The Osceola times., 1882-02-18
NORTH CAROLINA GEMS.
Mining for Emeralds and Othrr Precious
Stones Near the Blue Ridge Noun
New 70 Post.

stones Near the Blue Ridge Noun
tains.
New 70 Post
I Seven years ago Mr.. j. A Stephenson.
now of Statesvile, y. C., comm .nced TO
/ urge the farmers OF the vicinity Of Stcny
| Point, Alexander county, ~ G to gather
| the spc cimens Of minerals Of that region
which he collected. In a period of about
six years number Of emeralds were
/ found loose in the soil, none OF whieh,
however, were dark-eolored Or transDar-
ent enough for use g. gems NJ. WI
[ liam Earl Hidden, whose attention was
/ directed 10 the matter, began series Of
| explorations, which have led TO the pres
ent mining for gems in that locality, the
only one probably where such WORK is
carried out in this country. Mr.. Hidden
gives the following account Of the oc-
currence of minerals at Stony Point
and the operations there carried ou.:
The locality is situated about 35
mites, airline measure, southeast from
tho Eile Ridge mountains, rs miles
northwest from Sta,esyilie. The contour
Of the country is low rolling; tne alt
tnds something over ,000 feet. srhs soils
emo,tly r d, ,gr4ycliy lays,of not much
fertility. The prevailing rock is gneiss.
with more OF a feldspath'c than mica
ceous nature. The gems and crystals oc-
cur implanted, and not imbedded in
open pockets or veins Of very limited
extent, that are cr'ss-fraotures or issures
in The rock These assures are usually
situated neary perpendicular There
being no glacial drlit hero, the soils are
neces arlly the result Of decomposition
aud dislntegra.ion on the SPOT. II is,
+ flREassg fg.- o.. L. = a... Al
OF minerals found on the slifdce
Thus far, the gems have been found
in q narrow belt running no theast and
southwest aud seat .icd over distance
Of thrta miles. In this belt signs Of
c'oss-hssl slres ats very abundant and it
is yery common thing ~ Gni crystals
Of uuar,z, rutile, tourmaline, etc, e'c.,
perfectly p, t,'d, sCatt red over the
surface.
The loca on of the present mi.e WIS
Oh ne in the following IN rer: A
,Jr.a Of en- were crla ed t. D. a
So Is Of deep ditch directions tuat
would cat the at Fsreut an.l
The site chosen for work Wis on the spot
where az least % halCdOzan eaeralds had
been found. Not knowing then the
ms ner Of their occ1 renct3 Mr. Hidden
hoped IN this way 10 strike a vein bear
Ing them. Five weeks we're spent July
% Aug1 G, $780, lr'lrc any su .gp.s was
met with. and the. al depth OF eight
feet bIud vein bearing vev small
emeralds was dlscpyerC l. I'm tb.s vein or
pocket, or it proved TO DE uer aud on.
numbering the emerdlds Gay 10 one. was
found the new emerald green mineral
called 'Hlldeute' bv r. j. Lawrence
Smith, which was such SUI piise 10 tle
scientific world and which WAS dcsttned
10 answer the same purpose "a does the
gem sought, an become, in all ipflbt-
bility, the main Ohiec. of future min
ing.
The search for emeralls At stony
Point is inter woven with my di-covety
OF Id,S,l, Snerald green spodrmene The two
"etber and while nIi6iie5iJy ,a;,5sociited to-
o;her is constantly found The blind
vein yielded very hands)Wly OF the new
mineral, bIt very paringly oi emerald,
and the few found were too small t) bs
useful as gem although their color vSs
very good. A tunnel 2GD feet long
mostly through ro'k. WAS cut t. this
vein, and a shaft eight feet square sunk
down upon it. to O,tOber the vein
has been worked dowa - a depth Of '}
ft ct, at which point it n. proved ll5
pocket nature b. signs of pinching ont -
closing together. Thus lar twelve Of
thes, pprke have been found within
An ares OF loot .. are, a4rriu;
emrri r., four of whjaH p1csei- con-
t4,ned also the uidlsuite. All these
We us IN miinia led nearlr the -rue char.
acter ofdip thickness, length horizon
tally, and assoc ations; other pockets
were found that yielded quartz rutile,
pyrite, m luanzjte and mica crystals.
Others yet whose walls were covered with
finely crystal zad d)lomite, caicite, ana.
tite, rltle, pydte, quartz and mica Ia
one instlnc- small pocket that con.
tainel two beautiful sm tll emerAlds had
its walls covered with large crystals Of
alpits 0twiucd parallel 10 the basal
plane Another POCKET contained only
mica aud Que small pellucid color.ess
beryl that had both ends terminated
with many planes The largest emerald
found thus far was three and oue-quarter
inches long by three quarters Of an inch
in diameter. 10 wJs one of i've fine
CRYSTALS contained in one pocket. Their
color was ex client, and they were trans
parent though somewhat flawed.'