UC-NRLF
B 3 am IDD
JTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN NO. 3
J. E. TODD, STATE GEOLOGIST
MINERAL RESOURCES
OF SOUTH DAKOTA
INCLUDING
MINERAL WEALTH OF THE BLACK HILLS
BY CLEOPHAS C. O^HARRA
MINERAL BUILD»SSUM&^RIAL> FUELS
AND WATERS OF SOUTH DAKOTA
WITH PRODUCTION FOR IQOO
BY JAMES E. TODD
TQ02
EARTH
SCIENC»
LIBRARY
GIFT OF
SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN NO. 3.
J. E. TODD, STATE GEOLOGIST
MINERAL RESOURCES
OF SOUTH DAKOTA
INCLUDING
MINERAL WEALTH OF THE BLACK HILLS
BY CLEOPHAS C. O^HARRA
AND
MINERAL BUILDING MATERIAL, FUELS
AND WATERS OF SOUTH DAKOTA
WITH PRODUCTION FOR 1900
BY JAMES E. TODD
\V I L 1. E Y AND DANFORTH, PRINTERS, VERMILLION, SOUTH DAKOTA
EARTH
SCIENCES
LIBRARY
Regents of Education.
NAME.
F. A. Spafford, Pres.
Lewis M. Hough
M. F. Greeley
Ivan W. Goodner
R. M. Slocum
RESIDENCE.
Flandreau
Sturgis
Gary
Pierre
Mound City
COMMITTEE ON GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. ,
F. A. Spafford Ivan W. Goodner
Personnel of the Survey.
J. E. Todd, State Geologist Vermilion
C. C. O'Harra, Assistant Geologist Rapid City
D. A. Saunders, Assistant in Botany Brookings
C. P. Lommen, Assistant in Zoology Vermilion
333130
Letter of TransmittaL
OFFICE OF SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,
VERMILLION, S. D., June i, 1902.
SIR: I have the honor to present herewith for
publication two papers exhibiting our present knowl-
edge of the Mineral Resources of South Dakota.
It is hoped that they may prove timely and val-
uable.
The metalliferous ores of the Black Hills, their
distribution and the history of their development, as
presented by Professor O'Harra, may well increase
the pride of our citizens for our commonwealth.
Yours very respectfully,
J. E. TODD,
State Geologist.
HON. FREDERICK A. STAFFORD,
President of Regents of Education.
Contents.
Letter of Transmittal iv
Preface vii
The Mineral Wealth of the Black Hills-
Introductory 1
General Geology 4 2
Historical Review 6
Mineral Products 11
Gold 11
Vein Quartz Ores, 12. Auriferous Pyrite Veins, 24.
Auriferous Dikes, Slate Breccias and Fissure Veins, 16.
Impregnated Zones, 18. Cement Ores, 23. Cambrian
Siliceous Ores, 29. Carboniferous Siliceous Ores, 41.
Placer Deposits, 45. Tailings, 50. Methods of Treat-
ment, 50. Output, 51. Future Prospects, 52.
Copper 53
Iron 57
Manganese 59
Silver and Lead 60
Tin 62
Tungsten 67
Graphite 72
Mica , 72
Spodumene 75
Miscellaneous Minerals 77
Resume of Mineral Production 78
Conclusion 79
Mineral Building Materials, Fuels and Waters —
Introduction , 81
Geological Formations 81
Building Stone 82
Granite, 83. Porphyries, 84. Quartzites, 84. Marble, 88.
Glacial Boulders, 89. Limestones, 89. Lithographic Lime-
stone, 93. Chalkstone, 93. Sandstone, 94.
Cements and Clays 98
Cements, 99. Clays, 101. Fullers' Earth, 107. Volcanic
Ash, 108. Sand and Gravel, 109.
Mineral Fuels 110
Coal, 110. Lignite, 111. Peat, 113. Gas, 114. Petroleum, 119.
Mineral Waters 121
General Summary for 1900 129
Index . . 131
Illustrations.
Plate No. Opp. Page.
1 . Custer on French Creek 1
2. The Holy Terror and Keystone Mines, Keystone 9
3. The Uncle Sam Mine, Hoist and Mill, Perry 9
4. Part of One of the Homestake Open Cuts, Lead 17
5. Lead City 17
6. Blacktail Gulch, Gayville 25
7. Rubj^ Basin, looking west from Sugar Loaf Hill 25
8. Porphyry Dikes in Algonkian Slates 33
9. Cambrian Quartzite with Intercalated Porphyry Resting on
Algonkian Slates 33
10. Porphyry Needles at Top of Johnston's Peak 33
11 . Middle Cambrian Shales and Sandstones, Deadwood 41
12. Stewart Mine on Lower Quartzite, near Terry 41
13. Deadwood 49
14. The Golden Reward Smelter, Deadwood 57
15. Homestake Mills, Hoists and Open Cuts, Lead 57
16. The Kildonan Chlorination Plant and Deposit of Home-
stake Tailings 57
17. The Cleopatra Mine and Cyanide Plant 57
18. The Etta Mine near Keystone 65
19. The Hidden Fortune Mine near Lead 65
20. The McMackin Mine near Custer 77
21 . Spodumene Crystals, Etta mine, near Keystone 77
22. Marble Quarry near Custer.. . . 81
23. Quarry of Lowe & Handley, East Sioux Falls 89
24. Evans Quarr3r, five miles east of Hot Springs 93
25. Burke's Quarry near Odell, looking northwest 93
26. a. Elm Creek Quarry in Jurassic Sandstone.
b. G3rpsum Layers, one mile north of Hot Springs 97
27. a. Works of the Hot Springs Plaster Co., Hot Springs.
b. Artesian Well Furnishing Both Hard and Soft Water 97
28 . Works of the Western Portland Cement Co., Yankton 105
29. a. Brick Plant of C. A. Marshall near Rapid City.
b. Beds of Fire Clay Southwest of Rapid City 113
30. a. Lithographic Stone Ten Miles West of Custer.
b. Fullers' Earth Northeast of Fairburn 121
31. South End of North Cave Hills, showing lignite beds 129
Figure No. On Page
1. Section Showing Relations of "Cement" Mines 26
2. Section Through Faulted Body of Siliceous Ore 33
3. Section Through Tornado Shaft, Terry 35
4 . Ore Following Joints in Cleopatra Mine 44
Preface.
The more liberal appropriation made by the last legisla-
ture encouraged the State Geologist to attempt a more
complete presentation of our present knowledge of the
mineral resources of the State.
Prof. C. C. O'Harra, of the School of Mines, who has
done valuable work on the Maryland Geological Survey,
and who was favorably situated for the work by his posi-
tion and location, was engaged to examine and make such
report as he should be able in one season on the ores and
associated minerals of the Black Hills, while the State Ge-
ologist, by correspondence and a short work in the field,
undertook to gather statistics and general facts concerning
mineral building materials, fuels and waters of the State.
Much has been gathered, also, concerning artesian wells,
with the thought of including at least some general conclu-
sjons concerning them in this report; but space has not
been found, and, besides, it has been concluded that the
whole had better be postponed for a future bulletin, to be
devoted exclusively to the water resources of the State.
Meanwhile, for the service of those particularly inter-
ested in that subject, we would call attention not only to
the papers of Mr. N. H. Darton on the artesian waters of
the Dakotas in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Annuals
of the U. S. Geological Survey, to which we have referred
before, but to one by the same gentleman on the Geology
and Water Resources of the Southern Black Hills, in the
Twenty-first Annual, Part IV, of the same Survey, and to
No. 34 of the Irrigation and Water Supply papers of the
same Survey, prepared by the State Geologist, which gives
a simple description of water supplies in half a square de-
gree including most of Hutchinson and Turner counties,
S. D. Other similar publications are soon to be issued
from the same source covering areas farther north in the
James River Valley.
viii MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Attention is called, also, to an important paper in the
Twenty-first Annual, Part III, of the U. S. Survey, by Dr.
T. A. Jaggar, on the Laccolites (igneous rocks) of the
Black Hills, which gives much light on the arrangement
of rocks intimately connected with ore deposits.
It is by the co-operation of the School of Mines that we
have been able to present so many illustrations; and Prof.
O'Harra's paper has been published separately as Bulletin
No. 6 of the School of Mines series. Copies may be ob-
tained by addressing President R. L. Slagle, Rapid City.
In the preparation of the papers in this bulletin there has
been an effort to visit representative mines and quarries in
every district, and to interpret carefully the information
received from others in the light of personal observation,
so far as time and funds would permit.
The hearty co-operation everywhere of owners and em-
ployes, and of other public spirited citizens, has greatly
assisted in the success of the work. We have endeavored
to give due credit for such service, particularly where val-
uable information has been afforded, as well as for much
information gained from the published reports of other and
more fully equipped students of the region; but perhaps
we have inadvertently omitted some, and hence would
make this general acknowledgment.
It was hoped that a complete summary of the mineral
production of the State for the year 1900 could be con-
structed, but in the case of mines this has been found im-
practicable.
It is hoped that hereafter the Survey will have annual
or biennial reports from all parties concerned, so that reg-,
ular reports of our mineral production by years may be
published. Such co-operation will not only be of much
value to the citizens of the State, but will increase our
credit elsewhere.
J. E. T.
in £
LU 2
or c
U
HI
THE MINERAL WEALTH OF THE
BLACK HILLS.
By Cleophas C. O'Harra.
Introductory.
The first quarter century of active mining operations in
the Black Hills has little more than closed. Considerable
prospecting was done within the region in 1875, but opera-
tions of a permanent character did not begin until the open-
ing of the following year. From an isolated and practically
unknown, mountainous, forest-clad island in the midst of a
vast treeless plain, and within the confines of a great Indian
reservation, the Black Hills region has during its brief his-
tory become one of the most important precious metal pro-
ducers of the United States. Railways have brought the re-
gion to the threshold of older communities, beautiful scen-
ery peculiar to the country annually attracts its thousands;
permanent homes, prosperous towns and productive ranches
prevail, and mining facilities are in many ways unsurpassed.
Gold found throughout the region, but obtained mainly
from the northern Hills, is pre-eminently the chief mineral
product, a total of approximately one hundred million dol-
lars having been obtained during the past twenty-six years.
Silver has been of importance in the annual output, while
other ores and minerals already productive or capable of
production add much to the variety of the mining interests
and not a little to the mineral wealth of the region.]
General Geology.
The Black Hills region is one of peculiar geologic inter-
est. Separated from the Rocky Mountains, to the west
and southwest, by a distance of less than one hundred fifty
miles, it possesses many of the features of that great uplift.
By virtue of its isolated position, the simple structural fea-
tures of the region and the many excellent rock exposures,
its history may be interpreted with a considerable degree
of ease.
The Hills are situated within the forks of the Cheyenne
river, on the boundary line between South Dakota and
Wyoming, a much larger portion being within the borders
of South Dakota. Structurally, the region is an elliptical
quaquaversal uplift, the more distinct features of which
cover an area about one hundred miles long and fifty miles
wide, the longer axis approximately coinciding with the
meridian except in the northern portion where the general
direction is to the northwest.
The prominent topographic features are a high central
basin of granite and metamorphic rocks of Algonkian age
surrounded in a concentric manner by a prominent infacing
escarpment of massive white Carboniferous limestone, a
wide depression in the red Triassic shales, and a high rim
of Cretaceous hog-back ridges or foot-hills. In the north-
ern Hills post-Cretaceous intrusive rocks have greatly
modified the general topography, and in not a few instances
have formed prominent landmarks. Harney Peak, the
culminating point of Harney granite range in the southern
Hills and the highest point within the uplift, reaches an al-
titude of 7,216 feet. The surrounding limestone escarp-
ment rises high above much of the central portion and con-
siderable areas of the plateau along the western side closely
approach the height of Harney Peak. The mean altitude
of the plains surrounding the Hills is little more than 3000
feet. The average elevation within the hog-back ridges is
approximately 5000 feet.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOtlTH
The rocks of the Black Hills show a wide range in age
and character. Within the crystalline nucleus are pre-
Cambrian granites, amphibolites, schists, slates, phyllites,
and quartzites. Beyond this nucleus are limestones, sand-
stones, shales, and conglomerates representing a nearly
complete sequence from Cambrian to Laramie. Extensive
overlaps of Tertiary deposits are also present. Silurian
and Devonian rocks seem to be present in only a few local-
ities and are nowhere of importance. In the northern Hills
there are porphyries, rhyolites, phonolites, dacites, tona-
lites and vogesites. The various sedimentary rocks have
recently received careful study under the direction of the
United States Geological Survey. The following section
by Mr. N. H. Darton shows their age and general charac-
ter:*
Generalized Section in the Black Hills Region.
Formation.
Character.
Average
Thickness— Feet.
Age.
Massive sandstone and shale
2,500
250-500
1,200
225
500—750
50
000
35-150
30—100
0—30
200-350
0—150
0—250
60-400
350—500
30-50
90—130
400-450
250-500
25
4-150
Cretaceous
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
Jurassic
do
do
Triassic
Permian
Permian?
Carbonifer's
do
do
Cambrian
Fox Hills
Sandstone and shale t.
Dark-pray shale.. ....
Pierre shale
Niobrara.
Chalk and calcareous shale
Benton Group: —
Carlile formation
Greenhorn limes'ne
Graneros shale
Dakota sandstone...
Fuson
Gray shales with thin sandstones,
limestones, and concretionary layers
Impure slabby limestone .
Dark shale with lenses of massive
sandstone in its lower part at some
places
Massive buff sandstone
Very fine-grained sandstone and mas-
sive shale. White to purple color.. . .
Gray limestone
Minnewasta limes'ne
Lakota
Massive buff sandstone, with some in-
tercolated sha e
Beulah shale
Pale Tayish-green shale
Unkpapa sandstone.
Sundance. ..
Massive sandstone: white, purple,
red buff . .
Dark-drab shales and buff sandstones;
massive red sandstone at base
Red sandy shales with gypsum bed —
Thin-bedded gray limestone
Spearflsh
Minnekahta limes'ne
Opeche
Red slabby sandstone and sandy shale
Sandstones, mainly buff and red; in
greater part calcareous. Some thin
limestone included ... . ..
Minnelusa
Pahasapa limestone.
Englewood limest'ne
Dead wood
Massive gray limestone
Pink slabby limestone . ...
Red-brown quartzite and sandstone,
locally conglomeratic, partly mas-
sive
* Preliminary Description of the Geology and Water Resources of the Southern Half
of the Black Hills and Adjoining Regions in South Dakota and Wyoming. U. S. Geo-
logical Survey, Twenty-first Annual Report, Part IV, Hydrography, 1901, p. 593. [In or-
der to complete this for the whole Black Hills there should be inserted between the
Deadwood sandstone and the Englewood limestone 30 to 80 feet of buff, sandy limestone
overlaid by about 25 feet of greenish shales, the former probably Trenton, the latter
possibly Devonian. The limestone is 30 feet about Deadwood, but thickens westward
to 80 feet or more in Spearfish canyon. These have not been noted further south.— J.E.T.]
4 ' ' ' ^MINK&AL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
In addition to the above named formations and to the
pre-Cambrian and Tertiary rocks already mentioned, Pleis-
tocene deposits of various kinds occur widely distributed
over the surface of the region. Some of these, as well as
certain of the older formations, on account of their economic
interest, will be described more fully in subsequent pages.
