The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-07-02
The EldOrad0 Of America.

TO landS IN South Oar0llna were maze,
proviso was inserted that secured to the
grantor one-sixth of all the proceeds of
any mines discovered and worked. Of
course at that time gold and silver we're
the only minerals from which such q
revenue could be expected. The King
and his lieutenants did not dream of
phosphates, those precious nuggets that
have contributed so much directly to the
prosperity of South Carolina and indirect.
ly to that of all the Southern States. It
was reserved for later and more practi-
cal people to learn the value of these
wonderful deposits and to utilize them,
but it is singular coincidence that the
State has received in royalty since mining
operations began about one-sixth of the
value of the river-rock mined, and under
the terms Of the plan to tax land rock on
hand it is possible that the same propor@
ton of income may be also derived from
that source. Rich as are her phosphate
deposits, these do not constitute the entire
mineral wealth of the State.
Says Col. VIM. Pinckney Starke !:
"South Carolina is rich in minea." Lo=
gan, In his valuable history of the up
country, says: "The old English traders
among the Cherokees were confident in
the opinion thattheir hills and mountains
were as rich in precious metals as any
part of Mexico or South America"
Lawson declares that the Indians from
time immemorial were acquainted with
valuable mines Of gold and silver in up
per Carolina, but that nothing could in
duce them to discover their locality to
Europeans from fears that if their mines
we're known they would BIZ overrun by
them. Adair says that Shortly after the
settlement of Augusta a company of des.
perate adventures we're found working
with success silver mine at the head of
Little River in Pickens District. They
found the ore at the depth of thirty feet,
and so rich did it prove that they were
soon able to combine with their thinning
the then lucrative business of coining
large quantities of counterfeit money. a
load of it vas on one occasion seized by
the public officers"
Gold is found in Spartanburg, Union,
York, Lancaster, Piekeus and Abbeville.
Silver in spartanburg. Copper in Spar
tanburg, York and Pickens. Iron in Spar.
tanburg, York, Greenville and Pickens.
Lead in Pickens. Manganese in Spartan.
burg, York, Union, Chester, Lancaster,
Greenville, Pickeus, Anderson, Abbeville
and Edgefeld. Bismuth is found in
Chesterfield and Lancaster. Plumbago in
Spartanburg and Anderson.
Vanuxem's report gives ten species of
rocks to the State and thirty species of
minerals. Two mines in South Carolina
have each yielded over one million dol
lars in gold-the Brewer in Chesterfield,
and the Dorm in Abbeville. From q
pocket in Lancaster mine few years
since over $40, 900 worth of gold was ta-
ken. There are valuable mines in Spar
tanburg, Union and York that only await
sufficient capital for their development.
The recent operations in the iron mines
of York give much encouragement for
the future growth of this section. The
copper deposits Of York are Of great ok
cellence and are said to be abundant.
Since the establishment of Government
mints South Carolina has sent to them for
coinage alone over sl,700,000. In 1890
the production of manganese in this State
WAS not mentioned in the census reports.
In 1890 124 tons were removed and over
$4,000 was invested in the conduct of mi.
ming operations. The phosphate beds of
South Carolina have, until quite recently,
been considered the most valuable in the
world. This statement would now be
challenged by Florida, but ne are not
yet ready to yield our supremacy in this
particular field. The extent of the phos.
phate deposits here is unknown. No sys.
tematic survey has been attempted. The
amount of accessible rock is estimated all
the way from Eve to Eve hundred million
tons. More than the smaller estimate has
been removed already without any appre-
ciable effect upon the deposits. In 1870
there we're four companies engaged in
mining and they produced 1889 tons Of
rock. In 1891 there are twenty-eight
companies at work and these produced
last year $4,000 tons, valued at some
thing like s3,OO0,0Oo. These figures elo.
quently declare the wonderful develop
ment of this important industry, as well
as furnish an approximate estimate of the
extent of the deposits.
The GRANTEES of South Carolina take
rank With the best found in any other
part Of the country. Says Col..starke
"The granite of Newberry is of fine
quality. The porphyritic granite Of
Kershaw is one of the most beautiful in
the world, and the same may be said OF
the syenites of Lexington and Abbeville.
Charleston formerly had to import flag
stones from Yorkshire, England, but by
our railways she may get them from our
York, as we'll as from Edgefeld and
Fairfield. Soapstone for furnaces, form
erly brought from New England, may be
had of fine quality in various localities Of
the State. Mill stones, equal to the f.
nest French buhr stones, are to be had in
Rarnwell, Orangeburg and Lexington.
Fine whetstonea are found in Edge6eld,
grindstones In Chesterfield and the fork
of the Saluda. Earth for the manufacture
of glass and the finest quality of earth
enware abouuds in Aiken, where beds of
the purest white kaolin of great thickness
n1xv