 50 1 from adit at "A". Diameter 15', depth 12'.

C. Pit located west 25' from pit "B" about same size as "B", but badly slumped. Trench extends from top of pit to S6E SO' up slope of hill, and 20' beyond end of trench is another pit (diameter 30', depth 15').

D. Adit - located N58W 100' from adit at "A". Inaccessible due to SLUmping. Trends S250W for an undetermined distance. Just SE of this adit there is a 20'-25' long trench cut extending Sl70W and ending at a face in slope of hill which might be an obscured adit (?).

P44

Gold

198

Location~ Cowrock quadrangle, SW~, Cleveland quadrangle, NW~, headwater of

tributary to Jenny Creek, above westernmost lake of Twin Lakes. About 4000'

WSW of Tesnatee Church.

Ownership: Old Sprague or Blake property.

Geology: Placer work for most part is restricted to immediate vicinity of stream.

A. Prospect cut - located 300' S6E of Miller house; 1000' E of BM 1639; 5250 1 W of Tesnatee Church.

Cut extends S300W 10 1 into hill side. Much vein quartz cobbles piled along side of cut which is about 12' wide. Some pegmatite cobbles associated with the quartz.

NOTE: In vicinity of headwaters stream has cut down through undisturbed gravel. About 1'-1~' of cobbly gravel is exposed with 3'-5' of clayey alluvium over it.

135.

P45

Gold

199

Location: Cleveland quadrangle, NW~, NE section, 800' S of SE end of dam of

easternmost Twin Lake.

Ownership: Atlanta Jewish Community Center (?).

Geology:

A. Adit- located 16400' FWL, 3050' FNL. Extends N36E 15'. Country rock is "gray rock" with interbedded crenulated mica-schist at entrance. Entrance blocked by slumping. A few thin (1") quartz stringers are seen at entrance.

NOTE: Adit entrance is at end of 50' trench cut which is aligned with adit trend. S720W 20 1 from adit entrance is the end of a similar trench
cut which may be another adit completely obscured by slumping (?).

P46

Gold

200

Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SW~, SE section.

Ownership: Atlanta Jewish Community Center.

Geology: Adit - entrance blocked by slump. Country rock is schistose "gray rock" with cross-cutting quartz veins (up to 3"). Length of adit not determined; trend appears to be generally north (?).

P47

Gold

201

Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SW~, SE section, within loop of old abandoned

Highway 129 just W of Tesnatee Church, about 1700' WNW of Tesnatee Church,

about 350 1 W of Jenny Creek.

Ownership: Atlanta Jewish Community Center.

Geology: Prospect pit - circular, 8' diameter, 4' deep. Broken quartz cobbles on perimeter of pit contain pyrite.

P48

Gold

203 Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SE~, SE section, 2300' WNW of Asbestos Church,

3400' FEL and 7350 1 FSL. (This location is for adit at "A" below).

Ownership: Known as old Thurmond property, now owned by Mr. Wil Thurmond.

Geology:

A. Adit - entrance completely blocked by slumping. Trenching leading to entrance trends generally SW. Immediately SE of adit is a cut 50' x 50' into hillside. Country rock is that of hornblendic "belt". Mass boulders and outcrops of pegmatite are seen in vicinity.

136.
B. Adit - located N66W 340' from adit at A 11 11 Extends N450E an undetermined distance. Accessible for only 20', and appears to follow strike of country rock (hornblendics) which is thoroughly cut by pegmatite dikes. Adit is 6' wide, 4' high.
C. Trench cut follows small draw to S70~ for 700' (measured from Thurmond Creek). Mouth of this draw is located 200' SE of adit at "A". Trench cut var.:;.es in width from 20'-30' and is more or less straight first half of course, then becomes sinuous.

P49

Gold

204

Loca:ic-r1: Cowrock quadrangle, SE~, SE sectio.n. Placer work along tributary

to Tnunnon:l Creek. Tributary heads on SE side of Little Andy Mountain and

flows SE to intercept Thurmond Creek 1200' NW of Asbestos Church.

Ownersrd p: Frank Baker owns land where northernmost portion of placer ground extends up small draw. George D. Wheeler owns adjacent property. Ollie Turner owns mineral rights.

Geology: Beginning at road intersection about 1500 1 NW of Asbestos Church (one road leading to Dukes Creek Church, the other to Loudsville Church), placer ground can be followed upstream for about 1200 1 -1400 1 At this point work was concentrated along a draw leading off to the N and NE. Width of placer along creek varies, but averages near 200'; in places widening to 300 1 plus. Width of placer along the N-trending draw (on Baker property) averages about 150'. Most of the work appears spotty with occasional interconnecting channel cuts.

P50

Gold

205

Location: Cowrock quadrangle, SE~, NE section.

Ownership: A very small portion of the property falls within the Chattahoochee National Forest; Baker property.

Geology: Placer work is evident along Thurmond Creek and intermittently along tributaries to Thurmond Creek. Associated with the placer ground are occasional open-cut trenches extending up hill slopes; also a few prospect or mining pits.

A. Trench cut - on Baker property; extends 1000' SW from Thurmond Creek valley. Width 20-30 1 , depth 15-20'.

B. Trench cut - extends generally WNW for 600' from S-flowing tributary to Thurmond Creek. Width, 8'-15', depth 6-10'. Coarse is sinuous with minor side cuts 10 1 -20 1 long.

C. Open pits, 50 1 -75 1 diameter, 6'-10' deep.

D. Small open pit.

E. Group of 4 or 5 small open pits.

137.
F. Quartz vein outcropping in stream; 18"-24" thick; appears concordant with country rock, which is fine crystalline quartzose-mica-schist. Quartz vein carries pyrite. Country rock strikes N42E, dipS steeply NW. Outcropping nature of country rock affords natural gold sluices here. Gravel taken from these natural traps shows much fine to coarse gossan; also numerous pseudomorphs of pyrite cubes and coarse heavies. The abundance of coarse gossan and pyrite pseudomorphs is of particular interest. Garnets abundant.
G. Located at confluence of Thurmond Creek and S-flowing tributary to Thurmond Creek. Massive outcrop of quartzose-mica-s.chist with numerous thinly interbedded quartz pods and stringers~ Al~o noticed are pyrite voids now containing boxworks of limonite.
NOTE: The floodplain of Thurmond Creek, from the vicinity of Mr. Wil Thurmond's house, northward does not appear to have been thoroughly
worked as placer. The only visible signs of mining are saprodic cuts and trenches within the alluvium. The alluvium exposed where creek has cut through it is, without question, undisturbed, and quite a bit of cobbly gravel is seen (3'-4' plus).
H. Adit - located 100' NW of trench at "A", and about 900 1 NE of road. Extends 20 1 to N60W. No quartz veins observed. Adit is located on George D. Wheeler property.
100' NE of adit is a small prospect pit (8' diameter, 5 1 deep). 500' SW of adit an old road-cut exposes thin quartz pods and stringers in saprolite.

P51

Gold

211

Location: Cowrock quadrangle SE~, SE section, 400' WNW of Station 209, which

is on Turner Creek.

GeiJlogy:

A. Adit (?) - If so, entrance completely obscured by slumping. Occurs at end of a hydraulic cut into hillside. Appears to trend S500W (?). Country rock is saprolite and is the garnetiferous-mica-schist (gneissose) seen as f~esh rock at Station 209 400' ESE of here on Turner Creek.

A few thin (1") discontinuous quartz stringers are seen over "adit" entrance.

B. Located 200' N500W of "A". Old road now eroded exposing hornblendicschist with numerous thin quartz stringers.

C. Adit extends N55E 50', at which point a drift extends to the left (NW) 20'. Country rock is lineated "gray rock" with hornblendic ~ayers which show chloritization at contacts. Rock is somewhat decomposed. Feldspar emphasises the lineation of the country rock, which strikes N55E, dips 60NW. Adit is 10' wide, 7 1 high. Only a few thin quartz stringers noticed.

138.

D. Adit - entrance completely blocked by slumping. Trend of adit probably aligned with. trench cut SW of adit, which is N42oE. The trenGh is 250' long and extends from tributary to within 20' of adit. Depth of trench to 40', width to 60 1
Beyond adit and extending N30E for 250 1 is another trench cut. It is not as deep or wide as one mentioned above.
E. Adit - entrance completely blocked. Located at NE end of 10 1 deep trench cut mentioned above. Country rock appears to be hornblendics with interbedded schistose layers. A few thin quartz stringers seen over entrance of adit.

P52

Pegmatite (mica)

212

Location: White County, Blue Creek area; 250' S76W of County Voting House.

Voting house is located on soil road leading NW off Georgia Highway 1/:255

about 0.6 mile E of Blue Creek Church.

Ownership: Stovall Estate.

Geology: An inclined "adit" follows a quartz-mica bearing pegmatite along strike (about E-W) for 8 1 into hillside.

Pegmatite dike is 21 wide and schist with gneissose zones.

Pcuegtsmaatcirtoe sscosn1taoinfs

country rock crystals of

which mica to

is mica5" in

diameter, and large (4"-5") feldspar crystals. Several flaw-free pieces of

mica were observed lying near "adit" entrance. Most of the mica, however,

shows a pronounced "A" structure, as well as wedging. Due to the presence of

some sheets without flaws, this location might warrant further prospecting.

Some mica was mined and sold from here about 15 years ago.

P53

Gold

215

Location: Cleveland quadrangle; NW~; SE section; 14000' FWL, 15400' FNL;

1600 1 W of junction of Town and Tesnatee Creeks.

Ownership: Old Courtney place; now owned by White County (?).

Geology: A combination of placer and hydraulic mining appears to extend from the W edge of main valley of Town and Tesnatee Creeks southwestward paralleling small draw. Several cuts extend northwestward into hillside along N perimeter of placer ground. Sample: P53-A (composite of quartz veins exposed in
hydraulic cut). P53-B (quartz vein composite).

P54

Gold

216

Location: Cleveland quadrangle; NW~; SE section; just E of Loud gold workings.

Ownership: Old Henderson property.

Geology: Small tributaries to Tesnatee Creek NE of Town Creek junction show evidence of having been placer worked. Between the junction of Town and

139.
Tesnatee Creek and the first tributary to NE there appears to have been some work along Tesnatee Creek. Sample: P54-A (quartz vein composite).
NOTE: The wide flood plain of Tesnatee and Town Creek should represent an area suitable for dredging.

