The Lincoln times., 1955-03-07
Lithium Prospecting
Can Be Interesting
tContinued from page one)

CONTINUED from page One)
freezing wilderness of Canada to
the Steaming plains of Mexico.
Having watched strikes in the iron
pits of West Virginia and worked
with the rough and ready per-
sonell IN the coal fields of Harlan
County, Kentucky, Mcclure has
seen it all. If there is one lesson
that comes from all his experience.
it is this: Nothing surprises me
now"
STILL IN ORE MARKET
AS we walked through the thick
woods, I confessed to Mcclure
that I had expected to be tossed
bodily out of his office. "Oh no."
he said. "We're always glad to get
a lead. You can't ever tell when
something hot will turn up
told Mcclure I had heard the
Lithium Corporation of America
had stockpiled enough ore to op-
crate for at least hundred years
and was not in the market for any
more ore. He Informed me that his
firm would gladly buy or lease any
property which was sufficiently
rich in spodumene ore to be prof
liable.
"We've built that plant in
Bessemer City," said Mcclure,
land we intend to do business
around here for long time"
Assured of a market, 1 led Nc
Clure to the site of my ithium
field. He stood on the crest of
hill and surveyed the lay of the
land. An outcrop of rocks caught
his eye, and he headed for it, his
hammer hanging menacingly from
his big, busineSSlike hand.
The first few specimens were OF
little interest to Mcclure, but as
we worked toward the bottom of
the ridge, his analysis of the chips
and slivers became more thorough.
He showed me a streaked rock
which he had picked up at the top
of the hill
COLOR e. COMPOSITION
"You see this change in color
and composition? he asked.
That shows the beginning of a
rock formation of the type which
interests us. The dark rock is
schist, just plain old worthless,
country rock. But the lighter,
crumbly rock is pegmatite. This
rock points out the fact that this
outcrop of rock is part and parcel
of a pegmatite dixie.
THAT'S gOOd?" 1 asked.
Maybe" he said. The dixie
is exactly like the ones at Grouse
and Indian Creek. But that does
not necessarily mean it contains
spod tspodumene) in economic
quantity. There is dixie right
next to the one we're mining at
Indian Greek which contains no
spOd whatever.
"How can you tell?" I asked.
Can you find spodumene with a
geiger counter like uranium"
mo" said Mcclure, "It's not
radioactive. There's only one way
to find spod. And that's to look
for it."
Glow do you know when
you've found it?" I asked. Nc
CIure took a piece of pegmatite
from his pocket and pointed at
it. See that green?" he asked.
Eyes" 1 said, gazing admir-
ingly at the sparkly. light-green
crystals"
"Spodumen," said Mcclure.
Borrow your hammer" ask
ed. Request granted. I hammered
viciously on a promising-looking
rock. picked up the shattered
pieces. examined them closely. and
pointed to some green crystals.
"Spodumene," I said proudly.
mo" said Mcclure.
"No?" 1 asked disappointedly.
FELDSPAR, HE SAYS
"Feldspar," said Mcclure. The
preenish color is vegetable stain.
Moss grew on this rock at some
time in the past, and when it rain
ed, the greeniSh water seeped
through the porous surface and
stained the feldspar inside y
Determinedly. I cracked another
rock. looked at the green crystals
hopefully. "Spodumene?" 1 asked.
Mcclure scraped the crystals
with his thumbnail. The crystals
crumbled. flaked symetrically to
the ground. "Green mica" said
Mcclure. "Spod crystals are very
hard They would have broken nv