Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-01-17
k,aeral Resources of Maine.
Writtes fer the Rsckiand Courier. BY Pref.
p. l.. Bartlett, state Assaycr.

p. l.. Bartlett, state Assaycr.
There exists at the present time, no lit
tie interest and excitement amongst the
people Of our State regarding the extent
and quality Of our ores and minerals.
Mining, Is comparatively. q new thing with
us. scarcely any interest has ever been
manifested In It, until within the last three
or four years; and II Is no wonder that the
people Of our state are somewhat deficient
in knowledge pertaining to that subject
That much harm will result from undue
excitement and premature speculation,
there can be no doubt. At the same time
much good aud valuable work will proba.
bly, be accomplished that will result bene-
hcially, TO the state at large. Already
much outside capital has been introduced
and many worthy people have been given
employment. so that provided none OF these
mines that are now in operation ever paw
at all. we shall have the satisfaction Of
knowing that the money has been dstrbu-
ted amongst people who need 1t, and at
the expense of parties generally who can
well afford to lose IL. Persons in moder-
ate circumstances should never put their
money into anything like mining specu.
lation, unless the chances are exceedingly
good there are always plenty of capitalists
anxious for such chances for investment,
chances. To be sure minng has now be-
come 4 Legitimate business, and cannot
perhaps, be called strictly speculation
but at the same time figures. and statis-
tics prove TO US, that not more than 20 per
cent OF the mines operated in the United
States ever pay one cent. Statistics also
show rs that IL requires an outlay. on the
average. OF not less than $3.50 200 00) tfty
thousand dollars TO put the best mines in
paying condition. Let It not be under
stood however that ! am sndeavoring to
discourage or deter any one from invest
ing In mining stocks or otherwise con-
Meeting themselves with the many inter-
ests OF oar state, for that Is far from nv
Intention. desire simply to put the min
ing interests OF our state in the proper
light. with all the uncertainties at the
head. l am anxious to see the work of
development pushed ahead as fast as pos
sibie, and with proper understanding and
direction our Mineral Resources NAV be
developed probably to the state. After
five years of careful comparison OF the ores
and minerals OF our state with those OF the
well known successful mining districts OF
this Continent. and with many Of those OF
foreign countries; alter a critical diagnosis
of the rock formation OF our state compar-
ed with that OF other mining countries
after due examination of the quality aud
quantity OF our ores as compared with
others, am forced to arrive at the follow
lux conclusions
lst. That through igRorance, rant of
confidence and lack Of capital our mining
interests hare nersr been dsreloped.
2d That the rock formation Of portions
Of our state are quite as fIcOrd}le to tie pro-
PTUduett0H ~ ores as any on ths cOHIIRgHt.
81 That our ores are as dbundlHt. that
The quality IS a. good, as those Of any min
iHg rsgIor.
an, 7h1, the developments made thus
far, fully rdrrIHt further and more erpsH-
sire york
5h. Thai our mines tciH ereHtuqliy be-
c,me source Of ,cedlh 10 the state.
II | had time and space could easily
explain why nothing has ever been done
10 our state To develop its mining interests
before this time, but the reason VIII be
obvious To most OF our thinking men. with
out any explanation, more than is given 10
NV first conclusion.
OIhat Maine Is particularly well stocked
In minerals aud ores. as iron, copper lead,
lime. antlmony, arsenic and sulphur. with
considerable gold aud silver as well "a
granite, lime, slate, feldspar. quartz. man
ganese, mineral paints, tripoli mari. clay.
emery etc, Is fact Of easy comprehension
TO those who are familiar with those
things, and who have had an opportunity
10 investigate i'll our state. A gentleman
returned from Colorado who has been in.
vestigatlng the mines there this Fall with
view 10 locating. tells me on his return
that he has come back tally satisfied that
the State of Maine offers inducements in
mining, superior to anything In Colorado
and he Is thoroughly posted on the rocks
of our state, and has had large expe-
rience In mining With one or two ex-
ceptons all OF the mines in our state that
have been recently opened are now being
worked with nattering prospects, yet We
cannot expect any great returns from any
OF them for sometime, unless they are
much batter than the average OF mines
OUR ROCK FORMATION.
The rocks or Maine are mostly OF prim-
tive origin, GRANTEES predomGs,iug; in
fact we may take the granite aud porphy-
rite rock for our foundation on bed rock
since they are found in every part Of our
state aud constitute by far the largest pro-
portion OF tue country rock. Immense
tracts of granite rocks are found perfectly
devoid of ores and in them it is OF little
use 10 look for anything OF value in the
way Of ores. But there are numerous
rocks interposed between the granite
rocks. very regular in formation. consist.
ing of gness. mica schIst, talcose schist.
serpentlne. limestone, clay, slate, quartz
and quartzites that are in many localities
highly charged with metalliferous veins.
The schist rocks especially are well adapt
cd TO the production OF valuable ores. not
10 the schists proper, but in the quartz and
QuartZites that always accompany schi-t-
ose rocks. just here, for the benefit of
those who may not happen to fully under
stand the term "schists," | will make
some eXplauation--Schists are rocks that
occur In sheets or layers not unlike the
leaves of q book and have the property of
easily splitting into than sections. All the
slates are familiar examples of the schist
rock. They are called Mcaceous. Talcose.
Argilaceous or Clay and Silcious accor-
ing to the kind Of rock matter that hap
pens TO be most prominent; those that
contain little scales of MICA would be call
ed micaceOUs and so - throughout the
list. These schists abound quite freely
With US. especially along the coast. they al
ways occur very regularly 1.-The strata usual
ly running In parallel straight lines some
times the continuity /. destroyed by the
interpOsltiOn of huge masses of granite
pOrphyrtic or trap rocks. frequently trap
utAes VIII Oe IOunu puSneu through tue
schists. but no matter in what form the
schists occur they should always be exam
ined for ore indications. In many locali-
ties limestones abound sometimes in beds,
at others in thin seams, and still again in
pockets" in the twu latter cases it Is al
ways good indication for silver and lead
ore. Gneiss is a stratified form of granite
and often occurs contiguous to the schist
belts; this Is also frequently ore bearing,
it is often times pOrphyritic, that is. con-
tanning coarse particles OF feldspar dissem
mated through it. Much Of the rock about
Ryard's Point where the "Edgemoggin'
silver mine is located. is of this class, and
the balance is Quartzite and schist of
siiiceous character. From Sedgwick to
Bluehill in Hancock Co., may be found
some good examples of the sehist belts
with wide granite and quartzite belts be-
tween. The copper mines at Bluehill are
located 10 one Of the quartzite belts. Many
quartzitic and schistOse belts occur In our
state and they are the ore carriers in al
most every case. Many of the islands