New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-09-24
THE ALPS OF THE SOUTH.
GREAT MINERAL RESOURCES OF TIE
REGION

-, ,,,>,,s IN TENNESSEE GEORGIA, AND
NORTH CARoLINA-TIH ORE KNOB MINI nv
pUCING TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT O''i IN ~
p1cu DEPOSITS OF SULPHUR ORES NEED OF
RAILROAD COMMUNICATIONS
70 me Edttor OF Ths Trto"he'
S,p. In nv last letter spoke OF the broad noun
e. roion which living between the Blue Ridge on
tho southeast and the great Appalachian valley on
tbo northwest stretches from Southern Virginia TO
tho borders of Georgia. l said something OF its SOL
and climate it's Typographical features, its vegeta-
tion and the fertility of its SOIL AS then said inc
acricuturist finds little here toreward hs eXeruons'
was at some pains to inquire the market prlces at
Io0orson the county town of Ashe County North
Carolina last MONTH and found them as follows In
a,an corn 75cents the bushe; beefand mutton, and
4 cents the Mound: bacon to 10 cents; butter, 10
on+s cogs g cents the dozen wood, 81 cord;
hill the ordinary wage of laborer is 90 cents
40, The people Of this region are physically q
,nncb finer race than the inhabitants OF the lower
artiors Of the State and are honest friendly, and
hosn,table but.their isolated position and the want
% ron q and of schools has kept them poor and
igaoraut and prevented the development OF TINS
fine country. Their manners and customs, and
above all the pecuiarites of their language, form
an interesting study to the curious traveller
It's great mineral wealth is likely to lead be-
fore long TO a farther development of this
region. A brief notice Of some of ITS mineral
deposits Will not, therefore, be out OF place.
might sneak of the numerous beds OF iron ores
of the magnetic species, some of which, from the
dissertations given and from the specimens which
Ihave SEEM are very similar to those of Lake Cham
plan In some localities these ores are treated IN
small forge-fres and made to yield bar iron for the
wants Of the immediate neighboThood. The abun-
dance Of fuel in these mountains, and the cheapness
oflabor would make it easytO produce charcoaliron
here at lower rates than perhaps anywhere else on
the continent but until railways are built such an
industry must remain Improbable. Ipreter there
fore to notice at present the copper Mines for the
reason that some of them have already been opened
and mined with great success.
Themines Of DucktOwn in the southeastern corner
ofTenneSsee have now been known for nearly twenty
years and were vigorously worked before the war,
after which came time Of depression caused by the
very low price of copper Within the past few years,
however the considerable rise in the price of tins
metal has given fresh stimulus 10 the mining industry
of Ducktown and under the efficient management Of
Mr.. julius Z. Raht and his brother, Mr.. August
Raht, the works in a very fonTishing state.
DucktoWn is reached from Cleveland on the East
Tennessee Railroad by q wagon road Of 40 miles, in
great part through the hills and along the
stream Of great beauty. The mines themselves are
on plateau about 1900 feet above the sea level and
are situated on three great lOdes in close proximity
10 each other At an early period in the history of
this region these mines owned by several COM
panies but within few years the greater part Of
them have been combined in what is known as the
Union Consolidated Mining Company Of Tennessee,
which besides its mines, has dressing and smelling
works, by which the ore, formerly exported, is now
smeted and converted into ingOt copper the spot.
We may pass over the history of the early working
Of the various mines and the rich superficial deposits
Of ores which they yielded for a long time. These
were, however, succeeded in depth by ores which,
though less rich, are doubtless destined to be uni
form in character and viii insure the pemanence
of mining operations at Ducktown. The production
of ingOt copper from the works at DucktOwn, in
1872, was about 40 TONS or 100000 pounds. This
was extracted in great part from single
opening. known as the East Tennessee mine,
which has been wrought to depth Of over
800 feet. The revived state of the copper trade is
leading 10 more extended mining operations at
Ducktown; and the production will this year be
greatly increased, not only by further openings at
the mine just mentioned, but by similar works at
the other mines in the immediate vicinity. 1t
should be said that after the first workings had
moved from these mines ores rich enough for ship
ment to the seabOaTd the great deposits of low
grade ores fit for smelling on the spot were neg
lected, but now, when their value is fully under
stood tits found that the district capable yielding
large quantities Of such The lOdes of great
thickness, but not everywhere of equal richness
and determine the portion best fitted for working
an ingenious use is made of the annular diamond
drill. This, as your readers are aware, drills rap
idly into the hardest rocks removing a cyln-
drie uhie gpiy IF he
ground trayersed. BY this means the great
lOdes which dip to the southwest at considerable
inclination are traversed at right angles, and are
shown TO contain bands of valuable copper ores in
terposed among portions which consist chiefly Of
sulphur and iron These explorations were still in
progress at the time of my visit last month bat had
already given most gratifying results.
The ores here mined contain when selected about
six per cent of copper, but large quantities when
raised from the mine do not contain more than one
half that amount. These latter are crushed,
stamped, and concentrated previous to smelling. /
need not describe the various steps of the somewhat
complicated process by which these ores, consisting
Of a mixture of sulphurets Of copper and irOn are
reduced TO the state of fine copper. II may, how
ever be stated that the fuel here used in the various
operations is wood, and that to convert 20 tons of
the low grade ores into ton Of ngOt copper about
10 cords of wood dn part as charcoaD are required.
The deposits of copper in this region are however
by no means confined to Ducktown. Valuable lodes
are known little to the southwark in Georgia, and
again at various points to the northeast, between
the Blue Ridge and the Unaka Mountains One OF
these III Ashe County, n. C., has lately attracted
much attention as the Ore Knob NINE, and although
opened only a few months has disclosed a
deposit of copper ore of almost unexampled rich
in the first ten weeks of its opening 500
tons Of of % per cent extracted by IA men
~ 10 nl.nr ofL