P55

Gold

217

Location; Cleveland quadrangle; NW~; SW section; along Chateen Creek; 8000'

FWL; 18000 1 FNL.

Ownership: "Old Ashbury Placers".

Geology: Quite a bit of placer work is evident at the junction of 9hateen Creek and its northwestern-most tributary. Thick vegetative cover obscures the limits of placer ground, but the area observed appears to have been well turned. 1500 1 NE of the stream junction along crest of ridge (trending NE-SW) are few small prospect pits. The largest is circular, about 15' in diameter, 10 1 deep, badly slumped. Much vein quartz is seen around perimeter of pit. Sample: P55-A (composite of vein quartz float).

NOTE: The above mentioned ridge (from tributary to highway to NE) is underlain by rocks containing quite a bit of manganese (?). Best exposure of this rock is seen at highway cut 1000' NW of BM 1458. (Refer to Station #63).

P56

Gold

218

Location: Helen quadrangle; SW~; north section; along Dukes Creek.

Ownership: Comprises following properties as listed in Summary of Gold Activity in White County: (a) Reynolds and Hamby Estate Mortgage Co.
(b) Martin property (Black Branch area). (c) Yonah Land and Mining Co. (d) Hardman property.

Geology:

A. Flood plain of Dukes Creek just E of Georgia Highway 75 several large
(15 1 + diameter) circular pits pock mark valley floor indicating placer
mining activity of the past.

Within the area shown on topo map as having been placer worked, probably less than 30% has been turned, and quite likely, this was worked in a more or less haphazard manner.

At the present time, Helen Gravel Works (Mr. Jimmy Vandiver) is processing gravels of the flood plain immediately west of the highway. Current operations of this gravel company are being concentrated directly along Dukes Creek at the southern edge of the flood plain. Mr. Vandiver is using a crude method of separating the heavy minerals from the processed gravel. At intervals of 3 to 6 months, he recovers the accumulated gold from the heavy fraction.

B. At N edge of widest portion of flood plain, a relatively large hydraulic cut extends northward up the slope. Several large nuggets were supposedly

140.

found in the alluvium just S and SE of the cut.
C. Gravels of a SE-flowing tributary to Dukes Creek, shows signs of having been thoroughly turned. Heavy vegetative cover makes difficult the task of determining placer limits.
From Richardson Branch westward along Dukes Creek to Kelly Branch, a NE-flowint tributary, placer ground is confined to north side of Dukes Creek. Mining activity of past is obvious from the numerous piles of quartz cobbles. Sample: P56-C (vein quartz composite).
D. Interrupted placer activity occurs immediately adjacent to Alabama Branch, a NE-flowing tributary, a stream cuts into fresh country rock of garnetiferous-mica-schist with intercalated "gray rock". The "gray rock" here is a salt -p!JPer textured biotite gneiss. Sample: P56-D (quartz composite).
E. General location of point where largest gold nu~t E of Mississippi River was found. Placer scars and quartz cobbles abundant.
F. Channel cut - 30' wide, 10' deep, about 600' long, and trending sssOW.
Immediately E of this channel is an area of unquestionable hydraulic workings which cut back into hillside. Sample: P56-F (quartz composite).
G. Adit - trends N39E. Country rock is "gray rock" (quartz-biotite rock) and strikes with adit trend. Adit entrance is badly slumped. Floor flooded with water. Rock exposed at entrance is fresh and appears to dip steeply NW. Length of adit not determined. Sample: P56-G (quartz composite).
H. Extensive placer workings follow NW-trending draw. At northern limits of workings mining was being carried on within high level gravels of shallow draw extensions. Material appears well turned.
NW of this tributary ("H"),along Dukes Creek, interrupted placer ground occurs on N and S sides of creek. Heavy vegetative cover hinders accurate determination of placer limits.
I. Disturbed ground appears to be result of placer mlnlng. This area is approaching the NW border of what is considered to be the "gold belt". Rock type predominating in area is "gray rock", a lineated quartzbiotite gneissose rock. Sample: P56-I (vein quartz composite).
J. Headwaters of Hamby Branch- placer ground may extend on to SW to unite with area of "I" (?), Sample: P56-J (quartz composite.)
NOTE: The deep shafts mentioned in Summary of White County were not located, but are believed to be in vicinity of "F" and "G".

P57

Gold

219

Location: Helen quadrangle; Bean Creek area.

Ownership: Stovall Estate and others. Stovall Estate covers eastern most portion of area.

141. Geology:
A. Located at point where soil road crosses Bean Creek. Most prominent of placer workings occur on each side of road at this point. Large remnant ponds indicate extensive placer mining activity. Placer ground extends from this point to the N and S along draws of tributaries to Bean Creek.
Cobbly gravel observed in Creek bed shows gravel to consist of various rock types (vein quartz, quartzite, garnetiferous-schist, amphibolite, etc.). The alluvium appears to have been quite thoroughly worked.
2500' ESE of the ponds mentioned above, the valley flood plain of Bean Creek expands rapidly. Placer workings were carried on within this broader flood plain area, but the floodplain there is potentially a good prospect for dredgeing.
B. Quartz float sample. Sample: P57-B

>59

Gossan

~21

Location: Shoal Creek G.M.D. 862; about ~ mile NNW of junction of Georgia

Highways 284 and 115; about 0.3 mile SW of Shoals Creek.

Ownership: G. G. Gilstrap.

Geology: Gossan chunks varying from 411 to 811 in diameter are seen littering surface of ground over an area of about 100 feet square.

Traverse to determine exact location:

Station Bearing

Distance

Remarks

A-1 1-2
(Sample:

375'

Gossan site to road.

250'

Road to 2.5 1 diameter oak at fork

in road.

P59-A - fist-size gossan chunks)

B. Quartz veinlets, 111 to 211 thick, interbedded. Location: soil road-cut 0.3 mile NW of "A". Sample: P59-B (composite of quartz stringers, pods) .
.c. Location: 0.2 mile NW of Georgia Highway 115 on soil road which junctions
with 115 0.1 mile NE of Shoals Creek Bridge.

Thin quartz veins (2" or less) associated with pegmatite pods and
saprolite of biotite-gneiss (?(. Sample: P59-C (quartz composite).

D. Quartz veins (3"-5 11 ) associated with pegmatitic feldspathics. Location: At junction of Georgia Highway 115 and soil road 0.6 mile NE of Shoals Creek bridge. Sample: P59-D (quartz).

E. Quartz veins (2"-411 ). Adjacent to veins is amphibolite pod which is highly weathered. Location: At road junction on Georgia Highway 284; about 0.4 miles ESE of Shoals Creek Church. Sample: P59-E (quartz composite).

142.

F. Quartz vein (1"-6"); Located 0.1 mile SE of Georgia Highway 115 on soil road junctioning at a point 0.7 miles NE of Shoals Creek Bridge.

G. Magnetite fragments litter ground surface at edge of small field (uncultivated). Some small (1") gossan lumps associated. The magnetite varies in size up to about 1~". Most fragments are less than 1/2".

Traverse to locate site:

Station

Bearing

Distance

Remarks

G-1

Sl7E

1-2

S49E

2-3

S73E

3-4

4-5

S72E

5-6

100 1 100 1 200 1 150 1 100 1 400 1

Along old trail road Along old trail road Along old trail road Along old trail road Along old trail road To soil road in front of
house located 1.0 mile NE of Shoals Church

H. Located about 500 1 NE of "G" is a newly cut field road leading over hill. Near top of hill outcrops porphyroblastic hornblende gneiss (garnetiferous). Float of this rock is abundant in area. Sample: P59-H (garnetiferous hornblende gneiss).

I. Composite of quartz veins along Georgia Highway 284; beginning at point just W of junction of Shoals Creek and Highway 284; ending at point near Shoals Creek Church. Sample: P59-I (composite quartz veins).

J, Composite of quartz veins. Located at road junction on Georgia Highway 115 0.35 miles SW of Shoals Creek Bridge.

K. Quartz vein (2"). Located E of Georgia Highway 284, as measured from junction located 0.8 miles SE of Shoals Creek Church.

L. Quartz vein (211 ) plus about 3 or 4 ~ veins, located just W of cross roads which is located 1.5 miles E of Shoals Creek Church.

M. Quartz vein - highly fractured - 10"-15" zone. Located 0.35 miles WNW of
"L II.

N. Quartz veins (1 11 to 8") injected into granite gneiss. Located at bend in road 1/2 mile SE of "F".

o. Quartz veins (1"-3"). Country rock is saprolite of amphibolite and biotite

gneiss intercalated.

Located

about

0.25

miles

SSE

N 11 11

P. Quartz veins (1 11 -411 ) injected into intercalated hornblendics and biotite

gneiss.

Located

about

0.1

mile

0 11 11

Q. Located at small creek crossing soil road about 0.1 mile S of "P". Float rock, taken from creek, containing green mafic mineral resembling serpentine. Quartz, however, is intermixed with mafic. Sulfide mineral seen within quartz.

R. Quartz veins (to 611 ), located about 0.25 miles E of "L". Country rock is intercalated hornblendics and biotite gneiss with few thin schistose zones.

143.

P60 Location: Cleveland quadrangle (SEt), Leaf Quadrangle (SWt). 222
A. Quartz vein (pod about 3" thick). Location: 0.8 mile WSW of Bethel Church, on soil road in front of a Mr. Waldrip's house.

B. Quartz veins (2) ~"to 2". Location: 0.2 mile WNW of "A", 1.2 miles W of S-most tip of Long Mountain (as shown on County Map). Country rock granite and gneiss saprolite.

C. Quartz vein (2") located 0.25 miles NW of "B".

D. Quartz veins (1") located at road junction of new U. S. Highway 129 located
1.2 miles W of Bethel Church.

E. Quartz veins and stringers (thin) taken from highway cut. Location: U. S. Highway 129 about 0.6 mile N of "D" (as measured along highway).

NOTE: Mt. Yonah is on bearing Nl8E from here.

F. Location: About ~mile W of Highway 129. Quartz veins (to 6"). Country rock is sillimanite schist.

NOTE:

Several sheets of mica (3" diameter) of fairly good quality were seen as float in the sillimanite schist outcrops. Coarse granite gneiss also pegmatite outcrops just W of place where quartz vein samples were taken.

