Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-07-17

llnanclal SUCCESS.
Mica was then selling as high MS
s11.00 per pound for medium sizes
and the demand good. This in
duccd many to go into mica mining,
and soon a whole section Of country,
from Mitchell to Cherokee County,
was dotted over with mines and
prospect holes.
Let us note the general geological
formation of the "mica zone" of
Western North Carolina. This belt
inclndes the section of country lying
between the Blue Ridge and Smoky
Mountains, taking in also portions of
the Blue Ridge proper, and extend
ing from Mitchell County in South
West direction to the Georgia line,
and having an average width Of
abou, fifty miles. Taken rs a whole,
the mean elevation of this mountain
Gus plateau would be upwards of
$500 feet. The formation for the
most part is Laurcntian, and the
rocks are foliatcd and consist of in
definite alterations of mctamorphic
strata, gnciss, hornblcndc, feldspathic
and micaccous schistS, and OCCASION
ally chloritc and talcosc states. 1t is
still am unsettled question whether
this plateau is Iaurcntian or Lower
Silurian, (Cambrian), but it is sufli-
cicnt to state that mica veins occur
in the very oldest rocks. Imagine a
piece of granite whose component
minerals arc mica, fcldspar and
quartz magnifcd many times; this
gives picture Of a mica vein, which
is only vein of coarse granite,
whose several constituents have
crystallizcd on large scale. The
mica veins of North Carolina are
true fissurc veins, whose enclosing
walls arc usually dark green mica
ccous schists, which have general
strike to the Northeast and dip to
The Southwest. 1t must not be for
Cotton that the rocks Of this section
have suffered enormous erosion and
dcnudation. They arc among the
oldest rocks on the continent, and
have probably not been submerged
since the Cambrian period. We
have in these the remains of the old
est crystalline rocks, and what is now
exposed was formerly ovcrlaid by
rocks o! the same age. When this
plateau was elevated, with its border
of high mountains on every side, the
assures, now filed with the mica
veins, were opened; these assures
most naturally followed the line of
least resistance. When this coinci-
dcd with the line Of bedding Il true
bcddcd vein resulted, which is the
case with most mica veins in this
section. The inclosing rocks have
suffered great dislocations and are
bent and twisted in many ways, often
causing great irregularities in the
veins, seldom however, faults.
A remarkable phenomena to be
observed is the free play which the
crystallizing forces have enjoyed be-
tween the walls Of the vein; no
where else can this be seen on such
a scale. In Mitchell county Il single
mica block was taken out weighing
over 1000 pounds and measuring
six feet in length by three feet in
width. Extremely large blocks have
been found in Macon county.
The crystals of fcldspar also oftca
attain great size; crystals weighing
several hundred pounds have como
under my PERSONA observation. The
direction taken by the mica crystals
is of interest. AS n rule, the plan
of crystallization is parallel to the
lamnac Of the mica, and is more or
less inclined to the line Of the strike,
being often perpendicular to it; so
the mica on being uncovered re-
scmblcs pile Of plank laid flat on
the sole Of the level.
Along with the mica in these veins
is found II series OF minerals, some
OF them exceedingly rare and inter
csting. Garnet and bcryl arc com
mon. The following arc few of
the rarcr minerals Atlantic, colum-
bite, gumitc, phosphranyltc, sa-
marskitc, torbcrnitc, &c, dc.
When the mines were first opened,
the y"luc OF these rare minerals was
not known to the miners, and many
rare and valuable specimens were
lost; now their value is appreciated
and all rare specimens arc preserved.
| will not touch on the gcnss of
the formation Of mica in the vein, as
1hr suhirct youll no r,ihnr t,.bn;