The Black Hills region is drained by the Cheyenne river
and its tributaries. Two main branches, the Belle Fourche
and the South Fork, almost completely encircle the Hills
and wholly isolate them from other systems of drainage.
These encircling arms send radiating streams toward the
more elevated portions of the uplift, the high western lime-
stone plateau being the main divide. It is of particular
importance that, although the Black Hills are surrounded
by a semi-arid plain, the Hills themselves have a consider-
able rainfall, and many of the streams within the more ele-
vated portions flow without intermittence. The annual
rainfall varies widely. Near the foot-hills, as observed by
the U.S. weather station at Rapid, it averages 16.71 inches.
At Deadwood, situated further within the Hills, it is about
28.5 inches, and this is perhaps a fair average for the areas
in which the more extensive mining operations are car-
ried on.
The probable geological history of the Hills is briefly as
follows:* In Algonkian time the schists and quartzites
were deposited as sediments derived from land lying ap-
parently either to the west or to the northeast of the posi-
tion now occupied by the Hills. Later these original sed-
iments were cut by basic eruptives, at which time more or
less metamorphism and folding were produced. Subsequent
to this action the sedimentary rocks, as well as the basic
eruptives, were ramified by quartz veins, many of which
are gold-bearing. Following the eruption of the basic rocks
and after most or all of the gold-bearing quartz veins were
formed, extensive granite intrusions occurred. Apparently
at the time of the intrusion of the basic eruptives the slaty
* Many authors have written on this subject. For the latest and most complete
discussion of post- Algonkian conditions available at this writing, the reader is referred
to the following: Darton, N. H. Preliminary Description of the Geology and Water
Resources of the Southern Half of the Black Hills and Adjoining Regions in South Da-
kota and Wyoming. U. S. Geological Survey, Twenty-first Annual Report, Part IV.
Hydrography, 1901.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 5
cleavage was produced and approximately co-incident with
the granite intrusions the crystalline schists were developed.
At some time during the middle or latter part of the Al-
gonkian period, the sea shallowed and the land, rising above
the sea as an island, reached a considerable height. The
rocks thus brought under the influence of erosive agents
supplied much or all of the sediments which make up the
Cambrian strata.
Little is known of the conditions during Silurian and
Devonian time, rocks of these periods being absent in the
southern portion of the uplift and very scantily represented
in the northern portion. Deep water prevailed during the
early part of the Carboniferous period and, although the
sea subsequently shallowed, apparently little or no land
area existed near the region until after the period closed.
The Triassic red beds, with their included widely distrib-
uted lenses of gypsum, following the extensive deposition
of the nearly pure Permian limestone, indicate a consider-
able uplift and general shallowing of the sea. The shales,
sandstones, and impure limestones of the Jurassic, show
considerable oscillation and, on the whole, further shallow-
ing of the sea. The Cretaceous rocks, including as they
do a great series of diversified strata, represent several
changes of conditions. In general, it may be said that
fairly shallow seas existed in the early and later portions
of the period while during much of the intervening time
deep waters prevailed.
Near the beginning of Tertiary time great disturbances
took place. The region was lifted quite above the sea and
deeply trenched by outflowing streams. Sea conditions
disappeared, leaving the land partially or wholly surrounded
by a considerable body of water in the form of a lake.
Approximately co-incident with these changes the post-
Cretaceous igneous rocks of the northern Hills were in-
truded among the sedimentaries, and by their subsequent
denudation and degradation added their portion of sedi-
ment to the surrounding lake. The lake then disappeared,
and upon its dry bed the modern streams have trenched
their way. Concerning this and subsequent activity, in
6 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
view of the too frequent lack of appreciation of the work
performed by streams, I cannot do better than quote from
Prof. Newton: " The streams that had been transporting
detritus from the Hills and casting it into the lake now
found their way to the rivers and transferred their burdens
to them. Little by little, but continuously, they have eaten
away the substance of the Hills ever since. The canyons
they have cut, and which appeal to our eyes as marvelous
monuments of their industry, are the least of their results.
Since their labor began they have demolished and removed
one-half of the entire mass of the uplift. Modest and feeble
as they seem, it is their ambition patiently to toil on until
no vestige of the Hills remains." *
Historical Review*
The existence of valuable gold deposits in the Black
Hills was first made known to the world in 1875. Certain
stories, still current, indicate that some of the Sioux Indi-
ans and a few white men knew of the presence of gold here
several years prior to this time, but nothing definite can
be learned as to the actual facts. The earliest authentic
account of its finding dates from July 27, 1874, at which
time Mr. H. N. Ross and Mr. W. T. McKay, miners ac-
companiyng the expedition of General Custer, found small
quantities of the precious metal in the bed of French Creek
in what was then called Elkhorn prairie, now known as
Custer park, the exact locality of the find being within the
present town of Custer between Washington and Custer
avenues where crossed by Ninth street. f Plate I. gives a
view of the locality. In this view the 'exact place of dis-
covery is shown to be some distance from the creek bed,
the creek having been turned out of its former course by
the railroad, which runs near. Owing to the rapid move-
ments of the expedition, no thorough prospecting could be
* Report on the Geology and Resources of the Black Hills of Dakota, p. 222.
+ Date and locality given by Mr. Ross, who now resides in Custer, and by whom the
old diggings were pointed oat to the writer. In this connection see also the following:
Ludlow, William. Report of a Reconnaissance of the Black Hills of Dakota, Made in
the summer of 1874. Washington, 1875, pp. 13 and 14.
MINERAL RKSOUROES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 7
done, and, although gold was observed in several localities,
no definite idea was gained as to the extent or value of the
deposit.
The report that gold had been found, although greatly
exaggerated, quickly aroused much excitement among the
frontiersmen. As a result, only a few weeks after the Cus-
ter expedition a party entering the Hills for the purpose of
settlement reached French creek, and on Dec. 23, 1874,
the date of their arrival, found gold about three miles be-
low the present site of Custer, near what is known in Black
Hills history as The Stockade, a structure built by the
party soon after their arrival, for protection from Indians.
The party did much prospecting in this vicinity during the
winter, opening several quartz ledges within the park and
sinking pits in the gravel bars along the streams, but were
compelled by the military to leave the Hills early in the
spring. Little gold had been found, and the mineral wealth
of the region still continued veiled in mystery.*
The Black Hills country was not then open to settle-
ment, the area being at that time included within the res-
ervation held by the Sioux Indians. The government
made strenuous efforts to prevent prospectors from enter-
ing, and the Indians were continuously upon the lookout
for trespassers, but this seems only to have intensified
the desire to explore and appropriate the country. As a
result of this interest, and as a possible solution of certain
frontier difficulties, the government in the early part of the
year 1875 organized a special survey for the purpose of
learning definitely whether or not the mineral and other
resources of the region -were such as to warrant its pur-
chase from the Indians for settlement. Prof. Walter P.
Jenney was appointed geologist in charge, with Mr. Henry
Newton as associate geologist. The expedition reached
the Hills in May, and shortly afterward established the
fact beyond doubt that gold existed in the Hills in consid-
erable quantity.
It is worthy of note that the first authentic published
statement of the finding of gold in the Black Hills is given
* Tallent, Annie D. The Black Hills; or, The Last Hunting Ground of the Dako-
tahs, 1899, p. 713.
8 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
in a letter written by Prof. Jenney to the Hon. E. P. Smith,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. The
letter, dated Camp on French Creek, near Harney Peak,
June 17, 1875, was first published in the Mining and En-
gineering Journal. It was included later in Prof. Jenney's
official report to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, pub-
lished in 1876 and again in the Report on the Geology and
Resources of the Black Hills, 1880.*
The gold to which Prof. Jenney referred was found June
12, 1875, on the north bend of Castle creek in terraces or
bars of quartz gravel and subsequently southward to
French creek. Following this, much prospecting of an
unsatisfactory nature was done along French creek, but
nearly a month later important discoveries northeast of
Harney peak in the placer deposits of Spring and Rapid
creeks caused a rush in that direction, this being the first
real stampede in connection with the Black Hills gold ex-
citement. By this time several hundred prospectors had
succeeded in gaining access to the region, and of this num-
ber more than one hundred staked out claims on Spring
creek and proceeded to pan the gold.
Prof. Jenney and his corps of miners continued their in-
vestigations throughout the summer, assisted in no little
degree by the prospectors who had entered the Hills con-
trary to the regulations governing the reservation. French
creek and Castle creek received the most attention,
although considerable prospecting was done along nearly
all of the more important streams within the Hills. The
work was carried on principally with reference to stream
gravels, but observations were made also upon rock in
place. The results of these observations indicated no rich
deposits such as have since been the cause of so much in-
terest and excitement in the region, but were such as to
give promise of good returns for careful work in many
parts of the Hills.
The fact being therefore established that the Black Hills
region was of much greater value for mining purposes than
* Report on the Geology and Resources of the Black Hills of Dakota with Atlas. By
Henry Newton, E. M., ana Walter P. Jenney, E. M., 1880, p. 566.
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MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 9
It could ever be to the Indians, the government at once
entered into negotiations for the purchase of this part of
the reservation. The negotiations were for a time unsuc-
cessful, the Sioux war intervening, but the transfer was
finally accomplished, and the region was opened for legal
settlement Feb. 28, 1877. The Indians received the pur-
chase price of four and one-half million dollars. Prior to
the date of the President's proclamation permitting settle-
ment and legal holding of land, proper titles could not be
acquired, but under such arrangements as miners find it
necessary to adopt in new countries, claims were laid out,
controlled and worked. Owing to the practical impossi-
bility of preventing the entrance of prospectors, the gov-
ernment in the latter part of 1875 withdrew all opposition
to immigration to the Hills, and at the same time began
to withhold much of its protection. As a result, Indian
depredations became frequent, and lawlessness and disorder
were common. People eager to gain some of the reported
fabulous wealth continued to hurry to the region, so that
before the President's proclamation was issued a number
of mining camps and towns had been established and the
aggregate population had reached several thousand.
In the fall of 1875 a small paVty from the southern por-
tion of the Hills prospected northward along the head wa-
ters of various .streams, and, reaching Deadwood gulch in
the northern Hills in November, located what is known as
Discovery claim a little below the mouth of Blacktail gulch.
Some indifferent prospecting had been done in this vicinity
during the preceding August, but it was not until near the
close of December that rich deposits were found. Pros-
pecting was continued during the winter months in this and
neighboring gulches in what is now known as Lawrence
county, and in the spring extremely profitable placer min-
ing began. Previous to this time incoming parties had
made Custer park in the southern Hills their first objective
point, but with the discovery of the rich placers of the
Deadwood region the northern Hills at once gained su-
premacy. The discovery a few weeks later of the rich
conglomerate ores and of the great impregnated zone,
10 MINERAL RKSOURCKS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
known as the Homestake Belt, indicated the permanent
wealth of that part of the Hills, and during each of the
twenty-six years since that time Lawrence county alone
has far surpassed all of the remainder of the Hills in the
production of gold.
Other facts in connection with the history of the region
are of interest, but for these the reader is referred to sub-
sequent pages, in which the development of the various de-
posits is reviewed. One feature, however, in the advance-
ment of the region needs to be mentioned here, namely,
the construction of railroads.
For ten years after the discovery of gold the Black Hills
had no railway facilities of any kind. Mills were freighted
long distances (generally from Bismarck, North Dakota;
Cheyenne, Wyoming; or Sydney, Nebraska), and such ore
as demanded treatment outside of the Hills had to bear the
expense of a similar haulage.
In November, 1885, the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri
Valley railway of the North-Western System reached Buf-
falo Gap near the southern edge of the Hills. In Decem-
ber, 1890, it entered Deadwood. Five weeks later the
Burlington railway also entered Deadwood, and thus
healthy competition in ore transportation began. A little
before this, in 1890, the inter-urban narrow-gauge line con-
necting Deadwood and Lead was constructed and put in
operation. Much of the Black Hills and Fort Pierre nar-
row-gauge road connecting Lead and Piedmont had been
built earlier, but it was constructed for the particular con-
venience of the Homestake company, and for several years
its chief use was in the transportation of timbers and fuel
from the forest to the 'mine. In 1901 this road was pur-
chased by the Burlington.
Soon after reaching Deadwood the Fremont, Elkhorn
and Missouri Valley and the Burlington extended branch
lines to the mines near Ruby basin, Bald mountain, Port-
land and Crown Hill, the Burlington descending into Spear-
fish canyon and going on to Spearfish. At this writing the
two toads are extending their main lines into Lead, and
the Burlington is entering Galena. Thus the northern
Hills are favored with excellent railway facilities, and to
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 11
this fact is largely due the opening up of many important
mines. The central and southern Hills are not so well
supplied, but the construction of a branch line to Keystone
by the Burlington three years ago from its main line at
Hill City has partially relieved the demand.
Mineral Products*
The mineral products discussed in this paper may be
conveniently arranged as follows:
METALLIC— NON-METALLIC—
Gold Graphite
Copper Mica
Iron Spodumene
Manganese
Silver and Lead MISCELLANEOUS,
Tin
Tungsten
Of these the metallic products will be treated first. The
members of each group follow one another in alphabetic
order, with the exception of gold, which by reason of its
enormously greater importance is given first.
GOLD,
Classification of Black Hills Gold Ores:
A. Ores occurring within the Algonkian rocks*
1. In quartz veins.
2. In veins of auriferous pyrite.
3. In igneous dikes> sheets, etc.
4. In slate breccias.
5. In fissure veins.
6. In mineralized zones.
B. Ores occurring within the Cambrian rocks.
7. In the basal conglomerate — "cement" ores.
8. In slates, sandstones and quartzites — " siliceous y'
ores.
C. Ores occurring within the Carboniferous rocks.
9. In brecciated " verticals " in limestones — " sili--
ceous " ores.
10 In massive limestone—" lime-siliceous " ores.
D. Ores within the Pleistocene deposits.
11. In high level bars — "dry" placers.
12. In present stream beds — " wet" placers.
12 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
In the treatment of the above divisions numbers 3, 4 and
5 are discussed together, likewise numbers 9 and 10 and
numbers n and 12.
THE VEIN QUARTZ ORES. — The gold-bearing quartz
veins are found chiefly in the central and southern Hills in
Pennington and Custer counties. Lawrence county in the
northern Hills includes some valuable quartz veins, but
thus far few of these have been extensively developed.
The first prospecting on the quartz veins was done in
Custer county in 1875. The first ton of gold-bearing quartz
subjected to careful treatment was taken in August, 1875,.
by Joseph Reynolds from a ledge near French creek about
three and one-half miles above Custer and sent by wagon
and team at a cost of forty-five dollars to Cheyenne, Wyo-
ming, where it was sampled and sent to Georgetown, Col-
orado. Some of the ore was found to run as high as sev-
enteen dollars a ton.*
The first claim to be worked extensively was the Grand
Junction, located seven and one-half miles northwest of
Custer near the Custer-Pennington county line. The claim
was staked in April, 1879, and in 1880 a twenty-stamp mill
was erected. This mill ran intermittently until 1882, dur-
ing which year twenty more stamps were put in. The en-
larged mill ran until 1885, when the ore, which had been
chiefly free-milling near the surface, became too refractory
for amalgamation, and work was suspended.
Among other properties early located are the Atlantic,
the Old Bill, the Old Charlie, the North Star and the May
Flower near Custer; the King Solomon and the Grizzly
Bear near Hill City; and the Montana near Rochford.