G. Gossan - Location: about 600' W of U. S. Highway 129. Spot wh ere gos s an is
most noticable is in woods road i mme diat e l y under power l i ne . Sever a l chunks to 4" and 6" were found. Heavy vege t a t i on obscure s search of surroundi ng area but downslope from spot other spo r adic chunk s obse rved .

NOTE: Some gossan chunks appear as clusters of pyrite pseudomorphs.

H. Quartz veins (to 14") composite over an area of about 100' in vicinity of
"G"

I. Quartz veins (1"-3"). Country rock is sillimanite schist. Sillimanite appears highly altered to sericite in places. Location: About 1000' WNW of County Line Church.

NOTE:

In eroded area just S of quartz veins, quartz pieces with crystal faces occurs scattered over surface. A few crystals of smokey quartz found. Also, some sillimanite pods within the country rock of sillimanite schist. Strike N85E, dip SE.

J. Pr o s pe ct pi t ; ~ oc ation: about 300' W of Highway 129 as measured from a point l oc a t e d 0 .15 mi l e S of intersect ion wh ich is located 4700' FSL; 2600' FEL (Cleveland quad ra ngl e ). Pit 8 ' in di ameter; rock taken from pit is an u l t ramaf i c cont a i ni n g chlorite and othe r minerals, giving bright green color to fresh surface. Pit may represent an old asbestos prospect (?) however, none of the rocks observed showed asbestos. Large boulders are piled near pit. Smaller pieces can be traced in all directions from pit site, but no more than 60 1 to 100' away. Heavy vegetation interfers with accurate estimate of areal extent of basic float.

144. K. Location: Cleveland quadrangle, SE}z;, SE section, U. S. 129 cut; 1700' FEL: 4500 1 FSL. (See t'ield map).
Quartzite is highly fractured and represents the predominant rock type. Intercalated are thin layers of gneissose to schistose rock and pods and stringers of pegmatite. Many quartz veins and stringers throughout unit. Vein quartz and quartzite contain rich gossan, boxwo.rks, and pseudomorph cubes to .l;z". This unit of gossan appears to be on strike with point where gossan float was first found in area ("G").
The hornblendic unit is about 150' thick and joins highly garnetiferous gneiss schist rock to NE along highway. One garnet found 1~" . diameter. Some sillimanite quartz veins, too.
Kl. Vein quartz - quartzite: some limonite stains and small vugs of same.
K2. Quartz - quartzite with .l;z" limonite pseudomorphs after pyrite.
K3. Quartzite, crystalline - golden solution stains; small metallic blebs.
K4. Quartzite, numerous boxworks of limonite, crumbly quartzite.
K5. Quartzite: highly fractured; less mineralization evident.
K6. Quartzite: Small limonite spots within.
K7 As above.
K8. Rich gossan, boxworks, etc. in quartzite.
K9. Gossan from biotite gneissose intercalated.
KlO. Mineralized quartz-quartzite.
Kll. Gossan zone in schistose intercalated.
Kl2. Mineralized quartz-quartzite (with adjacent schistose wall rock).
Kl3. Quartz-quartzite - less mineralization.
Kl4. Contorted quartz pod with boxworks.
NOTE: The quartzite unit is mineralized more or less throughout its entire thickness (about 100'), but certain zones within show higher concentrations of limonite. The limonite is so abundant in places that it actually forms
in-place gossan. This quartzite likely is the source of the gossan float found at "G".
Quartzite is highly fractured and would be susceptable to mineralization. Fracture cleavage indicates beds are up-right.
L. Quartzite. Location: 1700' ENE of road intersection at "K"; edge of Cleveland quadrangle. Site used as "borrow pit" for road surfacing material. Exposures show highly fractured and crumbly quartzite which is mineralized. This quartzite represents a NE continuation of the quartzite unit observed at "K". Sillimanite schist layers intercalated. Vein quartz cutting quartzite also contain boxwcrks of limonite and in gossan. Pegmatite lenses

145. and dikes cut country rock. Rocks often chloritized at contact between pegmatites and cr.mntry rock.
NOTE: This quartzite unit gives rize to prominent ridge (NE-SW trending). This topo express~on can be discerned on SW-ward to county line (White-Hall). Should assays ~nd tests on samples of "K" and "L" prove interesting, full extent of unit should be determined.
NOTE: Station 149 (see base map) which is located about 3~ miles NE of "L", and on strike with it, apparently is a continuation of this quartzite unit. Mineralization is also evident at Station 149.
223. Location: Road cut on new U. S. 129 Highway; about 2200 1 ESE of Friendship Church; Cleveland quadrangle; SEt, NE section; 1500' FEL; 1400' FSL.
Country rock is granite gneiss - halloysite fiils fractures. Color is brown to red-brown. Halloysite is brittle (soft to hard depending on degree of hydration). Some thin banding observed.
P61 Location: Covers wide area around the Mossy Creek Community. Coincides with 224 Station 124.
A. Quartz pods intercalated in sillimanite schist which is garnetiferous.
B. Quartz veins in country rock of sillimanite schist (garnetiferous). Numerous pegmatites intrude. Chloritic schistose layers (sillimanitic)
intercalated. Location: 2400' w of "A" on highway.
C. Quartz pod - 6" maximum width, located about 200' S of highway 115, 1300' WSW of "B".
NOTE: In vicinity of "B" and "C" some quartz float rock contains small tourmaline (black) crystals. Source probably pegmatites cutting country rock.
L' . Quartz vein (to 8") located at road junction 1600' W of "B".
E. Quartz pods (to 5") in sill L:,anite schist country ro~k (intercalated). Location: 1700 1 WNW of Ma c ~donia Church on connecting soil road; 600' NNW of school house.
F. Pegmatite - Location: 3200 1 SW of "E" on highway; 400' ENE of W. E. West store. Sampled for scheelite.
G. Quartz pod (to 8 1 ). Country rock sillimanite schist. Location: On soil road 1700' NW of "F".
H. Quartz vein (to 8") containing sillimanite slivers, metalics. Locatio~: 2400' WSW of "G".
NOTE: Metallic may be manganese (?). One quartz float rock contained tourmaline.
I. Quartz veins (2"-6"); country rock sillimanl~e schist. Veins coarse crystalline with feldspar. Location: Road cut, 1500' WSW of "F"; 2000' SSE of "G".

146.
J. Quartz vein (2"). Located 0.1 mile SE of road intersection; 0.1 mile S of II F".

K. Quartz vein (to 3"). Country rock is sillimanite schist. Location: Road cut 0.3 mile SE of "J".

L. Quartz pod (to 8"); country rock is granite gneiss. Location: 0.7 mile SSW of Macedonia Church.

NOTE:

Fresh outcrops of biotite granite gneiss are seen in stream cut to
NE. Strikes about N55E (dips SE ?). Pegmatite dikes numerous.
One (2 1 wide) appears roughly intercalated with country rock.
Contains small needles and stems of tourmaline; also "hexagonal" molds of an unknown.

Within the granet gneiss is noticed a prominent jointage system striking N220W. Some displacement has occured (maximum observed was about 8"). Pegmatite a/o aplite dikes often fill the "fractures".

M. Quartz pod (to 5") associated with pegmatite in country rock of granite gneiss. Location: 0.22 miles ENE of "L".

N. Location: Highway 254 (Ga.), 0.3 miles SSW of White Creek - 254 junction; vicinity of Mossy Creek Community.

Quartz veins and pods (to 6") within country rock of sillimanite schist (garnetiferous). Pegmatite dikes appear intercalated. Sillimanite about as large pieces "coating" in quartz.

0. Location: 1.3 miles NNW of Mossy Creek Community (Highway 254 intersection) and 2.1 miles SSE of Highway 115; on road more or less paralleling White Creek which flows S just E of road. Quartz vein (5") cuts saprolite (?).

P. Location: 0.85 miles NNW of "O" on road cut.

Quartz veins and pods (3") in country rock of intercalated sillimanite schist and granite gneiss (?).

Q. Quartz vein (3") cutting saprolite of sillimanite schist. Location: 0.15 miles SE of "P"; on soil road, 0.7 miles N of "O".

R. Quartz vein (2') strikes N40E; dips steeply SE. Vein contains some hematite after sulfide. Coarsely crystalline. Location: Just SE of soil road; 2600 1 SW of "L"; 5000' NE of "N". 200 1 SW of creek crossing road (see field map).

NOTE: Numerous small (to ~") pieces of magnetite and limonite litter ground around the 21 quartz vein.

S. Location: About 9000' NW of "R". Outcrops can be observed in drainage ditch. Country rock predominantly sillimanite schist, with intercalated amphibolite layers (to 31 thick). Several 1"-3" quartz veins appear to be intercalated, more or less, along coarse of ditch (about N40E). A composite was made of these veins.

NOTE: The entire hill NW of "R" is littered with magnetite and limonite chunks varying from pea-to-thumb size.

