Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-09-30
PRECIOUS STONES.


Gathered to Amount of Half Mil
lion Dollars in United States.
The value of the precious stones
produced in the United States in
1908 was $415,O63, a decrease Of $5C,-
297 from the value for 1907. These
fqures. which are in part furnished
Nv the producers and in part based on
estimates from the quantity PRODUCED
arc Given bv D. B. Sterrett OF the
Trnitad States geological survey, III
an advance chapter from Mineral
Resources of the United States Ihey
are as complete as it is possible TO CD
tain but there are some gems LOT
which no accurate figures are ut pres.
emf available. The general trade oe-
nressiou appears not to have affected
the precious stones industry as mnch
rs might have been expected ana
the production OF certain gems, not
abIv turquoise and yariscite, was
was greatly increased over that lor
1907
TURQUOISE and turquoise matriN
formed the largest item in the Isl,
the production being 1890 pounds,
with an estimated value OF $i4I9oo
from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada
and California. The 1907 value was
| $23.840. An odd stone recently cut II.
Los Angeles from a deposit on ithaca
Peak, in AIohave county, Ariz., showed
blue letter Y of turquoise in a gray
matriX this cutting being made pos
sible through the presence of a split
TURQUOISE veinlet The stone was sent
to a student in Yale university.
Tourmaline was the next largest
item in point Of value, the production
being 1900 pounds, with an estimated
value Of 100000, from California, Con
necticut and Maine. In 1907 the pro
duction was 2,14O pounds, valued at
$9412O The bulk of the 1908 produc-
ton came from California; at Mesa
Grande a perfect tourmaline weigh
ing s. carats after cutting was OBJ
tanned
The third item in the list, sapphire,
showed a great decrease from 1907,
the production in 1908 having an es-
timated value of SIS, 397, as against
$229,8O0 in the earlier year. The
greater part of the 1908 output came
from a single mine in Fergus county,
Montana, but a small quantity was
obtained in Morgan counl Mo.
The production of diamonds from
A riy orb a
of interest because this was the first
locality in North America where dia-
monds were found in place. The first
diamond was discovered August !,
1906 about 2 IL miles southeast Of
Murfreesboro, Pike county, in perido-
tite an igneious rock. The produc-
ton from this locality in 1907 had an
estimated value of $4,000. In 1908 the
production was 362 stones with an es-
timated value Of $2,100. It is reported
that over 700 diamonds had been
found up to July /, 1909. Three cut
stones were found to be brilliant and
were valued at $50 to $175 per carat
A parcel Of rough unsorted stones
from the mine will be easily worth
P1' per carat he possibilities OF
cheap mining in Arkansas are great,
as water and timber are abundant
near by and coal should be obtained
at reasonable rates. Some diamonds
are reported to have been found also
in a newly discovered peridotite area
about IL miles northeast of the or
iginal locality.
The imports Of precious stones in
1908 were ST percent less than In
1907 and 60 per cent less than in
1906. The total value Of the 1908 i'm.
ports was $11,817722, of which So
z1O,225 was in unset cut diamonds.
Sl636,798 in uncut diamonds, and
s910,G99 in pearls.
Mr.. Sterrett's report contains NOT
only details of production of the varI-
JUS gems in the United States, but az
10 notes on the important occurrences
n foreign countries. A copy may be
lad by applying to the director Of the
United States geological survey.
D. C.