Mills have*been erected on some of these properties, all of
the mines have been intermittently productive, and most of
them have afforded some rich ores.
Many properties have recently become of importance,
and several of the older abandoned mines are again re-
ceiving attention. Of the present active mines the Holy
Terror, of Pennington county (plate 2), and the Uncle
* Tallent, Annie D. The Black Hills; or. the Last Hunting Ground of the Dako-
tahs, St. Louis, 1899, p. 165.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 13
Sam, of Lawrence county (plate 3), are the chief producers.
Quartz veins are abundant throughout the area occupied
by the Algonkian metamorphic rocks. They generally,
but not always, follow the foliation of the slates, schists and
quartzites, with which they occur, and the individual vein
may occasionally be traced a considerable distance. As
frequently observed elsewhere, they show great variation
in thickness, especially in the schistose areas, where the
veins are often of lenticular form, and where in the more
extensive veins swelling and narrowing seem to be the rule
rather than the exception. The thickness seldom reaches fifty
feet, and in most cases it is very much less than this, much
of the mining and exploratory work having been carried
on along veins less than four feet in thickness. The veins
seem to be more numerous in the schists than in the slates,
but the veins in the slates are in general said to be thicker,
more clearly defined and more persistent than those found
in the schists.
Prof. Newton refers to the veins as "veins of intercala-
tion " and states that some of them appear to be " true
veins " formed by the collection of quartz along lines of
separation of the strata. Prof. Jenney in much the same
way states that they are not u true fissure veins," but des-
ignates them as " interlaminated fissure veins," and adds
that the veins are chemical precipitations from waters hold-
ing silica in solution, partly, at least, derived from the wall
rocks of the veins, and undoubtedly formed during the fold-
ing of the strata, at which time the gold must also have
been deposited. In this connection it should be borne in
mind that the foliation which has been interpreted by some
investigators of Black Hills geology as largely or wholly
co-incident with original stratification planes, has been
shown by Prof. Van Hise to be due chiefly to metamorphic
processes, which have practically obliterated the stratifica-
tion planes except in favored localities, where, with careful
study, the original relations may be discerned.
The veins have a general north-south trend, sometimes
swaying considerably to the east or west. Such veins are
locally known as " formational veins." Occasionally cross
U MINERAL RKSOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
veins are found which follow fractures at a considerable
angle to the foliation, not infrequently being approximately
at right angles to the general trend of the formational veins.
These cross veins, like the north-south veins, may be gold-
bearing and in some cases are said to be quite rich.
The quartz of which the^ veins are composed is highly
crystalline and is generally opaque white. When aurif-
erous it is more often bright and translucent, with not in-
frequently a bluish or black tinge. Iron oxide in the form
of limonite commonly occurs intimately associated with
the quartz near the surface and occasionally in considerable
quantity. Pyrite is an associate, but is found only in the
deeper workings. On the Chilkoot and neighboring prop-
erties, eight miles east of Custer, crystallized graphite is
found filling minute cavities in the quartz. Tetradymite
is found as an associate on the Newark property near Cus-
ter.* Siderite is common in many places, particularly in
the vicinity of Rochford. Galena is common in the Uncle
Sam mine at Perry (plate 3), particularly in connection
with the richer pockets of gold, and sphalerite is not an in-
frequent associate. Other mineral associations doubtless
occur, but apparently little attention has been given to their
observation.
The gold in all of the developed properties is more or
less free-milling, as may be readily seen by the ordinary
pan test. It is almost completely free near the surface, but
becomes gradually more and more refractory with depth.
For some reason not yet clearly explained, the concentrates
have not yielded readily to metallurgical processes and
largely for this reason many of the apparently valuable
properties are now idle. The Holy Terror mine at Key-
stone (plate 2) which is down 1200 feet vertical has per-
haps had the longest approximately continuous run of all
the mines on vein quartz. In this mine the free gold has
continued in abundance with depth, but even here, and es-
pecially in that portion of it formerly known as the 'Key-
stone mine, the concentrates are important. The refractory
ores from various mines are now being experimented upon,
* Smith, F. C. Notes on Black Hills Geology, Black Hills Mining Review, Sept. 3, 1900,
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 15
and doubtless a satisfactory method of treatment will be
found.
One feature of interest in development work within the
granite area, is that the granite is younger than the aurif-
erous veins, and since it often protrudes into the metamor-
phic rocks in the form of dikes, sheets and irregular masses
must necessarily cut such auriferous quartz veins as may
have originally intersected its pathway. In many such
cases the displacement is not great, and by going through
the granite flow the vein may be again encountered with-
out great expense. This has been done in a number of
instances, particularly in the Chilkoot district.
The gold occurs generally in minute particles scattered
through the quartz, but many properties have afforded ex-
cellent display specimens. The value of the workable veins
varies widely. Twenty-dollar ore is common, fifty-dollar
ore is not infrequent, and much higher assays are occasion-
ally observed. The Holy Terror mine, until recent litiga-
tion hindered its . development, showed phenomenally rich
ore for many weeks in succession, and the statement is
made that by means of a ten-stamp mill it has produced as
high as $70,000 in one week. The vein is narrow, and
sinking has consequently progressed rapidly, the vertical
shaft being now down 1200 feet.
The rather checkered career of many of the mines on
quartz veins has greatly handicapped the study of these
deposits. Unwise management and difficult conditions
have too often combined to render efforts unsuccessful,
which apparently should have gained excellent returns.
Recently there has been improvement in many ways. Per-
haps never before has there been so much development
work done on quartz veins during the same length of time
as during the last twelve months. Gold exists in these
veins in quantity, and, although presenting difficulties often
not easily overcome, they will doubtless rise in the future
to a much more commanding place than they now hold.
AURIFEROUS PYRITE VEINS. — No veins of pyrite in
the Hills are worked exclusively for their gold content.
Pyrite veins in various parts of the Hills have received at-
16 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
tention in past years, but at present, so far as I can learn,
only three properties are producing ore. These are the
Slavonia mine near Lead and the Gilmore and the Seim
mines near Deadwood. The Bion, near Galena, contains
a wide vein, but is not producing. Other properties could
doubtless furnish much material were railroads convenient
and smelter demands sufficient. All of the ore now pro-
duced is sold to the Golden Reward smelter at Deadwood
for use as a flux in the reduction of the Cambrian siliceous
ores, the value of the pyrite depending somewhat upon its
purity and the amount of gold and copper present. The
pyrite from the mines mentioned carries from fifty cents to
three dollars a ton in gold and generally a small per cent
of copper, the latter occasionally running up to three or
four per cent or more. Silica is generally present in greater
or less amount, and the per cent of graphite is occasionally
high.
The Seim mine has been worked since 1890, and the
Slavonia for a considerable time. The Gilmore mine has
just begun producing. No account of the total output is
at hand, but the present production of the mines is from
50 to 100 tons a day.
AURIFEROUS DIKES, SLATE BRECCIAS AND FISSURE
VEINS. — The porphyritic rocks of the northern Hills, as
well as the dioritic and granitic rocks of the central and
southern Hills, are occasionally auriferous, but, with some
few exceptions, little economic importance has been at-
tached to them. In Pennington and Custer counties the
dioritic schists have been exploited with some confidence,
but as yet none of the properties have become strong pro-
ducers. The porphyries near Galena are of considerable
geological importance, and occur in the form of dikes and
sheets. Gold is widely diffused through these rocks, it
being found both in the dikes and in the sheets, generally
with iron pyrites, but sometimes free.
Interesting slate breccias and fissure veins also occur in
the Galena district. Having had no opportunity to exam-
ine these, I quote from Prof. Jenney, who has studied them
and who describes them as follows:
I]
I §
S I
uj *
ii
M
u. «
O 1
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 17
Broad zones or belts of gold-bearing breccias traverse the schists
and slates in the Union Hill, Hoodoo and adjacent mines. These
breccias are made up of angular fragments of slate, a confused mass
of material without any apparent order of arrangement; the pieces
of slate of all sizes and shapes cemented together into a solid
rock. Among the rock fragments may be found siliceous slates,
mica slates and schists commonly occurring in the vicinity, with
less frequently quartz derived from the older veins. The slate frag-
ments are more or less decomposed, softened and bleached in color,
probably owing to the action of heated alkaline waters during the
mineralization. The porphyry intrusions in the breccias are locally
kaolinized ; quartz alone has resisted alteration. In some localities
the breccias are formed of dike-like masses of porphyry, through
which the fragments of slate are irregularly distributed, evidently
having been inclosed in the fluid igneous rock at the time of the in-
trusion. In other places porphyry is absent, and the breccias are
entirely composed of material resulting from the crushing and al-
teration of the prima^ rocks. These distinctions are not well de-
fined ; every gradation in the character of these fragmental rocks is
seen in the district. Dikes and intruded masses of porphyry with
only scattered intrusions of slate gradually merge from an increase
in the relative proportion of inclosed fragments into breccias largely
made up of slate. Iron pyrite containing gold is disseminated
throughout the breccias in varying amount. The pyrite is mainly
deposited in the cementing material, though the slate fragments
have a little disseminated mineral. The gold, together with the
pyrite, is readily separated from the ore by concentration ; a small
part of the gold is free in certain ore deposits and can be amalga-
mated. Near the surface the ores are oxidized and a somewhat
larger proportion of the gold is free. These ore deposits are of great
extent; a breccia developed in the Hoodoo mine is more than 200 feet
in width and of unknown length on its course. Similar ore-bodies
occur in the adjoining mines and can be traced on the surface for
distances of 1000 to 2000 feet. The origin of these breccia deposits
appears to have been due to crushing of beds of slate by movements
of the strata, caused by the intrusion of the igneous rocks, the min-
eralization taking place at a subsequent period.
Fissure veins traverse the slates, locally extending up into the
porphyry overflow. The veins are common^7 narrow and frequently
carry high grade ore. A vein of this type lately opened in the Hoo-
doo mine is six feet in width, the ore slate and quartz carrying pyr-
ite and free gold. Narrow veins filled with decomposed porphyry,
bearing gold and often high grade, occur in the porphyry overflow
covering the surface of Union Hill ; certain vertical fissures carry
ores of copper.*
* Report on the Geology and Ore Formation of the Black Hills. Black Hills Mining
Review, March 21, 1898, pp. 11 and 12.
18 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
IMPREGNATED ZONES. — The ores of the impregnated
zones are of great importance. One of these zones, known
as the Homestake Belt, has furnished approximately three-
fourths of the total gold output of the Black Hills, and not-
withstanding the recent rapid advancement in the utiliza-
tion of other varieties of ore, this belt is now affording
more than one-half the annual output.
Thus far the ores of the impregnated zones have been
continuously worked for a considerable length of time only
in Lawrence county. Many claims, however, in Custer
and Pennington counties are said to carry as high values
as the Homestake ore, and some of the ore bodies in these
counties are large.
Of the properties outside the Homestake Belt that have
been worked, perhaps none have been more extensively
exploited than the Standby at Rochford. This mine was
opened in the early years of Black Hills history, and, al-
though worked intermittently, has been a producer of no
mean consequence. In the past only -the free-milling gold
was saved, no effort being made to secure the refractory
values. At present substantial exploratory work is being
done on lower levels than before, and efforts will be made
to save such concentrates as may be found. The Bullion
and other mines near Keystone have furnished considerable
gold, but these are not now producing. In the Hornblende
district west of Rochford several mines are being devel-
oped, but none have reached the stage of steady produc-
tion. Custer county also has various properties of a simi-
lar nature, but none are active producers. In several of
the properties coming under the class of impregnated zones,
the gold is practically all free-milling at the surface, while
in others it is only partly free-milling or mostly refractory.
Several years ago Professor Carpenter, while Dean of the
School of Mines, tested some of the more refractory ores
and made calculations as to their probable value if mined
and treated carefully on a large scale, such as is done by
the Homestake company. It is sufficient here to state that
in several instances favorable results were reached.*
* The Mineral Resources of the Black Hills. Preliminary Report of the Dakota
School of Mines. 1888, pp. 118-121.
MINKRAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 19
The Homestake mine, widely known as the greatest low
grade gold mine in the world, is the typical example of the
class, and having been an important factor in the develop-
ment of the Black Hills, may be described in some detail.
The mine lies to the southwest of Deadwood, being* sit-
uated between Whitewood creek and Deadwood gulch.
Near the mine and at equal pace with its development, a
busy town, Lead (pronounced Leed\ has grown up, the
town, now the largest in the Black Hills (plate 5), taking
its name from the miners' term " lead," meaning lode.
The first claims located on property now controlled by
the company were the Giant and the Old Abe. These
were located by J. B. Pearson, December n, 1875, anc*
aside from placer claims, are believed to have been the
earliest mineral locations in the Hills. Early in 1876 the
Homestake, the Highland and the Golden Star were lo-
cated, and the Old Abe, which had been previously aban-
doned, was relocated. During this year the owners of the
Homestake claim prosecuted vigorous development work
and constructed and operated a crude arrastre, with which
they obtained excellent results.
In 1877 two stamp mills were utilized in treating the
" belt " ores. The first, a ten-stamp mill, later increased
to twenty stamps, was erected by the Racine Mining and
Milling Company, the mill arriving at Lead April 7th.
The stamps began dropping April i5th, and the first clean
up was made April 2oth. The second mill, erected by Mr.
Enos, who had purchased a considerable portion of the
Homestake claim, was put in operation in July. Subse-
quently, when the Homestake company acquired the prop-
erties from which these mills had obtained their ore supply,
the mills were torn down and the machinery removed to
other localities.
The Homestake Mining Company was incorporated No-
vember 5, 1877, but its real history began several months
prior to that time. In the fall of 1876 Mr. L. D. Kellogg,
a representative of Mr. J. B. Haggin, and Senator Hearst,
of California, arrived in the Hills and made a preliminary
examination of various properties in the vicinity of Lead.
20 MINERAL RKSOURCKS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
i
In January, 1877, Mr. Samuel McMasters visited the local-
ity under the direction of the same individuals, and during
the summer and fall a thorough examination was made.
Senator Hearst then personally inspected the properties,
purchased various claims, and arranged immediately for the
erection of an eighty-stamp mill. The mill was shipped
by rail to Sydney, Nebraska, from which point it was
freighted to the mine by ox team, the cost of transporta-
tion from Sydney to Lead amounting, it is said, to $33,000.
In July, 1878, during which month the eighty stamps
were placed in commission, the first and only assessment
in the history of the company was levied. This was at
the rate of a dollar a share and afforded $200,000 required
for the erection of the mill.
As the magnitude of the ore deposit became more clearly
defined by exploratory work, the milling capacity was in-
creased, important timber and water rights were acquired,
a short but important railway line was constructed, and ab-
sorption of various companies controlling adjoining proper-
ties was brought about. Some idea of the company's pres-
ent surface equipment can be gained by reference to plate*
15, in which there is shown a view of the hoists, mills, etc.,
near Lead. This does not include the i3oo-ton cyanide
plant recently constructed below Lead, the 7ooton cyanide
plant now building at Central, nor the hoists and stamp
mills at Terraville and Central.
