Newport daily independent., 1905-11-03
MOLYBDENITE MINE.
ORE USED IN MANUFACTURE OF
 STEEL FOUND IN MAINE.
Deposits Are of Rare Occurrence and cae Value of Those Located Is Partly Couiec-
 rural
tural

@JNe OL LUS klLluClpdA 1CSSotN9 NA motybdenum ore in this country is at Cooper Me. It was visited in Sep tember, 1904, by Dr. George Otis Smith, of the United States geological survey, who tells in bulletin 260, the surveys annual publication on its ex- ploits ill economic geology, how tue American Molybdeuum company pve- vented him from having more to say about the molybdeuum of this locality He was not permitted to visit the mine, but tha observations he made at the surface furnished him sufficient data for l consideration of the character and ocIg;a of the deposit.
 Tue town of Cooper ts in Washing ton county, in the extreme southeastern part of Maine, and is the fourth town shin vest of Calais. The nearest raii- road station is Marion, in the second township south Prospecting for mo- IvbdeutCe has been carried on at seV- sral points in this locality, but the only important development thus far IS that OH the property of ths American Mo Iybdeuum company.
 Z Tue molybdenite occurs both in peg matte dykes and i'll the granite cut by these dykes. A number of distinct peg matite dykes were seen on this property, varying in width from a few inches to several feet In these the molybdenIte occurs iu lead gray hexagonal crystals of short prismatic habit, or as less reg ular foliated masses, often with radtate structure. The motybdsnlte IS founo also tn small flakes or larger nests or flakes disseminated throughout the granite mass.
 Molybdenits occurs at several other localities In Maine, az well as III tns other New England states. It IS uSu. ally found in small lakes disseminated through the granite or gneiss. 80 that the Cooper occurrence ts of speci&i interest by reason Of the light It throws on the origtu of this mineral The, pegmatite dykes are probably approximately coutemporaneous With the granite intrusion, representing the latest specialization of the gran tic magma, and therefore intruding the consolidated granite. In this pegmatite magma moiybdenum asui- phide appears to have beeu prom nent constituent and to have crystal iized early in the consolidation Of the dykes. The molybdenjte in the gran ite may be either the result of impreg- nation at the time of the pegmatitlc intrusion or it may De an original con stituent The former view IS support ed by the apparently larger amount Tn the granite near the dykes,
 The ores of moiybdenum have been in greater demand since mOlybdenum has bean used in the manufacture Of steel t0 increase it's hardness and roughuess The comparative rarity and high cost of the ores, have. however. limited its use.
 The economic value of such deposit as the Cooper moIybdentte is partly con iecturai The conditions for quarrying and mining both the pegmatite and the wall rock appear favorable, and con siderable work of this kind has been done The rock lying on the dump contained varying proportions of mo- lyadenite, but it seemed that most of the crude ore could be readily distin guished and separated from the barren rock by hand picking. The crucial test of the successful working of such de- posit is doubtless connected with the milling process, rather than with the mining methods. A compact plant for treating the moiybdenite ore has beer crested by this company. but the de- tails as to cost Of crushing the rock and of concentrating and cleansing the sep arated mineral could not be ascertained