147.
T. Location: Just SW of "R". Quartz veins (1"-3") exposed along road coward SW. Composite of many made.
U. Location: Just SW of 'T". Sample of 2 quartz veins; one 6"; one about 2".
V. Location: Just SW of "U". Quartz vein (6").
W. Location: 0.1 mile SSW of road junction which is located about 0.15 miles SW of "V". Several 1"~3" quartz stringers intercalated in country rock of sillimanite schist.
X. Two quartz veins 1-3 inches thick, 0.6 feet long; 5 quartz pods 1-6 inches thick at maximum, 1-5 feet long. Country rock is mica schist and hornblende gneiss. Quart~ is concordant with the country rock. Some of the granite is associated with mica-feldspar-quartz pegmatite.
Y. Two quartz veins, one vein 5 inches x 6 feet. The other 8-10 inches wide and 6 feet long; quartz pods 1-2 feet long, 2-4 inches wide. Country rock is essentially mica schist with some micaceous feldspathic quartzite and either halloysite or sillimanite.
Z. Three quartz veins extending across road and into both road cuts. 30 feet lon5 and 6-10 inches wide. Country rock is mica schist. The quartz is concordant. There is a ~one of sillimanite next to one vein.
AA. Two quartz veins, one 2 inches, the other 4 inches wide, both 15 feet long. Concordant. Mica schist country rock. Sillimanite is present in the schist. N66E.
226. Coarse mica-feldspar-quartz pegmatite 1-2 inches in diameter and varying from ~ to 2 inches long.
BB. Quartz veins 2-4 inches wide, 40 feet long in road cut. Quartz pod 4 feet long, 5 inches wide in pegmatite. Country rock is mica schist. Quartz is discordant.
CC. Quartz vein 3 inches wide, 3 feet long. Mica schist country rock. Quartz is concordant.
DD. Quartz vein 4-6 inches thick, 4 feet long. Two quartz veins 1-3 inches, 5 feet long. Mica schist country rock. Quartz is concordant. One vein is associated with a pegmatite. Sillimanite is in the schist.
EE. Quartz pod 5 feet long, 5-8 inches wide. Discordant with a fine-grained pegmatite.
FF. Two quartz veins 3 inches thick, 4 feet long. Quartz p0d 3 feet long in a pegmatite. Country rock is sillimanite schist. One vein is discordant.
GG. Quartz vein 2 inches wide, 5 feet long lying concordant >17ith mica schist country rock.
HH. Quartz vein 2-4 inches thick, 20 feet long lying concordant with mica schist country rock. Sillimanite present in the schist. The vein is in a thin pegmatite.
II. Quartz pod 3 feet long, 2-10 inches wide. The pod is in a pegmatite. The country rock is mica schist. Quartz is concordant.

ll.-8.
J.T. Thne 1uartz pod:; in road cut. 2-6 inches wide, 2-6 feet long. Country rock is sillifuanite schist. The pods are concordant with the country rock.
KK. Quartz vein 2 inches thick, 6 feet long; 2 veinlets ~-1" wide, 6 feet long; <~:Jar.tzite pod 2-6 inches wide, 2 feet long. Quartz is concordant with sillimanite schist country rock.
LL. Quartz vein 4 iuches wi.de in mica-feldspar-quartz pegmatite generally concordant with mica schist country rock.
~IN. Quartz pods 2-3 inches thick, 1-3 feet long. Amphibolite country rock.
~H. qu.:>.rt:z pods 612 inches wide at maximum, 4-6 feet long. Concordant with qu.s.rt:~ite mica schist.
JO. Quartz vein 3 inches thick, 4 feet long in road cut. Two veinlets 1-2
inches thick. Sillimanite schist country rock.
PJ'. (!uart:~ 11ein L~-8 inches thick; quartz veins 1-2 inches thick; essentially concordant with mica schist and micaceous feldspathic quartzite in road cut.
QQ. Quartz vein 24 inches thick, lying concordant with sillimanite mica schist country rock.
RR. Several quartz veins 1-5 inches thick. Gossan veinlets ~-}z" thick. Country rock is sillimanite mica schist. Veins are essentially concordant.
SS. Quart2.: pod ti--10" thick, 2 feet long. Country rock indeterminate.
TT .. Quartz veins 2-t+ inches thick, lying concordant with sillimanite mica schist.
'JIJ. Quartz veins 3-6 inches thick, lying concordant with mica schist country rock. Alsc several quartz pods.
\rJ. Quartz pods 5"-2 1 thick, 5-20 feet long in coarse micaceous feldspathic quartzite. Concordant.
~H. Quartz vein 2!:a-3 feet wide lying concordant with sillimanite mica schist. 26-B is located 100 feet SE of 21-B.
XX. Q-uactz veL, 3-5 inches wide; quartz pods 1"-1 1 wide, 1-15 feet long. Cn~corda,t with mica schist country rock.
~:Y, Iltr~e. quart 2: \'eins 3-5 inches wide, several small stringers. Micaceous feldspathic que:rtzite country rock. Veins are concordant. A large mica feldspar quartz pegmatite 1 foot wide lies concordant with the country rock, It is not associated with the quartz veins.
ZZ. T~~(J c~uart z veins 3-12 inches wide, concordant with mica schist country :0ck. Gold has been found here according to one of the re-sidents.

149.
P62 Gold
Location: Helen Quadrangle, NE\, 300' SW of Community Church; 800 1 FNL, 13000 1 FEL
.Ownership: "Sky Lake Camp".
Geology: Adit trends N50W across strike of country rock which is saprolite of amphibolite with intercalated chlorite schist layers.
Several quartz veins (1 11 to 8") are generally intercalated in country rock. Adit is 4 1 wide, 7' high, and 110 1 long.
P62A- Location: General area is located in the Shalf of the NW\ of the Clevehnd H 7~ 1 quadrangle, from vicinity of Town-Tesnatee Creek junction SW to County line.
The roads in this area were traversed for the purpose of sampling quartz veins for gold assay. Location of sample points are indicated on map.
P63 Clay
Location: Pottery works is located on Georgia Highway 11 about 3 miles S of Cleveland; 0.2 mile north of Mossy Creek Bridge.
Meader's Pottery uses a gray alluvial clay which is silty-to-fine-sandy, micaceous, and carbonaceous.
The clay burns out a dull white color, and, according to Mr. Meader, fires exceptionally well and holds its shape on the turn wheel.
The clay deposit is located on Mr. Frank Miller's property, 2 miles south of the pottery works. Mr. Meader pays $15.00 for a pickup truck load, which lasts abcut .6 months.

150.

APPENDIX III

Report on the Martin gold properties and the Reynolds Vein (Hamby Mountain-Dean Property), White County. (Old report from files of Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology no date and no author shown on report.)

The Martin Gold Properties
The Reynolds Vein
(Hamby Mountain - Dean Property)
Since this property was surveyed in 1895 by Assistant Geologist King, the report on which was published in Bulletin 4-A, considerable work has been done on it; and this has placed the mine in a much better state of development. In 1896, Mr. Martin began a tunnel along the vein at the southwest end of the opencut, and drove it 300 feet, He, also, sank three shafts along the vein, from the open cut above - the deepe~t, about 30 feet. The ore, taken from these shafts and the tunnel, was milled on a 20-stamp mill, near the northeast end of the cut, known as the Hamby mill.
About the middle of March, 1898, the property came under lease, into the possession of The Gold Reefs of Ge orgi a, Limited, a British syndicate having its main office in London, England. Under Mr. A. L. Collins, Superintendent, work was immediately begun, to put the property in good shape for operation. It was not, however, until the following October, that actual mining was begun. From that time, work was prosecuted by Mr. George E. Collins, who had succeeded his brother as Superintendent, the personal attention of the latter being required in Colorado, where he had, for years, been superintendent of a large mine. The tunnel was put in real condition, and a tramway was laid, by which the ore, or stone cut along the vein, was conveyed to bins, outside the tunnel. From which it was carted to the mill, something over a quarter of a mile away. The tunnel was driven further, until it was over 900 feet long. At a point 418 feet from the entrance to the tunnel, Mr. Collins drove a prospecting tunnel into a southward direction in search of a vein, known as the South Vein, which, at the surface, in the open cut, lay about 40 feet southeast of, and parallel with, the Reynolds vein. This tunnel was driven at right angles to the main tunnel, for 30 feet; and, from that point, northeast, parallel with the vein, for 20 feet. Numbers of small stringers, in hard "blue" slate, are said to have been exposed by the cross-cut; but the vein was not encountered.
At the time of my examination this tunnel was filled with dumpage from the main tunnel, so that I was unable to personally inspect it.
The middle shaft, which had been sunk by Mr. Martin from the open cut, perpendicularly, for 30 feet, with a cross-section, 10 x 8 feet, was put in first class condition by Mr. Collins, by timbering with 2-inch oak planks, and providing, by partitions, a vertical ladder-way, 3~ x 2 feet reducing the bucket-way to 4 x 3~ feet. A steel bucket, of 1/4-ton capacity, rigged with 3/4 inch steel cable, was operated by a steel horse-whim. This shaft and its

151.
gearing was in excellent condition, at the time of my examination of the property.
Beginning at the bottom of this shaft, Mr. Collins sank it 30 feet further, to the tunnel, following the dip of the vein; and continuing on, he sank it along the incline, 65 feet below the bottom of the tunnel, giving it a total depth of 125 feet. At the bottom of this shaft, Mr. Collins ran a tunnel, 15 feet on either side of, and at right angles to, the vein, exposing numerous small quartz stringers in the hard quartzose mica-slate. At the time of my survey, this shaft was filled with water to the level of the tunnel floor.
On the southeast side of the open cut, Mr.,Martin had done some work on a 12-inch plus vein, by a narrow open cut, inclined from the floor of the large cut, in a southwest direction. Mr. Collins filled up this cut, with the exception of its deepest part, and this he enclosed with timbers, as an 8 x 4-foot shaft. This shaft, which is 35 feet deep, is provided with a vertical ladderway; but, at the time of my visit, the shaft was about 12 feet deep in water. Otherwise, it was in excellent condition.
The Reynolds vein lies along the northwest side of the Reynolds cut, on lot 70, 3rd district, in a hard quartzose mica schist, which underlies the saprolite, into which the cut was made. The vein trends N40E, and dips at an angle of 65 on the northwest. In a southwesterly direction, it has been worked, in a small way, for 260 feet beyond the open cut on Lot 69, 3rd District, belonging to the Yonah Land and Mining Co., the end of this work being 60 feet from Dukes Creek. It is said, that John P. Thurmond and others, while working the gravel in the bed of the creek, about 1895, discovered the continuation of the vein in the underlying hard schists, but it was not worked, at that point. In 1893, Mr. W. T. Whatley, then Superintendent of the Yonah Land and Mining Company, prospected the hillsides on Lot 92, on the south side of the creek, opposite, for the continuation of the Reynolds vein, in a southwesterly direction; but he failed to find it. In the opposite direction, the vein has been looked for, on top of a neighboring hill, not quite a quarter of a mile northeast of the cut; and a pit has been recently sunk, by Mr. Martin, on a stringer belt, which is believed to be the continuation of the vein in that direction, but on placing my compass on it, this opening was found to be a little out of the trend of the vein, the direction of the pit from the Reynolds cut being N35E, while the vein trended N40E. However, it is highly probable, that these and other stringers lying east of the pit, forming a belt, probably 150 feet wide, are the continuation of this vein. But ignoring this belt, the vein was readily established, for a distance of 1,100 feet. From the most southwesterly point, where the vein was worked near the creek, on the Yonah lot, No. 69, to the end of- the tunnel, measured 986 feet, which 960 feet are on the Yonah lot. To this, may be added an additional 112 feet along which the vein has been exposed and worked by open cut, at the surface, to a point, 90 feet from the White-McGhee branch, which flows by the northeast end of the cut, making a total known length of 1,098 feet. From an examination of the exposed parts of the vein, both in the tunnel and in the open cut, I estimate an average thickness of 3 feet. In one or two places, I observed, that the vein was almost lost, overhead in the tunnel; but, in these cases, it was from 20 to 40 inches thick on the floor of the tunnel just beneath. In a number of .places the vein was as much as 2 feet thick; but generally its thickness was from 3 to 4 feet, and taken as a whole, remarkably regular.
The material of the vein is, for the most part, a hard saccharoidal quartz, varying from semi-transparent to white. It is more or less banded parallel with the walls of the vein, bands of the quartzose mica-slate, which forms the walls,