In general the mine has shown a steady growth in pro-
duction, and most of the mills have been running continu-
ously. Within two years after the installation of the orig-
inal Homestake eighty-stamp mill a total of five hundred
eighty stamps were dropping. These were distributed as
follows: The Homestake at Lead^ erected 1878, eighty
stamps; the Father DeSmet at Central, erected 1878,
eighty stamps; the Golden Star at Lead, erected 1879,
one hundred twenty stamps; the Deadwood at Terraville,
erected 1879, sixty 'stamps; the Caledonia at Terraville,
erected 1879, sixty stamps; the Golden-Terra at Terra-
ville, erected 1880, sixty stamps; and the Highland at
Lead, erected 1880, one hundred twenty stamps.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 21
All of these mills continued in active operation until 1892,
at which time the Father DeSmet ceased, and in 1893 the
Caledonia followed. This action was necessitated by the
scarcity of water and by the low tenor of the free-milling
ore in these mines. About this time, however, the Home-
stake mill increased its capacity by the addition of twenty
stamps, the Golden Star by the addition of forty stamps,
and the Highland by the addition of twenty stamps.
In 1899 a largely increased supply of water was obtained
from Spearfish creek, and in 1900 a i3oo-ton cyanide plant
for the treatment of concentrates was completed. At pres-
ent all of the mills are in active operation, total number of
stamps dropping being 900, distributed as follows: The
Homestake, 200; the Golden Star, 200; the Highland, 140;
the Deadwood-Terra, 160; the Caledonia, 100; the Father
DeSmet, 100.
The ore-bearing area of the Homestake Belt as definitely
exploited covers an area approximately one and one-half
miles long and one-half mile wide. Two active companies
are now carrying on extensive exploratory work outside
of this area, the Hidden Fortune Company to the north of
Lead, and the Black Hills Development Company to the
south, in the belief that the ore bodies may be found be-
yond the boundaries as generally defined.
The ore lies in lenticular bodies of great extent, the work-
able portions in some places exceeding 400 feet. In one
place it is said to reach 525 feet. By reason of this great
width much of the ore has been worked by open cuts, some
of which cuts have grown to great size, as shown in plates
4 and 15. At present most of the mining is underground.
The deepest working levels are 1 100 feet below the surface.
The ore bodies have practically the same foliation as the
surrounding country rock, the general strike, according to
Dr. Carpenter, being N 37^° W and the dip steeply to
the east. Amphibolites and porphyries are present. The
amphibolites conform closely to the foliation of the enclos-
ing metamorphic rocks, while the porphyries, sometimes
in dikes and sometimes in sheets, either stand approximately
parallel to the foliation or lie across the uneven edges of
the upturned rocks.
22 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
The gold occurs chiefly in chloritic and amphibole schists
highly impregnated with quartz. The principal associate
minerals are iron pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite. Ore
highly charged with iron pyrite generally falls below the
average value in gold, while the arsenopyrite ore is more
often above the average. In the surface workings iron
oxide is abundant, and the color of much of the ore is red-
dish brown. On the lower levels, where the unchanged
sulphides abound and where the quartz is clear and the
schists are fresh, the general color is green.
The free-milling character of the ore is pronounced.
Practically all of the values in the surface ores are ex-
tracted by simple amalgamation. During the first twelve
years of mining operations no attempt was made to save
concentrates, although the deeper ores gradually became
less free-milling. Concentrates have been saved since 1890,
Until two years ago they were sent to the smelter at Dead-
wood for treatment, but in 1900 the company erected a
i3oo-ton cyanide plant at Lead, which is now successfully
treating the tailings by the cyanide process. The companyr
having proved to its satisfaction that the cyanide process
can be used advantageously, has recently begun the erec-
tion of a second plant of 700 tons capacity, the location of
this plant being at Central.
The sulphides vary generally from three to five per cent
of the ore, but occasionally run up to ten per cent or higher.
The assay value of the concentrates, of which about 85 per
cent is iron sulphide, averages $7 a ton. The present av-
erage value of the gold in the ore is usually given at about
$4.50 a ton, of which approximately about $3.50 is saved.
The new cyanide plant will materially lessen the waste.
Concerning the origin of the ores, Dr. Carpenter sug-
gests that at the time of deposition of the enclosing rocks,
large quantities of proto-sulphide of iron were formed
through the agency of decaying organic matter whose
presence at that time is attested by the large quantities of
graphite now found in these beds. Originally this proto-
sulphide was practically free of gold, but later by the ac-
tion of ferric salts in solution the proto-sulphde was changed
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 23
to bi-sulphide, and the iron solutions which wrought the
change also brought the gold which is now found in these
deposits. The intrusion of the porphyry, he thinks, has
been beneficial for two reasons: First, it has rendered the
ores more free-milling. Second, it has in its neighborhood
produced either an enrichment of the deposit or a further
concentration of what gold originally existed in it.*
In view of the fact that the Hills were the seat of much
igneous activity previous to the metamorphism of the Al-
gonkian series, as indicated by the widespread distribution
of basic rocks now represented by the amphibolites, and fur-
ther that the auriferous quartz veins were formed prior to
the granite intrusion, which took place during Algonkian
time, it seems possible that the amphibolites may have
caused or controlled the original deposition of much of the
gold now found in the impregnated zones.
In the absence of careful investigation it is difficult to
say whether or not the amphibolites did exert any control-
ling influence, but their present relation to the metamorphic
sedimentaries suggests that they may have been forced into
the Algonkian sedimentary rocks in much the same way
that the post -Cretaceous eruptives have been injected
among the Cambrian and Carboniferous rocks. This be-
ing the case, subsequent mineralization may have taken
place in some way not greatly different from that which
has been brought about in the northern Hills since Creta-
ceous time, the chief difference being that in the former
the final processes left the gold in veins and in impregnated
zones in a partially or wholly free-milling condition, while
in the latter it is in th'e form of ore shoots and is quite re-
fractory.
CEMENT ORES. — The auriferous character of the Cam-
brian conglomerate within the porphyry-capped hills to the
west and southwest of Deadwood was discovered in the
early part of 1876, only a little later than the finding of
the rich placers in Deadwood gulch. Owing to the occa-
sional high values which the ores contained and the ease
with which the gold could be extracted, it being chiefly
* Preliminary Report of the Dakota School of Mines, Rapid City, 1888, pp. 113-115.
24 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
free-milling in the richer portions, the discovery led to im-
mediate and pronounced excitement. For several months
only the crude arrastre could be utilized in milling the ores,
the first one having been constructed by Gardner, Chase
and Company, owners of the Chief of the Hills, but these
were efficient enough to indicate the profit with which the
ore could be worked, and better mills were rapidly brought
in to replace the hastily constructed makeshifts.
The first quartz mill brought into the Hills reached
Deadwood September 25, 1876, and was placed a short
distance above Gay ville on Deadwood gulch. This pioneer
quartz mill of the Black Hills consisted of a Blake crusher
and a Bolthoff ball pulverizer arranged for steam power,
and was brought to the Hills by Captain C. V. Gardner.
The mill treated the rich conglomerate ore from the Hid-
den Treasure mine on Spring gulch, the claim having been
located May 13, 1876, and before the close of the year it
had produced twenty thousand dollars in gold. A little
later Milton E. Pinney brought in the first stamp mill.
This was a ten-stamp plant and was erected on the Alpha-
Omega property near Central. This mill, as in the case
of the Gardner mill, was purchased at Central, Colorado,
and shipped by rail to Cheyenne, Wyoming, from which
latter point it reached its destination by means of heavy
freight wagons. The expense of hauling from Cheyenne
was twelve and one-half cents a pound. The mill began
dropping its ten stamps December 30, 1876, and quickly
proved a profitable investment.
Mills rapidly multiplied until the early part of the year
1878, at which time the milling of conglomerate ores was
at its height. About twenty mills were in active opera-
tion, dropping approximately five hundred stamps. After
1878 the richer deposits gradually became exhausted, and
by 1 88 1 work upon them had practically ceased. How-
ever, as in the case of the placer deposits, a few properties
have continued to be worked in a small and intermittent
way even to the present time. Recent developments in
metallurgical methods seem to indicate the possibility of
these ores being utilized to considerable profit in the future,
0)
I
CO
fe
Z
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 25
owing to the fact that much of the ore contains refractory
gold along with the free gold. Several companies are now
studying the problems involved.
The conglomerate is at the base of the Cambrian rocks,
known as the Deadwood formation as developed in the
Black Hills, (the series here representing apparently only
the middle Cambrian, hence not properly called Potsdam,
as was formerly supposed), and lies unconformably upon the
highly metamorphosed and upturned Algonkian rocks.
The conglomerate is made up of well-rounded and sub-
angular boulders of quartz, slate, schists, etc., derived from
the Algonkian rocks on which it rests. In the Deadwood
locality pebbles of hematite are frequent. The ore is
tightly cemented by iron oxide and silica, with some lime,
and generally requires blasting in mining and the stamp
mill for crushing. It is this character which gave it the
name " cement ore," by which it is generally known within
the Hills. Two classes of ore are recognized, namely the
oxidized and the unoxidized. The oxidized ore is deep
brownish red due to the iron oxide present, while the un-
oxidized is more of a grayish color, fresh looking and con-
tains considerable iron pyrite.
The conglomerate varies in character, being usually a
single thick bed, sometimes in two or three separate beds,
and occasionally is wholly wanting. In general it merges
gradually above into coarse-grained sandstone or, where
locally changed, into quartzite. It is found throughout a
large part of the Hills where the proper horizon is disclosed,
but in 410 place distant from the Deadwood locality has the
gold been observed in remunerative quantities. The only
other locality where there has been a worthy effort to
work the deposits is at Gold Hill near Rockerville, at
which place a ten -stamp mill was in operation several
months during the year 1878, but the results were unsatis-
factory and the work was abandoned. The formation dips
gently toward the outer rim of the Hills and the ore is
readily reached by lateral drifting. The areas which have
produced the gold lie mostly to the east of the Homestake
Belt, wjthin a distance of one mile from the Belt, the ridge
26
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
between Deadwood gulch and Bobtail gulch being espe-
cially productive.
Mr. Walter B. Devereux, from whose paper* the writer
has obtained much of the information concerning these
ores, states that, the productive material includes only a
few feet of the lowest part of the conglomerate, and, like
ordinary placer deposits, shows pay and lean streaks and
the occurrence of most of the gold near bed rock. The
gold, moreover, has the characteristics of placer gold, and
in every respect the similarity between these deposits and
recent placers is so prominent that Devereux gave them
the name " fossil placers," a name by which they have
since been frequently called. The Homestake Belt, now
intersected and partially covered by post-Cretaceous erup-
tives, was evidently the immediate source of much of the
gold, the Belt having served as the shore-line in this local-
ity, while the heterogeneous materials of the conglomerate
were being deposited in the shallow waters of the primor-
dial sea. The relative positions of the Homestake Belt, the
Cambrian strata containing the cement deposits, the cap-
ping porphyry and the recent placers along the present
stream valleys are all shown in figure i.
Schist "—Cement Mines HI porPhyrX Potsdam
g. 1. Section showing relations of " Cement " Mines.
Devereux discusses at some length the immediate source
of the gold, referring chiefly to the free-milling gold, and
the methods of its concentration, giving facts to show that
a small portion of it has been deposited through chemical
solution, but that the great locating cause has been the
* The Occurrence of Gold in the Potsdam Formation. Black Hills, Dakota. Am.
last. Min. Eng., Trans., Vol. X, pp. 4(55-475.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA* 27
high specific gravity of the gold, in short, that the general
conditions have been those of ordinary placer deposition.
This idea has long prevailed, but it is possible that the
post-Cretaceous eruptives may have influenced the concen-
tration more than Devereux was led to believe.
In view of the fact that the Homestake Belt has been
considered as the chief source of the gold, at least of the
free-milling gold, it is interesting to note that certain com-
parative analyses of the metal lead to the same conclusion.
Silver being more soluble than gold, it would seem that
the cement gold should be purer than that from the
Homestake Belt, the silver percentage being lowered dur-
ing the process of disintegration and concentration, and
further, that the finer the particles of cement gold the
greater degree of purity it should have. The following
analyses show this condition:*
Gold
Silver
I. Coarse Gold.
.902
.098
II. Coarse
.893
.107
Gold. III.
Fine Gold. IV.
.917
.083
Fine Gold.
.915
.085
Gold
Silver
Homestake.
.820
.170
Highland.
.830
.155
Terra.
.825
.160
Deadwood.
.850
.140
DeSmet.
.820
.170
Concerning the history of the successive geological
changes which have taken place in connection with these
ores, Mr. Devereux says:
First, we have the proof that the gold veins and the contained
gold were in existence prior to the Potsdam [Cambrian] period.
Then we have the Potsdam seas washing away the debris resulting
from the disintegration of the quartz veins, and depositing it in
deeper water, in accordance with its various specific gravities. At
the same time the gradual wave action carried the gold to the bed
rock in the same manner as it is settled in a miner's pan. The
Homestake vein, by reason of its greater durability, formed a reef
or low island, which never became deeply submerged. After a time
these sediments became insular, and as such remained undisturbed,
gradually becoming cemented into rock, until the recent eruptions
of porphyry took place, causing intense local metamorphic action.
* Devereux, Walter B. The Occurrence of Gold in the Potsdam Formation, Black
Hills, Dakota, Am. Inst. Min. Eng., Trans., Vol. X,
28 o MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
The gold, which up to this time had suffered perhaps a loss in silver
only, now became itself partially dissolved, where the solvents were
sufficiently powerful, and was again at least partially precipitated
as thin films in the schists below.
Once more a period of rest occupied the time, until the erosive
action of fresh-water streams cut through the upper strata and be-
gan to disintegrate the matrix of the gold and afforded material for
a new concentrating process. Disintegration and concentration have
been going on until now, when the hand of man has hastened the
work of nature.
This gold from the conglomerate, which found its way down the
slopes to the gradually lowering bottom of Deadwood gulch, wa&
joined with new supplies brought from the Homestake vein through
lateral gulches, and the result was the great Deadwood placer. That
in Blacktail, however, received no new accession and remained a
placer which had received its gold entirely from the Potsdam sedi-
ment.*
The gold particles found in the cement are not larger
seldom reaching a .value of more than two or three dollars.
Larger pieces are not uncommon in the Homestake quartz.
The cement gold is made up chiefly of smooth, roundedr
slightly flattened grains having generally a thin covering
of iron oxide, which is easily removed in the process of
milling.
The value of the ore varies widely. During the early
days of mining, before the richer streaks were exhausted,,
'ore is said to have run as high as fifty dollars a ton, with
limited quantities near bed rock much higher. To-day
values as high as twenty dollars are occasionally found,
but the average in most of the mines is about four dollars;
large bodies are, however, said to average five dollars or
more. Such bodies are found in various places along
Blacktail gulch and elsewhere, and some work is now being
done upon them. Plate 6 gives a view up Blacktail gulch
taken from the south side of Deadwood gulch at Gayville.
The free gold of the Cambrian is not confined to the
conglomerate, but is disseminated throughout the forma-
tion. Irving states that unaltered Cambrian shales and
sandstones two or three hundred feet above the basal
quartzite on the west bank of Spearfish creek have yielded
* The Occurrence of Gold in the Potsdam Formation, Black Hills. Dakota, Am.Inst,
Miii. Eng.. Trans.. Vol. X.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 29
0
from eighty cents to two dollars a ton. Free gold is said
to be found also in unaltered glauconitic shales near Crown
Hill, and the writer has heard many statements to the same
effect concerning the sandstones and shales near Rocker-
ville.
