The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-06-22
SOUTH WESTERN vIRGINIA

X NOV.
More Of the Lead Mines md ,b.;r r..
TIE Copper Mines of Carroll Gc cNT1-
IRON cf Palasks-Cool of Mopteone,,
ana other Coanties- Tie Benefs of ri,
Ra'lroad to this Country. = f''> :
nave sought to bring to the notice Of the
saos. some very remarkable facts, iIlustra.
ung the mineral and agricultural resource
OF South Western Vsrginaa, interestinc -
they are, not only with reference TO the mere
local advantage of that part of the State. bui
IN their bearing upon the wealth and powe,
OF our beloved Virginia In the commnnica.
tion OF these facts, have interlarded tn EN-
with some descriptive passages and pleasan
tries, tdull enough l fear which, if they have
inveigled single reader into a perusal OF
the important statements presented, have tc
that extent accomplished my object. I re.
turn to my theme, resuming the description
| OF those Mineral Resources with which nv
last concluded. tt
The SAT- and Gypsum of Washington and
1 Smytb, have spoken of with some particu
larity. In my last, described visit to the
''Wythe Union Lead Mines I stated that
their annual product, worked in their very
rude style, is about 500 tons. Ilearned at the
| Works that the cost of q ton of Lead, ready
for mark ct, is about $40. Its present marke et
value is $120, from which would have to be
deducted the cost of transportation, leaving
indeed grand profit. The owners are very
| Industrious gentlemen; but very prudent, and
viii extend their plans and operations eau
ti6usly. ~
The chief point of interest, however, is
the extent of the. Lead region. No satisfac-
tory exploration has ever been made of it;
but Lead has been discovered at different
points along New River for some so miles.
/ hQntnrInn Hiofonno oh Il
Creek, where the Union Mines are located,
and extending down to below Peppers Fer
Try. Then what is said to be very excellent
Lead ore, has been discovered on the land
of DIR. James Kent, of Montgomery, upon
the .head-waters of the Roanoke, due east
from Peppers Ferry. and in the heart of the
| Alleghanies. The Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad passes very near these points, and
| interseets the line of discovery above Pep.
per's Ferry. So that here we have very
extensive Lead region, whose ore, developed
at various points. is very rich; but which has
been worked only at one point and in an
exec eedingly primitive way. When the Rail
| road makes this deposite better known, and
| the works become more extensive and mo.
derr, Lead will become an important and
profitable article of commerce 10 Virginia.
| The Copper Names of Carroll, Floyd and
Grayson, are of modern discovery, and
discoveries made at different points in a line
| running east north east, and west south west,
it is ascertained that the copper region ex-
| tends distance of so miles from near GRAY
| son G. H., across Carroll to near Floyd C.
HI. Mines have been opened in all these
| counties; but the main operations are in
| Carroll, from which alone shipments of ore
have yet been made. In this county there
| are four companies operating The Paint
RanH & fso
opened extensive mines and sent 500 tons of
ore to market. They have also opened
| three extensive mines in Floyd, the Toncray.
| Weddle and Nowlin. The Cranberry Com
pany in Carroll, (Bachman, Peck Il Co J
have sent off considerable quantities of very
good ore. They have opened five mines
The Dalton Company alexander Pierce &
| Co.. have opened an extensive mine; but
have not shipped much ore. The YarnSll
| ting ready for extensive mining operations
they have cut copper at or 10 different
places, which promises well. The discove--
ries made at various points along the line
| above described, we are informed show that
the copper lead continues rich all the way ;
| it being at every point there discovered
| sufficiently valuable for mining. l see
calculation in letter that the mines worked
| by Bschman & Co, which are Valued at
L
| month. valued at $25,OO0 or $4,000, or
$500, 900 to S350,O0O per apnum. The writer
| does not say what will be the expenditure
| in raising this quantity of ore. / guess
that his is pretty strong calculation. He
says, however that spending recently week
| at the mines Of this same company, the hands
averaged ss3.33 each per day, supposing the
ore to yield 25 per cent. A very rich vein
recently opened yielded a lump of ore weigh
| 40 Mo Of frx,bso oh hair
sayed yielded 60 or IS per cent. The vein in
which it was found was opened 25 feet
| lengthwise and 10 feet in width.
This copper region is certainly very won
| derful 1t has been pronounced the most
extensive deposite of copper in the world
TRUMAN SMITH, late a member of Congress
| from Connecticut, has recently visited Car
| roll county, to take peep at the copper
| leads. He is a member of the Cliff Mining
Company of Lake Superior, and we'll inform
| ed in the premises. He is reported to have
declared that he was satisfied that this Vir-
ginia copper field was the largest yet Disco
| vered in the world.
The mines are chiefly under the direction
and management of enterprising Tennessee
ans from the Duck town Mines of that State.
| The region lies nearly parallel with the Vir-
ginia and Tennessee Railroad, and the mines
are from % to 32 miles distant from it. So
ed to be, however, must have convenient
outlet to market. There are two plans pro-
jected branch to the Virginia and Tennes-
see Road, and an extension of the Danviile
Road through Henry, Patrick and the copper
region, to the Virginia and Tennessee Road.
If the statements that have appeared are
anything near the truth, this great copper
field will add immensely to the wealth of
Virgi inia, and especially of the great South
West.
The copper ore is at present shipped to
the Smelling Furnaces of the Northern
cities. Why can't the capitalists of Rich
mond or Lynchburg erect Smelling Fur
naces, and make the profit now derived
from the ore at the North? Richmond has
the coal at hand. The cost of Furnace Is
said to be almost 5000, 900; but the profit
| from the smelling process must be large.
There is now imported into the U. States
about 50, 500, 900 worth of copper, more than
l a million of which is imported duty free in
the form of sheet copper, for the purpose of
sheathing vessels. With the immense mines
of South Western Virgins added to those Of
the Lakes, may we not only cease to be i'm
porters, but become exporters OF this valuable
metal furnishing IL to other parts of the