152.
being intercalated with the white quartz; while, here and there, are inclusions of chlorite. In the open cut on the vein, near the surface, much of the quartz is stained yellowish brown, by iron oxide, that has resulted from the decomposition of the auriferous pyrite, which is seen, in quite considerable quantity, in the ore from the tunnel. In two or three instances, galena was noted, occurring in the quartz of the tunnel, in minute quantities, giving rise to a dark-gray cloudiness. Such similar cloudiness in the qu~rtz, however, was due to inclusions of mica and chlorite.
During the time I was engaged in the examination of this property, a letter was received from Mr. George F. Collins, now a resident of Colorado, stating, that, while his books, containing the record of yield of the vein, were not, at the time, accessible; yet, from memory, he would say, that the ore, milled, averaged not quite $4.00 per ton on the plates. No attempt was made to save the sulphides from the tailings. From this, it will be seen, on reference to Assay No. 1, of ore from 'fhis tunnel, that probably as much as three fourths of the gold was lost in milling, nearly all, in the form of sulphides.
At the time of my examination, the tunnel was in very fair condition for operation. Shafts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, which were sunk along the steep incline of the vein, from the floor of the open cut, enter the tunnel, the first, at 112 feet from its mouth; the second, at 434 feet; and the third, at 556 feet. No. 1 had been sunk 40 feet below the floor of the tunnel; and like No. 2, it was filled with water to that point. No. 2 as before stated, extends 65 feet below the tunnel; but No. 3 ends with the tunnel floor. The first stope begins at a point, 136 feet from the mouth of the tunnel, and extends for 282 feet along the vein, from which the ore has been taken out overhead, on an average of from 36 to 40 feet above the tunnel. The 2nd stope begins at 462 feet from the entrance to the tunnel, and extends 20 feet along the vein, the ore being taken out, on an average of about 50 feet above the tunnel, reaching to the surface, most of the way. The 3rd stope extends 63 feet along the vein, the ore having been taken out overhead, on an average of about 20 feet. The walls of the vein are clean, smooth and well defined; and, as before stated, they consist of a hard quartzose mica-slate, the mica apparently biotite. The vein lies parallel with the schistosity of the slates. At the end of the 3rd stope, where it had been washed off, at the top, for a better view of it, the vein was solid massive quartz, for 4 feet across. Since Mr. King's examination of this vein, the work in the open cut has been estimated, by quarrying along the vein, for about 170 feet, below the floor of the open cut. At one point, for about 15 feet, the vein has been taken out, 50 feet deep, by stoping from the tunnel below, and quarrying from the cut, till the two met.
In order to get as fair an average sample for assay from the tunnel, as was convenient for me to do, I had six holes drilled in the barl quartz vein, approximately 100 feet apart, beginning at the rear end, at the top of the breast of ore. Four other holes were put down in the floor of the tunnel, and the sixth, about 20 feet overhead at the top of a stope, because the floor, at this point, had been taken out, several feet deep, and the hole, filled with dumpage. These holes were charged with dynamite, and fired; and the erupted material was loaded on an ore-car, of 1,500 lbs. capacity nearly filled the car, and conveyed to a bin floor, where it was broken to fragments, of from an inch and a half in diameter, down. I then thoroughly mixed and quartered it down, four times, taking two opposite quarters from the last quartering, for my sample. This, with others, taken from other places later, was packed and securely closed in my presence, and shipped to Atlanta. The

153. assay in the W. P. Pratt Laboratory, of Atlanta, resulted as follows:

No. l Duplicate -

- 0.915 oz. ($18.91) of gold per ton. - 0.890 oz. ($18.40) " " " "

'r~.is ore consisted of from white to sub-transparent saccharoidal quartz, clouded in part by chlorite, with a small quantity of quartzose mica-slate, occurring as lenses and bands in the quartz, parallel with the walls. Considerable pyrite wa.s distributed through much of the quartz, in the form of small irr~:g11lar masses, from a sixteenth to a quarter of an inch in diameter, and as thin seams filling minute fissures. A panning, from the rejected part of the sample, showed a small quantity of galena, as a part of the residue.

A sa.mple .,~,:~ s also taken from across the vein, in the open cut, at three point.3, ne.mely, the two ends, and about the middle of the 170 feet, mentioned above c-.s being W1Jrked by quarrying. The surface was broken off and rejected, and frr:sh p:i.eces were taken, in such quantity, as to make a sufficiently large s am?le, Th e material \-Jas b ro ke n t o small fragments, as in case of Sample No. 1 ; and , af::er thor o ugh mixing , it was sampled by quartering. The ore was, to al.~ appe ;n:<l nc.es, l1e same as that o f s ample No. 1, except that there was quite a g~oc deal of ~ tain by iron s es qui-oxide, resulting from the decomposition oE most: n ~ tl Jt.! pyr ite . Th i s sample , on assay in duplicate in theW. P. Pratt 'LaboratJI:')' . gave Lhe following results:

No. 2

- - - 0.450 oz. ($9.40) of gold per ton

Dup.llcate - - - - 0.415 oz. ($8.58) " " " "

!'he assay in duplicate, of the sample, taken at this point by Mr. King in 1895, yielded:

Original

- 0.562 oz. ($11.62) of gold per ton

Dupllcate - - - 0.580 oz. ($10. 75) " " " "

I quote the following from a report of Mr. A. L. Collins, Superintendent, to his company and under date of April 1, 1898:

"l hl' :~ co report the results (of the assay of samples) which I took from tr.e ~{eyn(lcis mine., on my last visit. Needless to say, these samples were hand spec .i.mens; but in each case, they represent about 1,001 lbs. of small fragments broken right across the vein, for the width mentioned, crushed and quartered down to assay sample.

Gold Ozs. per ton

Value Pert on

Nell' (Re ynolds) shaft, 30 feet deep,

3 fEet wide - - - - - - - - - - - - Do., bottom, 35 fet. deep, 5 feet,

wide - - - -

- -- --- - -- -

Bottom of tunnel, 20 ft. long by 4

feet wide - - - - - - - -

----

0.56 0.44 0.41

11.20 8.80 8.20

~artin's shaft, bottom, 1 ft. wide- South Vein, bottom of open cut, 20 ft. long by 1. ~ ft. wide- - - South west end of open cut 1 ft.
wide - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

4.29 50 09

85.80 10.00
1.80

154.
These results I consider very satisfactory; they fully confirm the alleged milling results to day; as Martin's shaft and our new Reynolds shaft are 220 feet apart, with many examples ..... , panning as well as either shaft, there is every probability of a continuous body of pay ore."

The South Vein, lying along the southeast side of the Reynolds cut, extends the entire length of the cut, and beyond; and it may be seen, in outcrops along its trend, from a little below the blacksmith's shop, which stands on the east and west line between lots 69 and 70, to a small opening recently made by Mr. Martin, at a point about 50 feet bey9nd the White-McGhee branch. As the shaft on this vein was 12 feet deep in water, I was unable to take a sample from it; but, from five exposures of the vein at the surface, along the southeast side of the open cut, from the shaft southwest to the end of the cut, I took approximately equal quantities of the quartz, in all, about 750 lbs.; and, having broken it to small fragments, and thoroughly mixed and quartered it twice, I took opposite quarters, as a sample. The vein, at these exposures, varied from 12 to 20 inches in thickness. It consisted of white saccharoidal quartz, cellular in places, and much stained by red and yellow iron sesquioxides, the red predominating. It has the appearance of a good gold ore; but it is said to have never panned much gold. The sample assayed in the W. P. Pratt Laboratory, yielded the following:

References:

1-See Bul. 4-A, Geol. Survey of Georgia, p. 53. 2-At $20.67 per ounce. 3-See Report. The Gold Reefs of Georgia, Limited, p. 35. 4-Shaft No. 2. 5-At $20.00 per ounce. 6-Shaft No. 1.

No. 3. --- Trace (0.00) of gold per ton.
While this result is disappointing, it is in keeping with what Mr. Martin intimated he expected it would be. Nevertheless, that part of therein, which was worked in the open cut and in the shaft, is said to have given very good results. Mr. Collins' assays from this point yielded .5 oz. and .09 oz. of gold per ton, the latter being from the end of the cut, farthest from the shaft.