With few exceptions, this gold above the basal conglom-
erate is of no economic importance. One important local-
ity near Lead, the Hidden Fortune mine, has furnished
several car loads of excessively rich ore, but the ore. was
found only a short distance above the conglomerate hori-
zon and may perhaps be rightly considered with the con-
glomerate ores. Plate 19 gives a view of this interesting
locality. The gold was obtained from the open cut at the
right of the building near the center of the view.
So far as known the refractory gold of the conglomerate,
although averaging low in value, is in much the same con-
dition as the siliceous ores so abundantly developed in and
above the lower quartzite. For a fuller description of
these the reader is referred to the discussion of siliceous
ores in the following. pages.
CAMBRIAN SILICEOUS ORES. -- The siliceous ores,
known also as refractory ores and formerly as Potsdam
ores, are found only in the northern Hills. The producing
areas lie within Lawrence county and are two in number,
designated by Prof. F. C. Smith as the Northern Connected
district, lying chiefly to the west and southwest of Dead-
wood and Lead, and the Galena district, in which the town
of Galena is situated.* Of the two the Northern Connected
district is much the larger in areal extent and is the greater
producer. Its chief centers of interest are: Ruby basin
(plate 7), Bald mountain, Portland, Crown Hill, North Lead,
Sheeptail gulch, Squaw creek, Spearfish creek and Yellow
creek. In the Northern Connected district the ores carry
some silver with the gold, while in the Galena district
gold, silver and lead occur.
Igneous rocks of post-Cretaceous age have cut and inter-
calated the Cambrian strata in the districts mentioned to a
* Smith. F. C. The Potsdam Gold Ores of the Black Hills of South Dakota'. Am.
Inst. Min. Ens-, Trans., Vol. XXVII, 1897, pp. 404-428.
30 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
marked degree. Phonolite, quartz -porphyry, etc., have
come up through the Algonkian metamorphic rocks in the
form of dikes (plate 8), and in many instances continuing
as dikes have cut also through the Cambrian and Carbon-
iferous rocks, or, failing to do this, have spread out as ex-
tensive sheets (plate 9) or irregular masses or as well de-
veloped laccolites. Among these forms of intrusions the
laccolites are by far the most conspicuous and important.
The best illustrations are Sugar Loaf hill and Ragged Top
mountain, but Terry peak, War Eagle hill and Bald moun-
tain east of Spearfish creek and Johnston peak between
Bear gulch and Beaver creek (plate 10) have a similar ori-
gin. Sheets make up a smaller total amount of the erup-
tive material, but their number is important. The thick-
ness of the sheets varies from a few inches to two hundred
feet or more, and indeed they pass by gradually increasing
thickness into laccolitic masses. Irving states that the
sheets vary greatly in their regularity and persistencer
sometimes being short, thick and irregular, and again long,
thin and of great lateral extent; and that the more ex-
tended and peristent sheets lie between the heavy and less
easily broken members of the Cambrian series, while those
wrhich assume a very irregular form are most commonly
in the thicker horizons of very fine shales, where fracture
is equally easy in all directions.* He estimates that these
sheets in localities near the centers of eruption have in-
creased the total thickness k of the Cambrian formation
nearly one -fourth. The dikes are found in considerable
numbers and occasionally become of importance. The
material of which these intrusive masses are made up are
chiefly phonolite and quartz-porphyry. When found to-
gether the phonolite is observed always to cut the por-
phyry, indicating different periods of eruption, the phonolite
being the later.
The ore is found at various horizons within the Cam-
brian, chief of which is immediately above the conglomer-
atic quartzite, which lies unconformably upon the Algon-
* A Contribution to the Geology of the Northern BlacK Hills. Annals N. Y. Acad.
ScL, VoL XII, No. 9, p. 229.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 31
kian schists and slates. This horizon is easily distinguished
and is generally known among mining men as the u lower
contact." Owing to the approximate uniformity of the
higher shales and thin sandstones (plate 12), together with
their many structural disturbances, it has been difficult in
many places to accurately locate the horizons of such ore
bodies as occur within them. In the past it has been cus-
tomary to refer to such deposits in a general way as ''up-
per contact" ores. The proximity of some of these ore
bodies to a heavy bed of scolithus sandstone known as the
" worm-eaten " sandstone, near the upper part of the Cam-
brian, has possibly given origin to the name. Careful ob-
servation has revealed the fact that valuable ore bodies
may be found at several horizons between the basal quartz-
ite and the scolithus sandstone; hence the distinctive mean-
ing of the term " upper contact," has largely disappeared.
The lower contact ores are in many places underlain by
quartzite sufficiently auriferous to be classed as ore. This
is particularly true of the North Lead, Yellow Creek and
Ruby Basin areas, and may upon further examination be
found common in other localities.
So far as known, all ore bodies worked in the Ruby Ba-
sin, Yellow Creek, Crown Hill, North Lead and Sheeptail
Gulch localities are on or within the lower quartzite. (See
plate 12). On Squaw creek and in the Galena district
higher ores are also worked, and in some places the definite
horizon can be readily learned. At the Cleopatra the ore
bodies are immediately beneath the scolithus sandstone,
and this is stratigraphically about three hundred feet above
the lower quartzite. Whether or not the lower ores are
present has not yet been determined, but it is believed that
exploratory work will reveal them. In the Portland or
Green Mountain area all of the mines with one exception,
the Decorah, are from two to three hundred feet above the
base of the Cambrian.* It must be borne in mind, as has
been previously indicated, that igneous intercalations are
frequent throughout much of the siliceous ore district;
hence, in estimating the thickness of the sedimentary series,
* Irving, John D. A Contribution to the Geology of the Northern Black Hills, p. 301.
32 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
allowance must be made for the possible presence of the
igneous rocks. This is illustrated in the following- section
observed in the Dacy shaft and drill hole at Ragged Top
camp:
SHAFT—
Limestone .505 feet.
DRILL HOLE —
Limestone 70 "
Sandy lime-shale 80 "
Variegated shale 167 "
Black shale 5 "
Green sandy shale 5 "
Black shale 17 "
Phonolite 37 "
Black shale 18 "
Variegated shale 19 "
Black shale 3 "
Variegated shale 19 "
Sand rock 5 "
Quartzite 23 "
Trachyte, not passed thro' 40 "
It is also illustrated in the partial view of the open cut
on the Homestake property (plate 9). The mines in Green
mountain near Portland are almost immediately beneath
a phonolite cap. The American Express mine in Sheeptail
gulch has a roof of porphyry, and in the Sundance near
Terry more than half of the ore is capped by similar ma-
terial. The same is true in many places in the Big Bo-
nanza on Fantail gulch and in the Decorah, and doubtless
further investigation would show a like condition in many
other mines. In the Union shaft in Whitewood gulch a
considerable body of phonolite, which forms the base of the
Sugar Loaf laccolite, was penetrated before reaching the
sedimentary deposits, whose position in the shaft could be
fairly accurately inferred from the outcroppings along the
sides of the gulch in which the shaft is situated. In the
Tornado shaft only shales and sandstones are encountered.
Most of the shafts in Ruby basin have a depth of less than
three hundred feet. The Delaware shaft, however, about
one-half mile west of Aztec, in the southern part of the
Ruby basin, reached nearly six hundred feet in depth be-
lore encountering the quartzite.
00
0)
05
o
TH
0)
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
33
The structural relations of the Cambrian siliceous ores
show some complexity, but it is usually of such a nature
as to cause no serious hindrance to the proper. development
of mining property. Folding is occasionally observed,
faulting frequently occurs, and the igneous intrusions some-
times aid in concealing true stratigraphic relations. Fig-
ure 3, which represents an east-west section through Terry,
shows these features and readily indicates how it is possible
to mistake one ore-bearing horizon for several.
Practically all of the siliceous ore bodies are in the form
of shoots or channels in immediate connection with nearly
vertical fractures running in a direction parallel to the
longer diameters of the shoots. These fractures or " ver-
Fig. 2* Section through a faulted body of Siliceous Ore.
\
ticals " are usually slickensided and are frequently fault-
planes along which more or less movement has occurred.
This movement is well shown in the Cleopatra mine on
Squaw creek, where eleven ore shoots have been encoun-
tered, and in each case there has been faulting varying
from four to thirty feet. Figure 2 is a cross-section of one
CO
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 35
of these faulted ore bodies which in its general relations is
characteristic of all. The ore shoots vary considerably in
shape, but in the main are greatly elongated bodies having a
rounded or lenticular cross-section. They lie in a general
north-south direction and are practically parallel with each
other. Lateral branches or irregularities occasionally tend to
conceal the parallelism, but this is not frequent. The north-
south direction is perhaps best shown in Ruby basin, but
in the southern part of this area they become deflected to
the east. On Squaw creek the direction is nearly north-
west-southeast. In the Portland area the direction is said
to be approximately N 26° E. In the Galena district it is
somewhat indefinite.
In all cases the ore shoots conform closely to the struc-
ture of the bedded deposits — locally known as the flat or
blanket formation — with which it is found. The ore
bodies, when not disturbed by movements subsequent to
their formation, are seldom bounded by well-defined walls,
so that the change from ore to country rock is impercep-
tible by ordinary means and must be determined by fre-
quent assay. The ores must contain values sufficient to
meet the demands of the metallurgical prpcesses by which
they are treated, and whenever the average fails to reach
the required standard the lower grade peripheral ores are
not removed. It thus happens that in many instances the
real limits of the auriferous portions are not learned, and
in such cases the dimensions of the bodies are greater than
those given on the mine maps. They vary from the almost
imperceptible horizontal band or vertical seam along the
fracture to a body having a thickness of fifteen feet, a width
of more than one hundred feet, and a length of one-half
mile or more. In the Tornado mine owned by the Golden
Reward company one ore body has been worked one and
one-half miles and its terminals are not yet known. The
widest place observed was one hundred seventy-five feet.
Another body, also owned by the Golden Reward com-
pany, has been traced by workings a distance of five thou-
sand feet, and in one place the pay ore reached a width of
four hundred feet. Both of these are on the lower contact.
36 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Of the higher ore bodies one in the Cleopatra mine on
Squaw creek has been traced seven hundred feet, the great-
est width being thirty feet. Doubtless a thorough exam-
ination of mine maps would show others fully as worthy to
be noted. The distance between the ore bodies varies
widely. The eleven ore bodies thus far discovered on the
Cleopatra average sixty-five feet apart. In the Buxton
mine the average is said to have been not more than fifty
feet. Throughout much of the Ruby basin the distance
is scarcely greater than the above. In the east-west cross-
section through the Tornado shaft at Terry the width of
the workable ore bodies aggregate 729 feet of the total
4,172 feet represented. This is nearly one-fifth of the sec-
tion and is a remarkable showing in view of the fact that
one barren stretch of eleven hundred feet was encountered.
Exploratory work is carried on systematically and, as
may be inferred by the foregoing descriptions, with a con-
siderable degree of confidence. Whenever possible the
ore bodies are reached by means of a tunnel or adit from
the hillside, the opening being located in such a way that
the drifting may be carried along at right angles to- the
general direction in which the ore bodies are believed
to lie. This direction being approximately north and south
over much of the siliceous area, the exploratory tunnels run
generally nearly east and west. If the lower contact ores
are being searched for, the workings lie immediately upon
the lower quartzite. On the higher levels local conditions
govern the horizon to be explored. Where access to
quartzite by means of tunnels from the surface is not con-
venient or possible, shafting is resorted to. In this way
" sinking to quartzite " has become a common term among
the mining men. By means of preliminary surveys the ap-
proximate thickness of the rock series to be penetrated
may be learned and the amount of work required to reach
quartzite estimated with reasonable accuracy. Quartzite
being reached, the exploratory work in the form of east-
west drifts is prosecuted the same as along tunnels or adits
entering from the hillsides.
The Cambrian siliceous ores are classified as blue or un-
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 37
oxidized ore and red (or brown) or oxidized ore, the differ-
ence being that the red ore represents the weathered phase
of the blue ore, the disseminated particles of iron oxide in
the form of hematite (red) or limonite (brown) giving the
color to the weathered material. No very definite rules
can be formulated with reference to the relative position of
the two sorts of ore. Naturally the weathered ore is found
most abundantly near the outcrops or in those mines hav-
ing a thin covering, while the blue ore is in larger propor-
tion at considerable depths. In many places, however,
doubtless due largely to local structural conditions, red ore
and blue ore occur intimately associated apparently with-
out regularity of any kind. Frequently the ore breaks up
into rounded. or nodular blocks with concentric shells, the
inner more consolidated portions being not infrequently
made up of blue ore, while the outward shelly portions are
red or brown. This is known as " kidney " ore and indi-
cates in an excellent way that the red or brown ore is only
a weathered form of the blue.
Sometimes the ore partakes of the nature of a soft clay.
Certain mines near Portland have yielded considerable ore
of this character, and many mines elsewhere have produced
it in greater or less quantity. Recently Mr. Blatchford, of
the Golden Reward company, collected an extensive series
of such soft ores from the Ruby basin mines. Their color
ranges from almost pure white through various shades of
gray, yellow, red and brown to black. One peculiar bluish
gray variety, known as " miners' wax," is distinctly soapy
in appearance and feel, soft when first taken from the mine,
but, like most of the other varieties, becomes hardened af-
ter exposure for a few days to the air. The origin of these
clay ores is not known, but they seem in general to repre-
sent a highly weathered condition of the porphyry. The
values which they contain are not infrequently above the
average.
Iron is present in the ore chiefly in the form of hematite
or limonite in the oxidized ores and pyrite in the unoxidized
ores. Sulphur is always present in the unoxidized ores.
It occurs generally in combination with iron as pyrite, and
38 MINERAL RKSOURCKS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
occasionally with calcium as gypsum, with antimony as
stibnite, and with barium as barite. Calcium and magne-
sium are rarely absent. Fluorite is abundant in a few lo-
calities. Copper minerals are not infrequent. Tellurium
is present, it having been first observed by Dr. Richard
Pearce in ore from the Welcome mine at Terry. .Prof. F.
C. Smith has given some attention to its effect in metal-
lurgical processes. Silver is present in varying quantity,,
its average being about two ounces to the ton of ore.
Prof. F. C. Smith gives analyses for the oxidized and
unoxidized ore as follows:*
Oxidized (Red Ore).
Per Cent,
Silica 84.45
Alumina 4.07
Ferric oxide 7.28>
Calcium oxide 85>
Magnesium oxide 25-
Sulphur trioxide 3.71
Tellurium 8,426 oz. per ton.
Gold 574 oz, per ton.
Silver 2,875 oz. per ton.
Total 100,61
Unoxidized (Blue Ore).
' Per Cent.
Silica 68 ,748
Alumina 3.072
Iron 13 . 289
Sulphur ,,.,, 11.728
Gypsum 833
Fluorite 784
Phosphorus pentoxide 842
Tellurium 4,03 oz. per ton.
Gold 325 oz, per ton.
Silver 10,55 oz, per ton.
Total 99.296
The typical ores are reorganized sandstones and shales,
which in their unchanged condition carry a greater or less
* Smith, F. C. The Potsdam Gold Ores of the Black Hills of South Dakota Am
Inst. Mm. EngM Trans.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 39
amount of calcium and magnesium carbonates. The rock
when massive and not sufficiently auriferous to be of value
is commonly known among the miners as usand rock."
