Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1911-06-28
Pounds
341.5

341.5
cat the same time June, 1909 TSP
pounds Of tailings from the old mill of
the New England Company were put
through the mill at Chrysotile and
found to contain 237 pounds of disable
fiber. With the loss of so much fiber
in the tailings it is not surprising
that the mill closed. There is great
reason to believe that proper manage
ment may yet make that mine sue
cessful producer.
1.-The fourth and most active ashes
tos locality of the Lowell region is at
Chrysotile, where the Lowell Lumber
& Asbestos Company of which w. G
Gallager is president, has had a
mine and mill in successful operation
for several years. 1t is the locality
originally known as the Tucker prop
attention on account of the quantity
and quality of the asbestos fiber, as
we'll as the character of the serpen-
tine and the favorable situation of the
outcrop for mining.
The peridotite at Chrysotile is
greatly fractured close to it's junction
with the amphibolite, and much of it
is completely altered to serpentine
Slip fiber is the most conspicuous and
abundant variety of asbestos It
forms sheets between the sheared
blocks of serpentine and some Of the
fiber is very tough. Here and there
the rock is traversed by groups of
parallel cross fiber veins commonly
one-half to three-fourths and rarely
an inch in thickness. The light col
ored dikes of granite rocks seen in
the Thetford mines are so far as
known absent in Vermont, but other.
wise the rocks mined at Chrysotile
are very like those of the principal
mines in Canada.
'In the south quarry of the mine
now being worked there is 4-foot
belt containing more than 20 parallel
veins of cross-fber asbestos, which
forms nearly 10 per cent of the whole
mass of serpentine rock within the
belt. Under the superintendent of
skilled workmen from the Canadian
mines considerable portion of the
asbestos in this belt is being cobbed as
No. 2 crude, and thus has recently
been initiated the production of a
higher grade. AS the DEVELOPMENT
of the mine advances and it's produc
tion increases it is of special interest
to note the testimony of manufactur.
ers who use the fiber. The president
of one Of the largest manufacturing
companies writes:
we have used many carloads of the
two or three grades produced by Mr..
Gallager. Of course this property
has not yet produced any grades such
as No. or 2 crude, but what they dc
produce in the way of paper stock
and long fiber is perfectly satisfac.
tory and compares very favorably
with similar grades from Canada
1.-The mine is being developed or
the eastern edge of the serpentine, ir
a bluff facing eastward, and the mil
is nearby on the gentler slope below
the mine, 50 that gravity can be util
+ lied to great advantage in moving
the material from the mine through
the mill.
"The slope of serpentine rise!
steeply westward in prominent bluff
toward Mt. Belvidere, and the widtl
of the belt is nearly two miles. Tn,
. face of the mine is now about 30 fee
, high and will rapidly increase as tn
mine advances into the steep slope, s.
: that the amount of easily availabl
t serpentine above the level of the min
9 is enormous. 1t is not to be expecte
that all of this large mass of serpen
! tine is sufficiently rich in asbestos t
:, be worth milling. Further exploita
e tion must determine the proper cours
4 of development. If the richest roc
+. is limited to the eastern edge of tn
8 serpentine and it's richness increase
: with the depth. the development
Il should be limited to that portion; bu
if the body of the peridotite (serpen
v tine) instead Of being sheet or si
: is thick mass, batholith, it's riches
a portion, as shown by Dresser, VIII
s has made special study of the Cana
n dian mines. may be expected to be i
l. the center-that, is under the bi
, bluff west of the mine.
l. In this connection it is interestin
r to note what has just been publishe
C by DR.. Fritz Cirkel, the most prom
y nent living authority on asbestos