About a quarter of a mile northeast of the Reynolds cut, near the top of a ridge, about 250 feet above the Hamby mill, and about 20 feet below the large distributing ditch, is a pit, before referred to. It was sunk into a belt, of red decomposed mica-schist, carrying small quartz stringers, parallel with the schistosity-. The schists and stringers strike N40E, and dip almost vertically to the northwest. This belt has been poorly prospected, the pit, 3 feet square by 9 feet deep, being the only opening on it, worthy of note. From this, and from two other points, where the waste-water from the ditch has exposed the belt, I roughly estimated its width to be about 150 feet. The small stringers from these exposures panned gold. From the south side of the 9-foot pit, entirely across it, I took about a peck of the saprolite and stringers, for an assay sample. This yielded, on assay at theW. P. Pratt Laboratory, as follows:

No. 5 ----------------- 0.045 oz. ($0.93) of gold per ton.
The branch bottoms of this lot have been famous for the production of large nuggets, in the form of water-worn pebbles of gold, some of which Mr. King mentions, in his report. The largest, however, he seems not to have hear of. On April 14th, 1889, John P. Thurmond, while sluicing along a small wet-weather

155.
branch, t r i butary t o Black Branch, near its mouth, found in a gravel, at a po i nt, nm11 along side of the n ew r oa d f r om Mr. Martin's residence to the Hamby mi ll, a gold pe bbl e weighing 504 pwt s. 4 grains. It was somewhat square in sha pe, t hough a ll the angles we r e we ll r ounded. This is said to be the largest nugge t , ~1own to have been f ound i n thi s section. I have a photograph of it, whi ch, while givi ng a good idea of t he a ppearance of the nugget, is too poor for reproduction. This nugget was sent to London, where it was some time on exhibition in a jeweler's window. It was seen there by Mr. Martin, before he became the owner of this property. The nugget was subsequently lost sight of, but it doubtless found its way into the melting pot, and was transformed into coin or jewelry - the fate, that has befallen so many of Georgia's beautiful gold nuggets.
BUILDINGS
At the time of my visit, the 20-stamp mill, which is only a short distance from the northeast end of the Reynolds cut, was not in very good condition. The foundation timbers were more or less decayed; and, of the 20 stamps, 10 were hung up, and in bad shape, while the amalgamated plate, and its bed, in front of this pair of batteries, had been removed. With these restored, and other necessary repairs made, and with some modern labor-saving devices added, the mill would be capable of good work. The mill-bouse is sufficiently large to accomodate the number of panners, necessary to concentrate the sulphides from the tailings of the mill.
During its lease, several new buildings were erected by The Gold Reefs of Ge org i a , Limi t e d, as follows: - A one-story~ 6-room dwelling for the Supe r i ntendent; a 3-room office, with a small roughly-made building, used for a nd as say l ab oratory , a few feet in the rear; a 4-room dwelling for miners; and a barn and stable. These are all well built, and in first class condition, but they need painting, except the roofs, which have been painted.
I was much impressed by the excellent mining ditch, connected with this property, known as the Hamby Ditch. It is 9~ miles long, and it takes its water from Duke's Creek. Its full capacity is about 1,000 miner's inches of water; and the flow is steady and strong. A large number of distributing ditches convey the water to the various properties belonging to Mr. Martin; and others were in course of construction during my examination of the property.
THE HAMBY MOUNTAIN SAPROLITE BELT
On Lot 60, 3rd D-istric t, on a spur of a ridge, known as Hamby mountain, almost parallel with, and south---- of the ridge, Mr. Martin has had considerable prospecting work done, on a auriferous belt of decomposed mica-schists, impregnated with quartz stringer veins, varying from a small fraction of an inch to several feet in thickness. The belt, which measured 73 feet across, trends N40E, as do the schists and stringers, which dip at an angle of 65 to the northwest. This belt has been traced longitudinally, by prospecting pits and small open cuts, for nearly three quarters of a mile, at least two-thirds of it being on that part of lot 60, which is owned by the Yonah Land and Gold Mining Company, and lot 69, owned by the same company. At certain points across this belt, the stringers are more closely aggregated, and form stringer

156.
leads, of which I observed three, at varying distances apart. The first opening on the north end of the belt, on the Martin property, was on the lead, lying farthest east. It consisted of an open cut from the west side of the ridge, across the schists and stringers, 25 feet long by 4~ feet wide, and 10 feet deep at its deepest point, exposing the lead, which there was 5 feet wide, and consisted of decomposed schists with small intercalated veins, varying, generally, from the sixteenth of an inch to six inches in thickness, though, at the bottom of the cut, one of these small stringers had increased to 12 inches in thickness. The ore on the dump consisted of blocks of saccharoidal quartz, with considerable brown stain of hydrous iron sesqui-oxide, resulting from the alteration of pyrite. It bore striking resemblance to the ore of the Reynolds vein, taken from near the surface.
The second opening of this lead was about 150 feet southwest of the first, and consisted of a 50-foot longitudinal cut, about as deep as the first. At the southern end of this cut, the lead, about 5 feet wide, consisted, mostly of solid quartz, nearly all, friable.
It was much streaked with red and brown iron oxides, which had seeped into the 8-inch thick, joints, and into minute fissures, parallel with the trend of the vein. At the northwest end of the cut, the lead consisted of quartz stringers, from 6 to 8 inches thick, much stained by manganese di-oxide.
A small gully, exposing a lead of stringers, about 5 feet wide, had been supposed by the miners to be the same as the one, on which the openings, above described, had been cut; but this did not appear to be true; as it was 10 farther north than the trend of lead No. 1, measured from the southwest end of cut No. 2, which was about 50 feet away.
Opening No. 4 consisted of a pit, 5 feet square and 7 feet deep, sunk into decomposed mica-schists, from red to yellow in color. A small stringer, from 1 to 2 inches thick, of fine saccharoidal friable quartz, was very rich in free gold, as was shown by several pannings. This pit was on lead No. 2, the trend of the lead between this and the last exposure being N40E and the distance from one to the other, about 100 feet.
Material, for assay sample No. 6, was taken, in about equal parts from these four openings, as follows:-
Opening No. 1, six inches of the decomposed schists and included stringers, entirely across the lead, on the northeast side of the cut; opening No. 2, a six-inch cut, across the vein at the southwest end of the open-cut, opening No. 3, which was on stringer lead No. 2, a six-inch strip, entirely across the lead; and opening No. 4, six inches of the decomposed schists across the lead, at the bottom of the pit, including the rich stringers, mentioned above. The sample was thoroughly mixed; and on assay, it yielded the following results:
Sample No. 6 ------------- 0.020 oz. ($0.41) of gold per ton.
About 150 feet from opening No. 4, in a direction S38W, is the entrance to a short tunnel, driven into the hillside, at right angles to the schists and stringer leads. Stringer lead No. 2 makes its appearance in the tunnel, near the mouth, as a vein 7 feet thick, consisting of two masses of solid saccharoidal quartz, separated by 2 feet of decomposed mica-schists, impregnated with numerous small quartz stringers; and, beyond the farther quartz mass, 1

157 .

foot of decomposed schists and stringers. The quartz of the vein is stained
brown 2 by a considerable quantity of hydrous iron sesqui-oxide, and where the joints have been much exposed by small fissures, the surface of the quartz, is more or less cellular, consisting of small cavities left by the decomposed and dissipated pyrite. On two or three specimens of ore of this character, lying on the dump, I observed small particles of free gold. As an assay sample, I took material from the southwest wall of the tunnel, entirely across the vein. An assay from this sample resulted as follows:-

\o . 7

0.015 oz. ($0.31) of gold per ton.

On top of the hill, on the other side of the belt, about 125 feet from the mouth of the tunnel, and almost in line with it, are two shallow incline shafts, both on stringer leads

158. APPENDIX IV

Report on Glen Comyn gold mines, White County, prepared by Charles C. Jones about 1940. (From files of Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology).

REPORT ON THE GLEN COMYN GOLD MINES
"LOT 1011
THIRD DISTRICT, WHITE COUNTY
GEORGIA
LOCATION. The property consists of 250 acres in fee simple, in form of a square, each side being five-eights of a mile, and is located on the southeast foot hills of the Blue Ridge fifteen miles northwest from Clarkesville, Georgia, and two miles north of the Nacoochee Valley. Rail facilities are via Southern Railway to Cornelia, Georgia, and thence eight miles by Tallulah Falls Railway to Clarkesville.
TOPOGRAPHY. The country is hilly. See Fig . 1 contour ma p. The genera l direction of the ridge being north west and souch east, wni le the main Appa lachi a n Range some miles distant trends north eas t a nd sou t h west . The gr eatest difference in elevation between Bean Cre ek and the top o ridge t hrough "Lo t 10" is three hundred feet and lot is wel l timbered . Ent ire l ot is sol i d r idge cut only by steep ravines.
HISTORY. In "A Preliminary Report On A Part of the Gold Deposits of Georgia", by W. S. Yeates, State Geologist, Geological Survey of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, 1898, a superficial description of this property is given as it was in 1895, pages 36, 37 & 38, "LOT 10".
I acquired the property in the summer of 1897 and have since actively prosecuted the work of development with the results shown in following pages. I found on investigation that many thousands of dollars in gold had been taken from a very limited area on this property and systematic work has shown the gold found on this property and in the placers in creek bottoms below it to have had its origin in the veins hereinafter described. Thls lot of land is one of the most noted in north Georgia, its reputation being gained by returns in gold, and my openings show gold from a consideration of the geological surroundings and disturbances.
GEOLOGY. Attention is called to the very comprehensive re por t by George F. Becker, "Gold Fields of the Southern Appalachians", U. S. Geo l ogica l Sur vey , 16th Annual Report 1894-95, Part III, in wh ich he speaks of th i s pro pe r ty a s "The Lumsden", and from which I shall fre quentl y quot e . He says , i n speaking of the Georgia Belt, "The rocks are gneisse s and cry s tal l ine schis t s , pr obably of Archaen Age, sometimes intersected by granit e dikes and which I s uppose to be Algonkian". Again, "Much the most abund ant rock ih t h e go l d beari ng regio ns of Georgia is gneiss or schist immediatel y recognizable a s de rived f rom gnei ss," and "The greater part of the gold I believe to have been de posite d at the c lose

159.
of the great volcanic era or during the Algonkian."
The rocks on "Lot 10" consist of gneisses, hornblende slates, chlorite schists and mica schists sometimes highly garnetiferous, the garnets being oftentimes auriferous.
STRUCTURE. The general dip throughout the Georgian Gold Belt is the south east, but on ''Lot 10" and in the neighborhood of the Nacoochee Valley the rocks stand either vertical or dip steeply to the north west. The forces causing this change in the rock structure are responsible for the neighboring granitic dikes, and the rich belt of mineralization on "Lot 10". Becker notes, "Granitic dikes are abundant near Nacoochee as well as in the vicinity of the Franklin Mine" (Creighton Mining Company, Cherokee County, Georgia). Within a mile and a half of "Lot 1011 to the southward formation dips off to the south east between the ore bearing schists and slates on "Lot 10" dipping steeply to the nor.th west, and these rocks dipping to the southeast, in a line of disturbance composed of granites, granitoids and gneisses and following a line passing through Yonah Mountain, the valley of the Sautee, Grimes Knoll and on to the north eastward. A section north west and south east across formation will illustrate and show relative dips and positions.
General strike of formation and strike of ore bodies about N30E. The unusual nearness of the granitic rocks and dikes to the gold bearing schists and slates on "Lot 10" is closely connected with the rich belt of mineralization. From the position of the ore fissures relative to the enclosing rock strata and adjacent granite and granitoid rocks it will be seen that forces were at work capable of opening large fissures, and the position of these fissures is a guarantee of their premances and depth.
VEINS AND BELTS
1. The ''Saprolite'' or "Soft belt." 2. The Mother Lode- Reynolds-Craige Vein. 3. Bell Vein. 4. Queen Vein. 5. Blind Vein in tunnel 6. Intervening and outlying small veins, stringers and auriferous belts. 7. Placer workings, following break down of veins in depression covering 20
acres on top of ridge.
1. Reference is made to contour map. Crossing "Lot 10" about N. 30 E. on line "AX" is a belt in the neighborhood of 400 feet wide, comprising in that width a mineralization which is generally a mile or more wide in nearly all other parts of the Georgia Gold Belt, sometimes five. The heavy rock masses which may be said to comprise the walls of this belt seem to have approximately the same dip, the dips of the auriferous masses and schists in between these walls have local variations, seemingly caused by the fissures in which the ore impregnations took place. Taking up now the individual veins and beginning at line "AX" on north west side of belt we have here what is called the "soft belt" or "saprolites of Becker". Here the decomposition is deeper than in the other sections of belt.
This "soft belt" has been clearly shown by a cut about 50 feet deep, 125 feet long and 100 feet wide. The bottom of this cut at "A" is about 30 feet

160.