The transition between the sand rock and the underlying
quartzite is sometimes sharp and sometimes gradual. Ir-
ving states that in those localities where the transition is
gradual the sand grains increase in abundance as one goes
downward, until dolomite appears merely as a cement.
The ore bodies represent chemical replacements of the
lime-magnesia material by siliceous solutions carrying gold,
the deposition being a metasomatic interchange of silica,
pyrite, etc., for the carbonates of lime and magnesia,
whether the latter are present only as a cement or as the
body of the rock. The carbonates doubtless acted as the
precipitating agents. The source of the gold was evidently
from the rocks beneath the Cambrian deposits. Whether
or not it all came from the Algonkian metamorphic rocks
or partly from still deeper sources is uncertain.
Mr. J. D. Irving outlines the history of the formation of
the ore bodies as follows : *
First occurred the intrusion of the older quartz-porphyries, which
produced much shattering. Contemporaneous with these there may
have been a certain amount of ore deposition, but not that to which
the main siliceous ore bodies owe their origin. Later the eruption
of the phonolites took place, cutting and shattering the older erup-
tives and adding to the number of fissures in the sedimentary rocks.
Subsequent to all of these intrusions, and probably separated from
them by only a brief interval of time, came a long period during
which heated solutions containing fluorine and silica and other
powerful mineralizers gradually replaced the carbonate of lime in
.the more soluble strata of the Cambrian. The chemical activity of
these solutions was increased by the heat and mineralization derived
from the newly injected phonolites. They passed up through the
Algonkian slates and schists, becoming much enriched by the leach-
ing out of the gold from the rocks. Finally they reached the very
calcareous and porous rocks of the Cambrian, and by a metasomatic
interchange, produced the horizontal ore bodies that are found to-
day.
Many difficulties were encountered in the earlier treat-
ment of these ores, hence the history of their development
* A Contribution to the Geology of the Northern Black Hills. Annals N. Y. Acad.
Sci., Vol. XII, 1899, No. 9, p. 311.
40 MINERAL RKSOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
i
is a matter of some interest. Prof. Smith gives the follow-
ing facts in this connection:
The history of the Potsdam ores commences in 1877, when Mr. A.
J. Smith, of Portland, South Dakota, located the Empire mine on
Green mountain and later the Trojan, Perseverance and Indispen-
sable in the same vicinity. In 1879 the first engine was erected to
supply power for the treatment of these ores; with it an arrastrewas
run upon ores from the Empire mine averaging- about $35 per ton.
The saving in precious metals was little or nothing, and the attempt
was discontinued after about two months. In 1880 the Portland Min-
ing company, owning the Portland, Gustavus and Pilgrim mining
claims, built a mill (which still stands idle near the old town of
Portland) for the treatment of these ores by pan-amalgamation ;
later this company purchased the Empire, Trojan, Indispensable,
Perseverance, Folger and Olive claims. Pan-amalgamation saved
about 50 per cent of the silver and 30 per cent of the gold ; and vari-
ous other processes, such as "free-milling," kiln-roasting and chlo-
rination, and cyanide lixiviation, were t,ried without success. In 1883
the Welcome Mining company passed through a similar history of
unfortunate metallurgical experiment upon their property near the
head of Fantail gulch. In 1886 the Buxton mill was built by the
Buxton Mining company, and experiment made there by Mr. O. P.
Ankeny by the use of bromine seemed to have stopped just short of
success, probably on account of disadvantages which, at the present
date, would not surround the experiment. About this time the sili-
ceous ores were successfully treated by the Plattner process in the
metallurgical department of the School of Mines. In 1889 the Golden
Reward Gold Mining company erected a plant in Deadwood for the
treatment of the Potsdam ores by barrel chlorination, commencing
in April, 1891, with a capacity of fifty tons per day. In 1890 the Dead-
wood and Delaware Smelting company built the small experimental
smelting plant in Deadwood, which has sinoe grown so largel}^.
Two years later, or in 1892, a small cyanide plant was erected in
Deadwood by the Black Hills Gold and Extraction company; and in
November, 1895, the Kildonan Milling company started chlorination
works at Pluma [ a short distance from Deadwood ] with a capacity
of about seventy-five tons per day.*
Prior to the erection of the Deadwood and Delaware
smelter (now the Golden Reward smelter) and the Golden
Reward chlorination plant (destroyed by fire in 1899), both
of which proved successful, siliceous ore assaying less than
* The Potsdam Gold Ores of the Black Hills, Am, Inst. Min. Eng., Trans , Vol.
XXVII, 1897.
03
S
§1
<M
o z
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 41
about $30 a ton could not be utilized. By 1894 the proc-
esses had been sufficiently perfected to allow for the profit-
able treatment of $15 ore. Since the recent introduction
of the cyanide process, ores much below $15 have proven
profitable and in favorable instances ores as low as $3 have
yielded fair return.
CARBONIFEROUS SILICEOUS ORES. — Gold was discov-
ered in remunerative quantities in the Corboniferous lime-
stone near Ragged Top mountain in 1896. A shaft had
been sunk in 1886 on the Silver Ridge property north of
the mountain, the rock there having something the appear-
ance of the silver-bearing rock at the Iron Hill mine to
the northeast, but nothing of permanent value was found
and the shaft was abandoned. Ten years later, however,
a fortunate assay of material found three hundred yards
west of the Silver Ridge shaft gave a value of $200 in gold
to the ton. Other good ore was quickly found, and a local
boom immediately followed.
The discoveries of importance referred to were made on
detached boulders or fragments, but further prospecting
located the ore in long fissures or " verticals " both to the
north and the south of Ragged Top, but chiefly to the
north on what is known as the Dacy or Balmoral flat.
These so-called verticals are perpendicular crevices in the
massive limestone, partially or wholly rilled with a siliceous
mass of brecciated limestone containing more or less iron
oxide and calcite. Active mining operations were carried
on along these verticals, seven in number, during the years
1896—97 and then ceased, the ore becoming too lean to be
profitably worked.
The greatest thickness of the verticals at the surface was
approximately ten feet, but all are said to have become
narrower with depth. The average depth of ore of suf-
ficient value to work — at that time approximately twenty
dollars in gold to the ton — was about sixty feet, although
the Balmoral and the Dacy considerably exceeded this
depth. The Dacy vertical, the largest producer, has been
traced along the surface a distance of two thousand feet or
more. Its direction is N 35° W and the general trend of
42 MINERAL RKSOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
the other verticals is about N 45° W. The walls are illy
defined, lateral enrichments sometimes occur, and the ore
when not brecciated is scarcely different in appearance
from the lean or barren limestone enclosing the ore body.
The ore is usually slightly darker, however, and is always
harder, owing to the presence of the silica. Professor
Smith gives the following analysis of Dacy ore:*
Per Cent.
Moisture.... 0.110
Volatile matter 0.802
Silica 90.990
Alumina 2.970 .
Ferrous oxide 3.024
Calcium oxide 1 . 138
Magnesium oxide trace
Tellurium. .. .29.26 oz. per ton.
Gold 17.34 oz. per ton.
Silver 1 .21 oz. per ton.
Total 99.034
A few miles north of Ragged Top mountain on the Cle-
opatra property a small vertical has been found in the lime-
stone apparently similar in every way to those found on the
Dacy flat. This has not been exploited.
The Ulster mine, situated a little to the east of the Dacy
flat proper, shows a different occurrence of ore, the origin,
however, being evidently much the same as those of the
Dacy type. I quote from Mr. Irving concerning the nature
of this deposit:
In the Ulster mine the ore occurs in contact zones between the
limestone and a very irregularly intruded mass of porphyry. This
is cut by a dike of dense green phonolite, and the ore seems to have
resulted from the silicifications of brecciated limestone, which has
been fractured by the intrusion of Twin peaks and other porphyry
bodies in the Cambrian below. Brilliant purple fluorite occurs in
great quantities. The ore is irregularly distributed. It may thin to
a mere streak, and again open out to a very large and thick mass.
The values obtained are very high, running frequently up to $150
per ton, and in one instance $1000 per ton.j
* The Potsdam Gold Ores of the B^ack Hills, Am. Inst. Min. Eng., Trans., Vol
XXVII.
t A Contribution to the Geology of the Northern Black Hills. N. Y. Acad. Sci., An-
nals, Vol. XII, 1899, No. 9, pp. 313-314.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 43
The total output of the verticals north of Ragged Top,
including the Ulster, has been estimated at $250,000. The
principal producers have been the Dacy, the Balmoral, the
Ulster, the Ragged Top, the Sterner, the Little Bud and
the Doyle. No statistics are at hand giving the produc-
tion of the verticals further south.
After active work upon the verticals had ceased the dis-
covery was made that the massive limestone itself is some-
times impregnated over considerable areas with an encour-
aging percentage of gold. In several places, particularly
to the south and southwest of Ragged Top mountain, it has
been learned that with metallurgical processes now avail-
able this impregnated material can be treated with profit.
The pioneer company in the development of this sort of
ore is the Spearfish Gold Mining and Reduction company,
their property lying on the high limestone flat between
Ragged Top mountain and Spearfish canyon. A 256-ton
cyanide plant, built by the company in 1899, continued in
successful operation until its destruction by fire in October,
1901. During the past summer the Deadwood Standard
Mining company erected a cyanide plant immediately south
of the Spearfish company's property, the ore from the two
properties being practically identical. Other plants are
now in process of erection.
The ore is in close association with intrusions of trachy-
toid phonolite, the origin of the ore being due to the
presence of the igneous rock. A shallow shaft on the
Spearfish property cuts through six feet of phonolite with
ore above and below, while in a tunnel on the same prop-
erty the roof is phonolite, the ore lying immediately be-
neath.
The ore looks much like ordinary gray limestone weath-
ered to a rather soft and porous condition and containing
iron oxide and silica. The gold content is not high, but
the ore is easily mined and cheaply treated, hence may be
worked with considerable profit. On the Spearfish ground
where the ore body is most extensively exploited, the ore
under favorable conditions of weather is simply quarried
in large open pits. Tunnels for underground winter work
44 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
have been made, but they nowhere extend far beneath the
surface. In the neighboring properties similar conditions
of mining and treatment prevail.
One feature of interest in connection with the ore, but
which has not received careful study, is the apparent oc-
currence of the values along well developed or incipient
joint planes. The ore demands much less crushing than
is generally the case with the more highly siliceous ores,
particularly the Cambrian quartzite ores. In some of the
Yellow creek mines, however, coarse crushing is sufficient
for quartzite, and it is possible that in such instances the
gold content is also distributed along the illy disclosed joint
planes. This condition of distribution is beautifully shown
•So.7iSroc.fc"
Fig. 4. Ore following joints in the Cleopatra Mine.
on an enlarged scale in one part of the Cleopatra mine as
illustrated in figure 4, where the joint blocks are impreg-
nated with gold only along the joint planes.
The origin of the Carboniferous gold ores is practically
the same as that of the Cambrian ores. Siliceous solutions
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 4o
carrying gold have removed original calcite, leaving silica
instead, the exchange taking place subsequent to the in-
trusion of the igneous rocks in post-Cretaceous time. The
ore bodies are vertical on the Dacy flat and elsewhere, ap-
proximately horizontal in the properties owned by the
Spearfish and the Deadwood Standard mining companies,
and irregular in the Ulster. The intrusions have affected
the country rock differently in the different localities, and
the various positions and shapes of the ore masses are sim-
ply due to the form and direction of the particular fissure
through which the solutions reached the limestone.
PLACER DEPOSITS. — Placer gold is found in the gravel
bars of all of the present streams and in the various terraces
which line their valleys. Few of these deposits have failed
to yield gold in paying quantity, and many have produced
handsomely. French and Castle creeks were first success-
fully prospected, but Rapid creek, Battle creek, White-
wood gulch, Spearfish creek and their tributaries followed
quickly thereafter. The richer deposits of all of these
streams are now either practically exhausted or are in
such position with reference to water supply that they can
no longer be worked extensively with profit.
Most of the placer gold during the height of the placer
mining activity was obtained by the simple methods of
panning, rocking and ordinary sluicing. Sluicing was car-
ried on wherever possible, but in many of the gulches flow-
ing water was available in quantity only during the early
part of the year while the melting snows and the spring
rains were contributing to the volume of the streams. For
this reason the light rocker, easily carried or wheeled from
one reservoir or pool of water to another, was often utilized.
The Rockerville mining camp was especially noted for the
large number of these rockers, hence the name of the camp
as well as the name of the gulch on which the camp was lo-
cated. Here by this simple method during the years
1877-79 gold to the amount of approximately one-half mil-
lion dollars was obtained. Even at the present time the
rocker may be seen occasionally in use on this gulch, where
fair wages may be obtained by the careful workman, al-
46 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
though hampered by the necessity of bringing the gravel1
from the pit to the water's edge by means of a wheelbar-
row.
In general the sluicing was of the most economical na-
ture. Shallow ditches and temporary flumes were made
by the individual claim owner or by the combined energies
of the several owners of adjoining claims, and the gold sep-
arated by the water thus obtained.
In at least three instances hydraulic mining was at-
tempted, namely at Rockerville, near Pactola, and along
Battle creek. The Rockerville enterprise, perhaps the
most extensive of the three, consisting of the building of
a seventeen-mile box flume from a reservoir on Spring
creek two miles above Sheridan along a winding and dif-
ficult mountain course to the high u dry diggings " near
Rockerville, which extend as much as four hundred fifty
feet above the bed of Spring creek one and one-half miles
to the north, where that stream approaches nearest the de-
posits. The flume, built by the Black Hills Placer Mining
company, was begun in 1878 and was completed two years
later at a cost of $210,000. Operations were carried on
for about two years and approximately $500,000 in gold
obtained. Litigation then suspended operations and the
flume was abandoned. About the year 1880 the Estrella
del Norte company constructed flumes aggregating several
miles in length above and below Pactola on Rapid creek,
where work was prosecuted for several years with indiffer-
ent success. The third effort was made by .the Harney
Hydraulic Gold Mining company in 1883. In the attempt
to secure sufficient water both Grizzly gulch and Battle
creek were tapped, the flumes uniting at the mouth of
Grizzly gulch and extending as one flume down Battle
creek to Mitchell's bar below the present site of Keystone.
Some gold was obtained, but this enterprise like the two
others was soon abandoned without reaping the return
hoped for.
The most noted placer localities were those of Dead-
wood, Nigger Hill and Rockerville. The Deadwood area
(plate 13) included the following important gulches: Dead-
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 47
wood (sometimes known as the great bonanza gulch of the
Hills), Whitewood, Gold Run, Blacktail and Bobtail. In
the Nigger Hill district the principal placer streams were
Bear gulch, Potato gulch, Nigger gulch, Sand creek, Pop-
lar gulch and Mallory gulch. The Rockerville area was
made up chiefly of a high terrace several square miles in
extent, together with the various small gulches leading off
from this terrace.
The rich nature of the Deadwood placers was discovered
in November, 1875, at wmcn time Discovery claim was
located by William Lardner and others on Deadwood
gulch a little below the mouth of Blacktail gulch. The
Nigger Hill deposits were discovered a few weeks earlier
than those of the Deadwood locality, while the Rockerville
gold was not found until more than a year later. Many
other localities, although not producing so largely as those
given, have nevertheless added greatly to the total output.
