Evening star., 1915-11-28
MANY OLD COPPER MINES
I'm VICINITY OF WASHINGTON

/ spired the sanSuine with a confident belief
Of the existence in the bosom of the mountain
| OF treasures of this nature of exhaustiess ex-
| tent But in regard to all such anticipation
! it should be borne in mind that the quantity
, is not less important than the quality of the
| ore 10 stamp it with real value. and that until
far more minute and extensive researches IN
localities where they have been found than
i have ever hitherto been attempted 1t Will pc
I'm 1ss for having any grounds for }aasns a
| hazardous to engage in expensive schemes @ 0.
mining on their account. Yet I would not
have it understood that such researches are 10
he considered as hopeless or inexpedient i
would rather rejoice to see such inyestlgattl,13n
active: a t the same time. in duty to the puolle
interest, would caution against that pre-
cipitate and ever-sangunc sPirit-a spirit Whitn IN
loss aud disappointment than when e1cl.eu M 10y ny
objects of this nature. involved as they may
he. to the dilisent scientific explorer, in
unavoidable obscurity and doubt.
The main Blue Ridge copper region
lies in the northern part OF Virginia.
extending from near Front Royal
southwark and including parts of War
ren. Fauquier, Rappahannock, Madl-
son. Page and Greene counties. Since
the earliest settlement of the country
nuggets of native copper of all sizes
from small particles up to masses
many pounds in weight have from
time to time been found in rocky eX-
posures and inclosed in shattered
Ridge, This native copper undoubtedly
furnished the Indians with the metal
for their ornaments. ornaments which
led some of the early European immi-
grants to come rashly to the conclusion
that Virginia was rich in gold and
other metals. In colonial times the
copper ores were known to various set
tiers. and it is recorded that number
of attempts were made during that
period to extract the metal.
X *
Attempts Were made in the early part
of the last century to mine the copper
ores over parts of Loudoun, Culpeper
and Orange counties. The experts of
the United States geological surMey
have written that in places in these
counties the area of naturalization is
extensive, and considerable work has
been done No veins have been found
and no well defined horizon exists. The
ores occur for the most part as films
or thin coatings of malachite on the
joint surfaces and as disseminated
grains of the sulphide and phosphate
of copper through the rock. Some rich
specimens Of copper glance and copper
phosphate are obtained. but they are
rare
Five miles east of Leesburg. near Su-
garland run. Loudoun county, the tri-
assic rocks include greenish or blush
calcareous sandstones and shales. in
tercalated in the red rocks These
light -colored beds contain films or thin
coatings of malachite, which is green
carbonate of copper. on joint surfaces,
and locally carry specks of the phos-
phate of copper and of copper glance
commonly associated with carboniZed
vegetable stems and imperfect leaf i'm
pressons. Arthur Keith of the geo.
logical survey wrote that "the area of
naturalization is extensive, but the ore
is too generally diffused to be profit
ably worked.
There are three copper belts in
Maryland which were of considerable
Importance before the incoming of the
Lake Superior mines. The first belt ex-
tends from New London. in Frederick
county. northeastward to Union Bridge.
The second extends from Sykesville
Carroll county to and beyond
and the third is in the Bare
hills, north of Baltimore. In the west
ly Hyde and Union mines have been
extensively worked The middle belt
is distinctly traceab BILE across Carroll
county from point south of the Patap-
SEQ river at Sykesville to Finksburg.
in Carroll county. and less clearly to
Bluemont, south of Whitehall. on the
Northern Central railroad, and to Coop
town, in Hartford county. The SPRING
field mine, at Sykesville: the Mineral
Hill mine. and the Patapsco mine. near
Finksburg, were good producers in
their day. The mine at Sykesville was
operated from 1s49 to 1861, and be-
tween those years yielded from 500 to
1 700 tons of copper year. The Bare
hills copper mine, near Baltimore. was
opened in 1866 and was operated until
1887, and produced thousands of tons
of rich ore. Every now and then plans
are made to unwater and set this old
mine going again. and 1t may be that
it is producing now.
The copper mines north of the Poto-
mac seem to have been better paying
propositions than those south of the
river. In addition to these Maryland
mines copper deposits have been prof
itably worked in Pennsylvania and
nearly all the eastern states. 1t is said
that the deposits in Warren county,
N j., were mined in a small way in
the seventeenth century by Dutch set
tiers, and that during Washington's
New Jersey campaign the revolutionary
army which made it's winter camp on
Watching mountain, near Bound
Brook, obtained from the bed of cop
per ore outcropping at that place
enough metal to make a brass cannon,
which was afterward used in the siege
of Yorktown.