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161.
above the level of Bean Creek opposite mill, and the vein or main aggregate of bands of gold bearing quartz is fully 40 feet wide in the face and bed of channel, and begins to show sulphurets as well as free gold. Pan tests give excellent results for 200 feet on surface entirely across this belt. This cut shows the general formation of a "saprolite" belt, near the surface of the hill and from 10 to 30 feet below the ore shows up in the form of a number of stringers of quartz. Going down these stringers begin to come together and form, approximately, one mass, and from my practical opening of these belts and study cf them it is proven to me that the deeper such a belt is gone down on the more closely aggregated will be found what was in the first instance a large number of stringers and quartz bands at the surface, and when the solid formation is reached there will be practically one vein. The greater the width of the distribution of the gold bearing material at the surface, the wider in all probability the vein will be in the solid formation.
The above observations are demonstrated in the cut A 11 11 Reference to
Figure 2 showi.ng approximated section on line "AX" will give an idea of the extent and contour across lot. The general direction of strike is N. 30 E.,
and dip is to north west varying from vertical to about 60 degrees. In connection \o}j th the 11 saprolite11 belt there is a great deal of garnet schist and the garnets are auriferous.

ASSAYS 11 SAPROLITE 11 BELT.

Gold per ton

Sample taken across 150 feet of cut at 11Arr

Assay of quartz vein in channel and at face of cut A 11 11

3. Free gold in No. 2.

4. Assay of quartz veins in channel and side of cut nearer

sur face of hill

5. Free gold in No. 4

Black sand from sluice boxes in clean up

Tailings assay from 39Q to $3.00 per ton

Assays No. 2 and 4 show how rapidly the ore became

sulphureted, value increasing at the same time.

$ 1.40
9.00 2.50
8.00 5.00

2--Turning no\ol at right angles to strike of 11 soft belt 11 and going south east we cross first a prominent dike of hornblende rock, dioritic in character, beyond this at intervals we cross numbers of auriferous quartz bands and stringers intercalated in the schists, gneisses and slates until at 250 feet from the 11 soft belt" and parallel with it the Mother Lode is reached in the Reynolds-Craig Vein marked 11BC 11 on map. This vein does not show on the surface except as quartz stringers and bands rich in free gold. The depth through the decomposed slate to the solid formation is less than in the 11 soft bele. At the Reynold 1 s opening it is from 30 to 50 fe~t, and at the Craig opening from 20 to 40 feet. Fig. 3 will show the relation of these two openings on the vein to each other.

REYNOLDS CUT. Rich stringers and a mass of soft material were mined out until vein was struck in solid formation 50 feet below surface. Vein is exposed for 65 feet on the strike and shows 20 to 23 feet wide throughly impregnated with sulphurets. Vein is between distinct walls and consists of pands and bodies of quartz intercalated in highly silicious vein matter of a darker color. The entire vein is impregnated with pyrites, varying from large perfectly formed crystals of one inch diameter to flakes and films, highly developed garnets occur both in the quartz and vein filling and much auriferous magnetite, the

162.
amout of pyrites varies from 3~ to 5%, and while fine specimens of free gold are found, and panning f rom any part of vein shows free gold, the main value of gold is in the pyrites. In breaking some crystals of pyrite gold is found as a film or passing into the pyrite.
CRAIG CUT. North east of the strike 630 feet and 100 feet higher in elevation this same vein has been shown by a cut 40 feet through the decomposed surface to the solid formation, and the vein 30 feet wide is stripped for 75 feet. The vein is of the same character as at Reynold's opening except more chlorite carrying free gold is noticeable, and the two openings give a basis for calculation of ore in sight. Continuing to the north east surface panning and openings on the ridges prove continuance of lode, and the placer on Gold Branch follows exactly on a line with this vein. This placer was noted in the early history of this section for its richness, and at "X", where ridge rises rich stringers of quartz in precisely same formation as at Craig cut have been worked 20 feet into the decomposed formation. This is conclusive evidence of the continuation of this vein for 3500 feet through the property. Just below this latter cut "X" the placer, I am told by responsible parties who worked it, yielded 45 pennyweights of gold to the 10 foot square pit. The carunculated surface of the schist enclosing the Reynolds-Craig Vein, the appearance of the walls in the solid and the entire structure and position of the vein all go to prove a large and permanent f issure. As to the depth of Georgia fissures, Becker says, "The presistency of the vein in depth is one which, in my opinion, need cause no uneasiness," following this with a practical discussion on which opinion is based. Also, "It seems to be in some unevenly deformed ground that fissures have opened most readily, as might be expected, and that veins are most abundant as well as widest. Carunculated surfaces are therefore properly regarded as favorable indications by the miners. At the Franklin Mine such surfaces are said to be most abundant in the hanging wall."

ASSAYS REYNOLDS-CRAIG VEIN

Gold per ton

1. Average sample across 12 feet of Reynold's opening

$ 16.00

II II

13.80

3. Assay of concentrates of No. 1

472.00

4. Sulphurets roughly panned down from No. 2

210.00

5. Average sample across 23 feet

6.00

Ore concentrates 3~ to 4%

6. Reynold's opening, poorest looking blue silicious vein

matter nor sulphurets apparent in quantity

3.60

7. Black sand, surface work near Reynold's opening

6.00

8. Average sample across 8 feet of Craig cut

8.00

9. General sample Craig Cut

5.00

10. Poorest looking blue silicious vein matter, Craig Cut

4.00

11. Sample of portion of Craig Cut

4.50

Free gold in No. 11

No. 11 Concentrated 20 to 1 or 5%. Value of concentrates

80.00

12 Test run Craig Cut

Free gold

2.64

Tailings

13.00

Tailings concentrated 30 to 1 or 3~%

Value of concentrates,

gold

$456.00

silver

122.00

Fineness of Reynolds-Craig gold

placer

Soft Belt

912 to 956 948 to 975
817 to 915

163.

Sponge not boiled in acid accounts perhaps for some of the difference in fineness.

In analysis of the above shows the Reynolds-Craig Vein running from $4.50 to $18.00 per ton. Free gold running from $1.00 to $2.64 per ton. A carefully taken sample across 23 feet of Reynold's opening at right angles to strike of vein and including some matter, not properly being, gave a value of $6.00 per ton. My opinion, based on many tests, assays and general work, is that this vein will average $8.00, and that occasional schutes will be encountered of very rich ore.

At $4.50 it is as rich as the Haile Mine in South Carolina. At $6.00 it is as rich as the Franklin Mine, Cherokee County, Ga. I cite these two mines in comparison as they are the two pioneer successful mines in the south, using improved methods and yielding solid returns in dividends on low grade ore by concentration and chlorination. In the few instances in which mining has been carried systematically to any depth in Georgia, ample and satisfactory returns have been realized, and nowhere were surface indications better or equal to these on "Lot 10". At the Reynold's opening for 25 feet on the north west side there are stringers of quartz throughout the hard rock, and on the south east within 50 feet two small veins of rich sulphurets have been exposed in drainage tunnel.

3. BELL VEIN. 100 feet south east from line of Reynolds-Craig Vein and parallel the Bell Vein is exposed in several openings.

Assay of average sample across 5 feet of vein, per ton

$6.20

4. QUEEN VEIN. 140 feet south east of Reynolds-Craig Vein and parallel the Queen Vein is exposed in three places, following a dike of hornblende rock or diorite. Vein runs from 1 to 6 feet in width.

Assay of average sample per ton

$8.00

5. BLIND VEIN. 50 feet south east from Queen and parallel is exposed a Blind lode in prospect tunnel. A sample across 8 feet assayed $1.50 in which was included part of wall. Pay streak proper will average $5.00.

6. All these veins on both sides of the Reynolds-Craig and other leads shown by cuts but not specifically determined, may be looked upon as feeders or subsidiary veins to the same large ore body. The existance of hornblende rocks of the character and appearance of diorite dikes in close proximity to the ore bearing veins is distinctly shown throughout this property. These auxiliary veins with their dips give additional evidence to the permanence of ore body. At intervening points between direct openings, tunnels, etc., the continuity of the several ore veins and belts is proven by the panning of surface dirt.