Some streams of considerable importance lie mostly
within areas covered by stratified rocks and have had little
opportunity to collect and concentrate gold. Box Elder
creek and Elk creek as well as most of the streams south
of French creek, are of this class. Concerning the French
creek placers over which there has been much disappoint-
ment Prof. Jenney says:
I regard the poverty of the French Creek deposits, compared with
those afterward discovered on the streams farther north, to be due
to a deficiency in the source of supply, owing to the small area
drained by the streams, the small amount of denudation to. which
the ledges in this area have been subjected, and to a want of suf-
ficient grade in the valley to cause concentration of the gold into a
pay channel. Had all of the gold diffused through the valley of
French creek been concentrated into a narrow lead or pay channel,
it would have made claims as rich as the most enthusiastic miner
would have desired *
The high valleys of French creek and Battle creek lie
among granites and schists chiefly, while the streams fur-
ther north traverse areas made up mostly of shales, quartz-
ites and late eruptives, the main trend of the streams in
* Geology of the Black Hills, p, 238.
48 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
nearly all cases being across the general strike of the up-
turned rocks. The character of the rocks has much to do
with the nature of the stream valleys and therefore of the
gold concentration. The schists give way to broad valleys
and parks checked here and there by peaks and ridges of
harder rocks; while the quartzites and siliceous slates, by
their greater resistance to weathering action, present steep
slopes and precipitous canyons, along the bottoms of which
the energetic streams must thread their way.
Of all of the streams Rapid creek leads in the areal ex-
tent of its placer deposits! For forty miles these deposits
line its course and range in successive steps from the creek
bed to various heights above. Much of the gold is in fine
particles, particularly below the union of Castle and Little
Rapid creeks, and much of the placer material is made up
of heavy boulders, so that it is not easy to secure the values.
The gold lies chiefly upon or near the bed rock, although
occasional streaks of value are found higher in the deposits,
the deposits being made up of a heterogeneous mixture of
sand, pebbles, boulders, clay, etc., collected from the sur-
rounding country rocks.
The gold from the various streams differs slightly in
color and other physical characters and in chemical com-
position, but in all cases a high percentage of purity is
shown. The following analyses indicate this fact:
Gold. Silver. Base Metal.
Spring Creek* 937.8 45.9 . 16.3
Spring Creek* 946.4 50.4 3.2
Spring Creekt 934. 49. 17.
French Creekj 933. 55. 12.
Rapid Creekt 940. 60.
Deadwood Gulch| 907. 93.
Castle creek and Battle creek have yielded considerable
coarse gold, as have also the many streams of the northern
Hills, particularly those of the Nigger Hill district. The
following record of the largest Black Hills nuggets has
been collected with care and, although incomplete, is be-
lieved to be correct as far as given:
* Jenney, W. P. Geology of the Black Hills, pp. 249-250.
t Scott, Samuel. Map of the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyomjiig, etc., 1897.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 49
Nugget on Discovery claim, Bear gulch, found in 1875 by Portigee
Frank, value $18.
Nugget on Montana bar near Sheridan, 1875, name of finder un-
known, value $23.
Nugget on Claim No. 32, Bear gulch, 1876, by John McTigue,
value $51.
Nugget on Claim No. 28, Potato creek, 1876, by Frank Mantz, value
$146.
Nugget on Claim No. 23, Bear gulch, 1877, by E. St. John, value $57.
Nugget on Claim No. 12, Potato Cr., 1877, by Frank Mantz, value $90,
Nugget on Claim No. 31, Bear gulch, 1877, by E. St. John, value $56.
Nugget on Mallory gulch, 1878, by John Majors, value $81.
Nugget on Centennial gulch, 1878, by Peter Thorson, value $120,
Nugget (the largest ever found in the Black Hills) on Claim No.
37, Bear gulch, 1879, by " Doc " Wing, value $465.
Nugget on Claim No, 16, Bear gulch, 1879, by David Gillespie,
value $54,
Nugget on Sand creek, 1881, by William Bell, value $78.
Nugget on Claim No. 12, Bear gulch, 1882, by E. St. John, value $51,
Nugget on Mallory gulch, 1883, by M. R. Hydliff, value $117.
Nugget on Claim No. 5, Bear gulch, 1887, by Jas. McCoun, value $53.
Nugget on Ruby gulch, 1890, by Samuel Moll, value $27.
Nugget on Sand creek, 1893, by M. R. Hydliff, value $63.
Nugget on Poplar gulch near Inter Ocean mine, 1893, by Messrs,
Heavirlan and Mulheisen, value $57.
Nugget on Lightning creek, 1899, by Lee and Chas. Carr, value $43.
Most of these nuggets were well rounded pebbles of gold
almost or quite free from extraneous matter. The $465
and the $117 nuggets were exceptions, a considerable part
of their volumes being taken up by quartz.
Associated with the gold in the placers are garnets, hem-
atite and limonite pebbles, columbite, tantalite, cassiterite
and other less noticeable minerals. The garnets are abun-
dant in most of the streams, particularly in those of the
central and southern Hills. Columbite and tantalite are
not uncommon in the Harney peak region and are abun-
dant in the Nigger Hill district. Cassiterite occurs in
pretty much the same streams as the columbite and tanta-
lite, it being found in such abundance in the Nigger Hill
gulches as to have furnished considerable annoyance to the
miners before its nature was learned. It is now a source
of not a little profit. Platinum, although diligently searched
50 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
+
for, appears not to have be'en found. Professor Carpenter
mentions the finding of remains of the mammoth, Elephas
pritnigenius, and recently a well worn tooth found near
Hayward was presented to the School of Mines.
TAILINGS. — It is well known that in the various processes
for treating ores more or less of the values fail of extrac-
tion. Occasionally in the past this has been a matter of
consequence, but within recent years careful study of the
metallurgical needs of the various ores has greatly lessened
this loss.
During the past two years a small cyanide plant has
successfully treated the tailings of the now dismantled
Rapid City chlorination works, and at the present time a
small plant is treating the silver-bearing tailings from the
old Iron Hill works near Carbonate.
Attention has also been directed to the vast quantities
of tailings from the Homestake mills scattered along the
bed of Whitewood creek for a distance of several miles
below Lead. Previous to the installation of the great cya-
nide plant near the mills much of the concentrates were
saved and smelted, but considerable values escaped into
the creek. This material has been more or less concen-
trated by the ordinary stream action, but in a few instances
special effort has been exerted to collect it in localities fa-
vorable for future operations. Plate 16 gives a view of a
large body of these tailings collected at Pluma, between
Lead and Deadwood. During the past summer four cya-
nide plants have treated these tailings in as many different
places on Whitewood creek.
METHODS OF TREATMENT. - - The gold ores of the
Black Hills, as indicated on the previous pages, are free-
milling, partly free-milling, and refractory.
The treatment of the free-milling ores present few dif-
ficulties, the ordinary amalgamating stamp mills securing
the values in a highly satisfactory manner. The refractory
ores are more complicated. Other things besides the re-
fractory nature of the ores, such as richness, conveniences
for shipping, competitive prices for treatment, etc., enter
into the selection of methods to be adopted.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 51
At the present time two methods of treatment prevail,
namely, smelting and cyaniding. Chlorination processes
entered into the earlier treatment, large plants having been
erected at Pluma, Rapid City and Deadwood. None of
these are now in operation.
For more than ten years the Golden Reward smelter
(plate 14)' — formerly known as the Deadwood and Dela-
ware smelter — of Deadwood, has been successfully treat-
ing large quantities of medium and high grade siliceous
ores, chiefly from the Bald Mountain-Ruby Basin region.
In addition to this smelter in Deadwood, another large one
with extensive modern improvements is now building in
Rapid City.
Recently much interest has been shown in the develop-
ment of the cyanide process, the low-grade oxidized sili-
ceous ores readily yielding their values by this method.
At the close of the year 1901 six cyanide plants were in
successful operation on various ores, the largest being the
Homestake tailings plant with a capacity of thirteen hun-
dred tons daily. Another at the Cleopatra mine is shown
in plate 17. Eight other plants were completed, but of
these two had been destroyed by fire, one was dismantled,
and five were idle. Six other plants are now in course of
erection.
The partly free-milling ores combine the methods of
treatment of the free-milling and the refractory ores. Such
of the values as are free are extracted by amalgamation
and the concentrates are sent to the smelter.
Individual ores present their peculiar difficulties, and the
details of treatment in each plant vary in many ways, but
it is no purpose of this paper to enter into a description of
the various methods. Most of the literature on the subject
is readily accessible to those interested.
OUTPUT. — In a short paper entitled " The Production
of Gold in the Black Hills," published in The Aurum, Vol.
i, No. i, Rapid City, South Dakota, I have considered the
merits of various estimates of the output of gold from the
Black Hills. Without entering here into the details of
that paper, it may be said that in the light of all available
52
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
sources of information the following series of statistics ex-
pressed in round numbers appears to represent with fair
accuracy the annual gold output:
Gold Output of the Black Hills.
Year.
Output.
Year.
Output.
Year.
Output.
1875
$ 10,000
1884
$3,300,000
.1893
$4,000,000
1876
1,400,000
1885
3,200,000
1894
3,900,000
1877
2,000,000
1886
2,700,000
1895
3,900,000
1878
3,000,000
1887
2,400,000
1896
5,000,000
1879
3,600,000
1888
2,600,000
1897
5,700,000
1880
4,200,000
1889
2,900,000
1898
5,700,000
1881
4,000,000
1890
3,200,000
1899
6,500,000
1882
3,300,000
1891
3,600,000
1900
6,200,000
1883
3,200,000
1892
3,700,000
1901
7,000,000
Total
$100,210,000
FUTURE PROSPECTS. — The annual gold production of
the Hills, as indicated in the above table, has increased al-
most steadily for a number of years. In the earliest history
of the Hills, placer deposits furnished the chief output and
were practically exhausted before the cement ores became
of importance. The cement ores in turn declined almost
co-incidently with the rising influence of the Homestake
belt. The Homestake belt continued for several years the
only extensive producer, the quartz vein and other mines
generally showing little disturbance of the annual output.
With the discovery of successful metallurgical processes
by which the values in the siliceous ores could be saved, a
new and important factor in the gold production was intro-
duced. The tendency has been to continually lessen the
cost of treatment of the siliceous ores, so that lower grades
of ore could be utilized. Thus it has happened that the
siliceous ore mines now rival the Homestake in output,
even though the latter has greatly enlarged its working
equipment. As a consequence, two constantly growing
factors are at present aiding .each other in swelling the
production, while never before has there been so great ac-
tivity in the mines not classed with the siliceous ore and
the Homestake mines.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 53
Individuals or companies with sufficient means to prop-
erly prospect for ore bodies, and influenced by intelligent
study of geological conditions, are constantly disclosing
abundant values in localities formerly supposed to be bar-
ren. Indeed it may be said that new ore bodies of low and
high grade are revealing themselves as rapidly now as at
any time in the history of the region, and there is every
reason to believe that for many years to come the annual
output of gold will continue enhancing in value.
COPPER.
The first prospectors in the Black Hills noted the pres-
ence of copper, and a few claims were early located.
Among the earliest of these were the Blue Lead ( pro-
nounced Leed^) one mile east of Sheridan, the first county
seat of Pennington county; and the Black Hills Copper
company's property six miles west of Rochford, also in
Pennington county. For many years little more than as-
sessment work was done on any of the properties located,
and, although considerable interest has centered around
some of the claims, none were exploited sufficiently to es-
tablish their value.
The constant demand for copper ore at the local smelt-
ers for use in the reduction of the refractory gold ores, and
the enhanced value of native copper during the past two
or three years, have greatly heightened the interest in the
copper possibilities of the Hills. Many new claims have
been located, abandoned claims have been relocated and
worked with greater energy, and in a few places many
thousand dollars have been spent in the effort to find de-
posits of positive value.
The deposits, in so far as surface conditions seem to in-
dicate them, are numerous, extensive and well distributed,
but as yet none have become steadily productive. Some
study has been made of their relative position, and while
the properties located are commonly spoken of as being
roughly arranged along two north and south belts, one
near the central portion of the metamorphic area and the
other near its western edge, it is doubtful if this relation-
54 MINERAL RKSOURCKS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ship is an important or even a real one. Beginning with
the Blue Lead near Sheridan on Spring creek and going
northward, we find near Pactola on Rapid creek the Poi-
soned Ox, the Copper Reef and the Copper Glance. On
the county line near the head waters of Bogus Jim creek
is the Rio Tinto. Further north, one-half mile southeast
of Nemo on the Box Elder is the Holy Fright, and three
miles northwest of this is the Copper Castle. The line,
then gradually deflecting more to the west, crossing Elk
creek near Elk Creek station, crosses Windy flats north of
Perry, then by rather obscure outcroppings reaches Dead-
wood, within the city limits of which considerable explora-
tory work has been done. Occasional prospects are re-
ported, extending from Deadwood southwestward to the
county line, near which are grouped the Copper Cliff, the
British American and the Black Hills. These lie near the
South Fork of Rapid creek northwest and west of Roch-
ford. Southward two or three miles is the Reynolds prop-
erty and still further south the Palmer property. West of
Hill City is the Mastiff, and beyond this southward are the
Truax and the Vigilante. Other prospects of more or less
interest lie along the lines indicated, while some have been
found having no apparent relation to these lines.
Practically all of these properties carry a copper stained
gossan, some of them showing it in great quantity and not
infrequently with a considerable amount of copper. In
sinking through this gossan a leached material known as
".ash" is reached. This is a soft black decomposed slate
quite free from minerals of value.
Thus far no one has gone through this ash, but the Black
Hills Copper company is now working to this end, their
inclined double-compartment shaft of eight hundred feet
having penetrated beneath the surface to a perpendicular
depth of more than four hundred feet. At the Blue Lead
a tunnel cutting below the surface outcroppings a perpen-
dicular distance of more than six hundred feet, has pene-
trated the unchanged slates charged with iron and copper
pyrites. Thus, notwithstanding the great amount of work
done, the lower limit of the ash is not yet reached and the
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 55
conditions in the zone between the ash and the sulphides
remain to be learned.
The Black Hills copper deposits are frequently compared
with the Ducktown, Tennessee, deposits and apparently
with much reason. The country rock is much the same
in general character, the structure is not greatly different,
the general dip of the veins approximately the same, the
gossan or iron hat in each instance well developed, the
leached and decomposed slates equally prominent, and the
sulphides below contain more or less copper. Nickel is
said to be present. The chief similarity to be yet estab-
lished, if such similarity exists, is in the intermediate zone
not yet penetrated in the Black Hills, but which, being the
horizon at which were found the valuable sulphide enrich-
ments of the Ducktown deposits, holds perhaps the key to
the successful development of the Black Hills deposits.
That such enrichments exist here is quite possible, and the
indications are that they may be found.