7. The Placer, a depression in the top of the ridge, covering about 20 acres, half of which is "new ground", follows the line of the Reynolds-Craig Vein and from the testimony of old men who have worked it in its early days many thousand dollars of gold were taken from an extremely small area. The pannings of the surface dirt and quartz stringers at "X" give excellent results indicating the continuity and richness of the Reynolds-Carig Vein. Recent work

164.
on placer sample repaid outlay, even when working old dumps.
On north west side of line "AX" .some old placer work has been done in the hollows on Bean Creek and a heavy quartz vein impregnated with sulphurets has been struck in digging a water ditch. The whole indicating an even wider belt of mineralization than.mentioned above.
ORE IN SIGHT AND COST OF WORKING
"SOFT BELT". I will quote for the "soft belt" the opinion of an expert in the Dahlonega field. "I have had considerable experience with "Soft belts" or "Saprolites" in Lumpkin County and consequently feel safe in saying that this "soft belt" is as good in value and as truly a belt as any of those near Dahlonega. The strike of this belt is N. 28 to 30 E. conformable to the country. This belt is traceable through "Lot No. 10" for a distance of 3800 feet. As a conservative estimate I place the width at 150 feet, although it is nearer twice this figure. Now, this 150 feet represents the distance across the belt any point of which shows gold by panning. For the tonnage I shall assume that this "so f t belt" is only 50 feet in depth, which is conservative, also I shall assume that 20 cubic feet make a ton, which is conservative, 3800 feet length by 150 feet width by 50 feet depth equals 28,500,000 cubic feet which divided by 20 equals 1,425,000 tons, and at 50~ per ton we have a total value of $712,500."
This calculation considers only sur face hydraulic work such as is common in the Dahlonaga field, losses by this me thod are great and while the expense of mining and milling will only run from 12 to 25. per ton, to get large returns a great number of stamps must be operated . More value ts generally lost in the tailings by this method than is saved. The proper way to work this belt is to regularly mine the main reef, 40 feet wide, and concentrate and chlorinate the sulphurets in which the chief values lie. The greatest value of this "soft belt" is below water level and the increase in thickness of ore in sinking cut at "A" and increase in value carried in sulphurets has been so marked as to confirm this statement.
REYNOLDS-CRAIG AND ADJACENT VEINS
ORE IN SIGHT. Taking cross section Fig. 3, assuming average with 20 feet (runs from 20 to 50) and calculating from dimensions actual tonnage, we have 630 by 100 by 20 divided by 2 equals 630,000 cubic feet and 15 cubic feet to the ton of ore gives 42,000 tons. Taking an average value of only $6.00 per ton we have $252,000.00 of ore actually in sight between these two openings on the vein, this calculation does not regard any exposures or vein either way, although cuts and panning shm-1 it containing in place, nor does it take the higher values obtained by assays and mill. From the physical facts governing this ore fissure, demonstrable on the ground, a further 100 feet in depth as actual ore in sight is certainly allowable, which would triple above figures mru<ing $756,000. The adjacent veins or feeders add materially l;o the amount of ore in sight. Fig. 4 shows a cross section on line "KL", and what is true of each of these veins and belts, as described above, will prove true of all of these large veins and belts and intervening gold bearing quartz stringers, vix that considered as a whole, the deeper the system is sunk on the more nearly will it become one continuous body of gold bearing

165.
material. While there are large quantities of ore in sight in these intervening and outlying veins, it is not possible to calculate their value as in the case of the "soft belt" and Reynolds-Craig Vein.

COST OF WORKING

To get more clearly at the cost of working a comparison of the successful mines in the region working on similar veins and ore bodies is necessary. The following working figures are given by Nitze and Wilkins for the Franklin Mine, Cherokee County, Georgia. Transactions of American Institute of Mining Engineers Vol. 25.

Mining, crushing and tramming to mill Milling, roasting and chlorination

$2.05 .65

Total per ton

$2.70

The figure $2.05 includes all development work. The maximum width of ore bodies is 14 feet and ore body ~~ill average 3 feet.

Becker states, "The ore of the Franklin carries about $6.00 a ton. About half of this gold is saved on the battery plates. Clean sulphurets assay about $56.00 and the concentrates which contain about 50% of sulphurets are treated by the wet chlorination process as modified by Mr. Adolph Thies.

The thickness of the ore bodies at the Haile in South Carolina is from 25 to 100 feet. The average value of the ore is given as $4.50 per ton, of which about one-third is free gold. The percentage of sulphurets in the ore varies from 2 to 25%. The ore is mixed so as to average 7 to 8% sulphurets. The concentrates contain 90% pyrites and the value is from $25.00 to $35.00 per ton.
The Mecklenburg Iron Works, Charlotte, N. c., through courtesy of Mr.
A. Thies, Manager of Haile Gold Mine, Lancaster County, S.C., present the following statement as to results obtained by the chlorination process of the Haile Cores.

Fire assay value of ore delivered to stamps, per ton

Of this caught in free gold on the plates

Average assay value of raw concentrates

" "

Value uf roasted concentrates

" "

Average value of tailings from chlorination " "

Total cost of roasting and chlorinating

per ten of roasted concentrates

per ton of raw concentrates

$ 4.50 1.45 30.00
50.00 2.00
4.65 3.50

On the further date from Nitze and Wilkins that the saving of value in concentrates is 75 to 80%, and by chlorination 94%, and that the cost of roasting and chlorination per ton of ore mined is 19 we can arrive at the conclusion that nt least $2.00 per ton is profit on this $4.50 ore, which is borne out by the statement that ores as low as $2.75 have been successfully milled. I figure that the ores of this property, "Lot 10" can be as cheaply mined as any whe:t:e in the world, certainly as cheaply as at the Haile and

166.
Franklin, fuel is cheaper here by 30 to SO% and water power is available. Labor in White County is contented and with a little trainjug can be made as efficient as any other regions; prices for a days labor of 10 hours range from 75 to $1.50. The average values of the ores on this property, "Lot 10", are higher than the two cases above and the ore bodies are amply proved. A notable feature of great importance is the high value of the concentrates, reducing the roasting expense per ton and amount of material to be handled. Assays of the poorest material of the Reynolds-Craig give from $3.80 to $4.00 per ton and in my opinion the average Vqlue of $8.00 per ton can be depended on.
DESCRIPTION OF PLANT
Mill building is 50 by 38 feet, designed for 30 stamps, woodwork for all 30 being erected and in place, fifteen stamps are now in operation, five stamps of 450 lbs., 10 stamps of 550 lbs., building designed to hold concentrators and other machinery. Mill is connected to "soft belt" by sluice boxes and to Reynold's opening by tramway, trestles for tramway come in at back of mill sufficiently high for storage bins and self feeders, ore cars run to the mill by gravity and grade is not too heavy for a single man to push a ton capacity car back to cut. Water wheel is of the latest make, Pelton type, 36 inch Cazin patent, manufactured by American Impulse Wheel Company, New York. Power derived from Beau Creek on the property alone is sufficient to run stamp mill. Water power is available in other directions for all purposes.
Piping. 1600 feet of 16 inch pipe, 1100 feet of 9 inch pipe, 80 feet of 6 inch pipe, giant, reducers, flanges, fittings, etc. Blacksmith shop and tools. Managers house and outbuildings. Office and commissary building. Foremans house and two workmens houses. Cleared land affords good grazing for work animals and sufficient feed.
~itle to property is perfect and transfer can be made at once. As a gold mining proposition it is one of the largest in Georgia, if not in the whole country, it is destined to rank with the Haile in South Carolina and the Franklin in Georgia. It is open to the inspection of experts and will stand every test. What is needed is a company to take active hold of it, put in the necessary concentration and chlorination plants, and mine and mill the area on a sufficiently large scale. A company doing this can begin to reap returns of a substantial nature inside of 90 days.
(Signed) Charles C. Jones. E. M. Sautee, White County, Ga.

Exploration for mineral deposits in White County, Georgia [1981] (2024)

FAQs

What is the most abundant mineral found in Georgia? ›

Quartz crystals, clear, cloudy, or milky, may be found in various rocks over the entire state. In northwest Georgia, small, clear crystals, in many cases doubly terminated, are found in Paleozoic rocks. Quartz in its various varieties is the most abundant of the gem minerals.

Has diamonds ever been found in Georgia? ›

DIAMOND: The occurrence of diamonds in Georgia dates back to the days of early placer gold mines. Dr. M. F. Stephenson, Director of the Dahlonega Mint, discovered the first Georgia diamond in 1843, while panning for gold at Williams Ferry.

What is a mineral deposit large enough and valuable enough for it to be extracted from the ground? ›

Geologists use the term ore to describe a mineral deposit large enough and pure enough to be mined for profit.

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What are 3 minerals mined in Georgia? ›

It is a major producer of barite, dimension stone, and feldspar.

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What rare earth minerals are in Georgia? ›

Rare-earth elements are currently mined domestically from Mountain Pass, CA and from heavy mineral sands in southeast Georgia. These heavy mineral sands have been developed for their reserves of titanium and zirconium minerals.

What is the most valuable resource in Georgia? ›

A special type of clay called kaolin is one of Georgia's most important mineral resources, with over 8 million metric tons mined from the state each year.

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What makes a mineral deposit worth mining? ›

Some ores are valued for their mineral properties, some for the elements they contain, and others because they contain valuable gems. The best ore deposits are those containing large amounts of ore minerals. The best metal ore minerals are those that contain large amounts of metals of value.

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How to find mineral deposits? ›

Remote sensors that use satellite images and geochemical surveys are just two ways that minerals can be located. Many minerals are then removed through mining or quarrying. However, liquid minerals, such as oil or gas, may be extracted by pumping.

What is the difference between a mineral deposit and an ore deposit? ›

A mineral deposit is a place in Earth's crust where geologic processes have concentrated one or more minerals at greater abundance than in the average crust. An ore deposit is a mineral deposit that can be produced to make a profit. Thus, all ore deposits are mineral deposits, but the reverse is not true.

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Is there gold in Georgia country? ›

Metal mining in Georgia started with copper in the 6th-5th millennia B.C. Gold mining has also been conducted in Georgia since ancient times.

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What region in Georgia is known for mining? ›

Hunting for treasure has been around since the Gold Rush days in the North Georgia Mountains. With tourists and travelers eager to experience local culture and history, a variety of family-friendly gem mining attractions have popped up in recent years.

What gemstones are found in the country of Georgia? ›

Archeologists say the turquoise, carnelian, agate, crystal, jet, garnets, sardonyx, lapis lazuli, and jasper used by the artisans in those times, evidenced by the finds in the ancient graves of the nobility right across Georgia, are all local and can still be found.

What is Georgia's state mineral? ›

In 1976, staurolite was named the official state mineral. Georgia has a wealth of minerals, among them staurolite crystals, popularly called "Fairy Crosses" or "Fairy Stones." Particularly abundant in north Georgia, the distinctively twinned, crossed crystals have been collected for generations as good luck charms.

What is the most abundant mineral found? ›

If you consider it as one mineral, feldspar is the most common mineral on earth, and quartz is the second most common. This is especially true when you consider the whole crust (continental plus oceanic).

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What is the most abundant major mineral? ›

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, making up 1.5 to 2% of the total body weight.

What is the mineral wealth of Georgia? ›

In addition to deposits of copper, iron, lead, zinc and other basic metals in Georgia, there are several areas of precious metals smelting in the Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus. Both primary and alluvial gold occurrences have been formed in the various geologic eras recorded here.

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