Mr. W. H. Weed, of the United States Geological Sur-
vey, has recently set forth in a very clear manner the gen-
eral conditions governing the enrichment of mineral veins
by later metallic sulphides, and, while not including refer-
ences to the Black Hills deposits, the evident application
to this region of many of the facts presented by him makes
his paper one of particular value at the present time to
those interested in the development of Black Hills copper
properties. He indicates how the leaching of a relatively
lean primary ore, commonly by surface or descending wa-
ters, but occasionally by deep-seated waters, will supply
the material in solution for such enrichments ; how the un-
altered sulphides, especially pyrite, will induce precipita-
tion; how the material precipitated is crystalline; how a
number of mineral species are commonly formed, and are
now forming, in veins by such reactions; and how such
minerals deposited in quantity may form ore bodies of con-
siderable size (bonanzas) or may be disseminated through
the lean primary ore in strings and patches, thus enriching
the ore body as a whole and even making a former low
grade body of sufficient value to work. Concerning the
56 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
chemical reactions involved in the leaching of the gossan
zone he says:
„ Surface waters descending- through the relatively porous and
open textured gossan of a vein are normally oxidizing, and on pass-
ing- downward usually attack the unaltered sulphides and deepen
and extend the zone of the gossan. As the waters descend they are
robbed of their oxygen by the sulphides which they decompose, and
percolating further downward the waters which at first were strongly
oxidizing in character are now charged with various salts and fre-
quently with free sulphuric acid. They are still descending waters
of surface origin, but have lost all the characters commonly ascribed
to surface waters. This change is, of course, due to the reactions in-
volved in the changing of the vein minerals to gossan. The com-
mon metallic sulphides of veins are pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite,
tetrahedrite, enargite, bornite, galena (with which quartz is most
commonly associated as a gangue mineral) and a little less com-
monly calcite and other carbonates, and barite, etc. The changes
by which this mixture is converted into a mass of porous, more or
less pure limonite are briefly as follows: the pyrite alters to a mix-
ture of iron sulphates and sulphuric acid, which, reacting on more
P3^rite, eventually forms a mixture of hydrated oxides (limonite
ores). The reactions commonly assumed are as follows:
2.
3.
4. S + O3 + H2O = H2S04.
5. 2FeSO4 + O + H2SO4 =
6. FeS-f Fe2(S04)3 = 3FeS04 + S.
Pyrrhotite, if present, is attacked as in the second equation given.
* * * * Chalcopyrite being Cu2S, Fe2S3, the iron sulphide
molecule }Tields more readily to attacking solutions of ferric sul-
phate (which by hydrolosis are acid) than the cupric sulphide, and
the iron is removed and Cu2 S left as the amorphous powder seen.
* * * * If the amount of ferric sulphate present is relatively small,
copper oxide and carbonates will be formed in the lower part of the
gossan and in cracks and fissures in the underlying sulphide ores,
be they original or secondary.*
The amount of copper ore thus far produced in the Black
Hills has been very small. On several properties where
extensive work has been done, and from which few ship-
* Weed, Walter Harvey. Enrichment of Mineral Veins by Later Metallic Sulphides.
Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 1900, Vol. II, pp 179-206.
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MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 57
orients have been made, the select ore heaps represent con-
siderable value, but the chief object has been the exploita-
tion of the properties rather than the immediate mining of
ore. Occasional shipments are made for the purpose of
testing the quality of the ore or to secure funds for defray-
ing the running expenses of development work, the smelt-
ers willingly purchasing the material for fluxing purposes,
but aside from this the ore has not been utilized.
IRON.
Iron ore bodies of some apparent importance are found
in various places within the Hills. Freight rates have pre-
vented the extensive development of these ore bodies, and,
except in the case of two or three deposits, almost nothing
has been done toward learning their nature and extent.
Small quantities of ore have been occasionally used for
fluxing purposes by local smelters, and in 1893-94 one
hundred sixty-five cars of ore were shipped from Nahant
to the smelters at Omaha and Kansas City.
Hematite is abundant on Box Elder creek. Concerning
these deposits Newton says:
On Box Elder creek, a ridge some 400 feet in height is composed
of a vast deposit of siliceous hematite, which was estimated to be from
800 to 1000 feet in thickness across the upturned strata. Occasional
bands of almost pure specular hematite several inches in thickness
are found in the mass with frequent layers of highly crystallized
micaceous hematite. The body of the ferriferous strata, however, is
highly siliciferous and entirely useless as an iron ore, consisting of
thin strata an inch or less in 'thickness of specular hematite alter-
nating with siliceous slate or with pure white quartz in seams or ir-
regular masses, the whole presenting a remarkable resemblance to
the siliceous banded hematite of the Huronian of the Lake Superior
region. In other localities on the same creek hematites were also
found in the siliceous slates, but nowhere of any practical value, be-
cause of their highly siliceous character. The slates associated
with these iron deposits are commonly highly argillaceous as well
as siliceous, as is indicated by their color, texture and strong clayey
odor. Similar ferruginous slates occur also on the head waters of
Rapid creek a short distance north of the Elkhorn prairie.*
* Report on the Geology and Resources of the Black Hills of Dakota, 1880, pp 57-58.
58 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Since Newton's work in the Hills certain deposits have
been found near the Box Elder that are claimed to be fairly
free from silica and suitable for the production of iron.
Ten miles west-northwest of Rapid City, near Hat
mound, a body of compact red hematite has been exposed.
A partial analysis of this ore gave F e 2 O 3 , 82.05 Per cent
and S i O 2 , J5-49 per cent. The ore occurs in the form of
a vein enclosed by slates and quartzites and resembles
closely the better grade of Lake Superior hard ores. Two
varieties are observed. One is a very dense red ore which
breaks with smooth surfaces and with distinct conchoidal
fracture. The other has a less pronounced red color, is
slightly less compact, and breaks with a more uneven frac-
ture. The exposure is not large, it being confined to a
small rocky point near a small stream which runs north-
ward into Bogus Jim creek about one mile above>the point
where the latter joins Box Elder creek.
Another property that has attracted considerable atten-
tion is Iron mountain, situated on the Pennington-Custer
county line four miles south of Keystone, the nearest rail-
way station. The writer has not had opportunity to see
this interesting deposit, but the following description has
been obtained from Mr. Samuel Scott, of Custer. The ore
is in close association with granite, slate and quartzite.
The course of the vein is nearly northwest-southeast and
can be traced for several miles. The ore which seems to
be of value extends through a length of less than one mile.
On the county line the width of the vein is seven hundred
feet, but much of this is not good ore. A short distance
south of the line it reaches its greatest width — nine hun-
dred fifty feet. The material is hematite, limonite, " jasper
ore" and red ochre. The following analyses of the hema-
tite ore and the jasper ore were furnished by Mr. Scott,
the exact chemical formulas not being indicated:
Phosphorus
88
Manganese
1 97
Aluminium ....
1 46
1 21
Cooper
.41
Magnesium
47
Organic and volatile matter
Moisture. .
3.12
9.60
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 59
Hematite Ore. Jasper Ore.
Iron 55.40 60.43
6.24
.34
2.56
.36
.95
.10
.35
2.07
10.06
The ore contains also gold and silver. A series of three
hundred assays gave an average of $3.10 in gold and one-
half ounce of silver per ton.
It has been suggested that the iron may represent the
gossan of a copper ledge. Much of the ore resembles gos-
san, and considerable indications of copper have been found
in the immediate vicinity, but exploratory work has not
progressed sufficiently to give more than a conjecture on
this point.
So far as has been learned, with the exception of the
shipment from Nahant already mentioned, little or no iron
ore has been sent out of the Hills. Occasionally there is
a demand for ochre, and recently thirty car loads of such
material, obtained near Rochford, were ground at the Min-
eral Paint Works at Custer and sent to Aurora, Illinois,
there to be mixed with oil and prepared for market.
MANGANESE.
Manganese minerals are found widely distributed through
the Hills. A few deposits have attracted special attention,
and effort has been made to prove their economic value.
The chief occurrences are in the Algonkian in Pennington
and Custer counties; in the lowest thin beds of the Carbon-
iferous near Redfern, and in the Minnelusa sandstone near
Argyle. Careful analyses of samples are not available,
and little can be given by way of description of the depos-
its. The most extensive exposure seems to be at Argyle,
'The manganese minerals, chiefly pyrolusite, are dissemi-
nated through a thirty-five-foot sandstone stratum which is
60 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
well exposed in a cut at this place made by a tributary of
Red Canyon creek, the minerals being in places concen-
trated into compact layers or bunches several feet in thick-
ness. Light shipments have been made from one or two
localities, but it seems that none of the material has fully
met the requirements, and, so far as can be learned, little
development work is now being done.
SILVER AND LEAD.
With the exception of the small but fairly regular amount
of silver obtained from gold bullion, silver is closely asso-
ciated in the Black Hills with lead. Argentiferous galena
ores are found in the Galena district southeast of Dead-
wood, in the Carbonate district northwest of Deadwood,
and at Spokane, five miles southeast of Keystone. Galena
is occasionally found elsewhere, particularly in the vicinity
of Hayward and of Silver City, but apparently little or no
contribution to the output of the galena ores has been made
from other localities than the three mentioned. Cerargy-
rite, silver chloride, is abundant at Carbonate, particularly
in the Iron Hill mine. It is also found in the Trojan and
other mines near Portland. Cerussite, lead carbonate, oc-
curs in quantity both at Carbonate and at Galena.
The earliest developments worthy of note were made at
Galena, where in 1881 a smelter and a chloridizing plant
were erected. These were in operation more or less con-
tinuously until 1891, the chief production being during the
years 1881-84.
In 1886 silver-lead ores were found near Carbonate, the
discovery of lead-carbonate on the West Virginia claim
giving the camp its name. Large bodies of rich cerargy-
rite, galena and cerussite ores were disclosed in the Iron
Hill mine, and for two years or more this mine was the
dominating factor in the Black Hills silver production. A
smelter and a chloridizing plant were erected, but after a
run of about two years they closed down and all operations
ceased. During the period of activity much good ore es-
caped over the dump, and effort is being made at the pres-
ent time to recover this material.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 61
The Spokane mine produced considerable lead and silver
during the years 1898-1900. The mine is now idle.
The character of the ore bodies in the various localities
differs widely. They occur in the Algonkian in veins, in
the Cambrian as shoots, and in the Carboniferous as con-
tact deposits, the latter two graduating more or less into
each other.
The ores at Spokane, at Silver City and near Hayward
are in fairly well-defined quartz veins in the schists and
slates. Most of the galena is well crystallized, although at
Silver City a cryptocrystalline variety is found. At the
latter place antimony is not an uncommon associate, the
mineral jamesonite, zPbS, Sb2S3 occurring in some de-
posits.
At the Iron Hill mine the ore bodies occupy a nearly
vertical position along a porphyry dike where it cuts
through the massive limestone. Only the briefest descrip-
tions of this mine are found in the literature, and as it is now
nearly filled with water, few details can be given. Well
defined faulting is said to have been observed, and this has
apparently taken place subsequent to the deposition of the
ore. The ore, which has a peculiar jaspery appearance,
due to the large amount of limonite present, is locally
known as " liver colored rock." The jaspery nature of the
ore is not distinctive, however, since much *of the compar-
atively barren rock presents a similar appearance. Occa-
sionally the ore is distinctly granular and retains apparently
more of the original nature of the limestone of which the
ore is an impregnation.
The deposits in the vicinity of Galena are within the
Cambrian and are found both upon the lower quartzite
and in the higher shales. The lower contact ores consist
of hematite and carbonate of iron, together with small
quantities of lead and galena carrying gold and silver, the
gold predominating where the ores carry any considerable
value. The ores in the higher shales are found in various
horizons. These have been the chief source of the ore in the
district. Like the ores of the lower contact, they consist of
iron oxides with some carbonates of iron and lead, but in
places where the best ore bodies have been discovered large
62
MINERAL RKSOURCKS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
amounts of galena have occurred. Unlike the lower con-
tact deposits, these ores contain nearly their entire value
of precious metals in silver, there being rarely more than
mere traces of gold.* These ores, like the Iron Hill car-
boniferous ores, are impregnations due to secretions from
water which has gained access to the easily replaceable
calcareous materials through numerous vertical cracks or
fissures produced by the intrusion of the post-Cretaceous
igneous rocks, their origin being similar to that of the sili-
ceous gold ores described elsewhere in this paper.
Almost no definite statistics are at hand concerning the
output of lead from the Hills. The following table in
round numbers of the annual output of silver follows fairly
closely the statistics as given by the Mineral Industry and
by the Director of the Mint. The figures are evidently
defective in detail, particularly in the early eighties, but
the table as a whole is believed to be as nearly correct as
it is possible to make it with the data at hand:
Annual Silver Output of the Black Hills.
Year.
Output.
Year.
OutpuJ.
Year.
Output.
1875
1884
$150,000
1893
$182,000
1876
1885
100,000
1894
106,000
1877
1886
425,000
1895
206,000
1878
*
1887
540,000
1896
302,000
1879
$ 10,000
1888
100,000
1897
299,000
1880
71,000
1889
135,000
1898
197,000
1881
70,000
1890
129,000
1899
209,000
1882
175,000
1891
129,000
1900
129,000
1883
150,000
1892
100,000
1901
140,000
Total
$4,154,000
TIN.
Cassiterite was first identified in the Black Hills in 1876
by Mr. Richard Pearce, of Denver, Colorado, who de-
tected it as stream tin in gold dust from the northern Hills.
The second discovery was made on -Elk gulch in the south-
ern Hills in April, 1877. The material from the latter
place was assayed by Theodore Vosburg, but the true na-
* Barrell, R. W. Bear Butte Mineral Formation, Black Hills Mining Review, June
18, 1900, p. 7.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 63
ture of the bullion was first recognized by Mr. Fred J.
Cross.*
These discoveries seem not to have aroused any special
interest, and it was not until 1883 that the mineral attracted
particular attention. In June of that year Major A. J. Sim-
mons, of Rapid City, sent to General Gashwiler, of San
Francisco, specimens of a heavy dark colored mineral from
the Etta mine (plate 1 8), which upon examination proved to
be cassiterite of excellent quality. f At the time of the dis-
covery of the cassiterite the Etta was being exploited for
mica, but this work quickly ceased and the property in 1884
coming into the possession of the Harney Peak Tin Mining,
Milling and Manufacturing company, became one of the
chief centers of interest in the search for tin ore. During
this period of activity in prospecting, a vast sum of money
was spent by various companies, chief among which was the
Harney Peak company already mentioned. Hundreds of
mining claims were purchased, considerable exploratory
work was done, and several mills were erected. A few
thousand pounds of metallic tin were produced, but desired
results failed to appear, litigation ensued and operations
ceased. Various causes have been assigned for the failure
to realize better returns for the vast amount of money spent,
many mining men contending that the tin is present in
places in sufficient quantity to be worked with profit. The
deposits possess much of scientific interest, and in view of
their possible future value the following brief description is
given.
The cassiterite is found in place and as stream tin in two
districts, namely, the Harney Peak district in Pennington
and CuSter counties, and in the Nigger Hill district in the
northwestern part of the Hills near the Wyoming-South
Dakota line. The rock containing cassiterite in place is
an extremely coarse granite known a.s pegmatite, the peg-
matite occurring in the form of dikes. These dikes cut the
country rock in every direction, although generally in ac-
curate or approximate conformity with the schistosity when
* Headden, William P. Notes on the Discovery and Occurrence of Tin Ore in the
Black Hills, S. D. Col. Sci. Soc., Proc., Vol. Ill, pt. Ill, pp. 347-350.
* Blake, W. P. Tin. Min. Res. of the United States, 1883-84, U. 8. G. S., p. 602.
64 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
occurring in metamorphic rocks. They range in size up
to many yards in width and hundreds of yards in length.
When cutting through the country granite the dikes gen-
erally show a depression, due to the more rapid weathering
of the pegmatite, but in areas of schistose rocks its relative
rate of weathering is usually slower than the enclosing
rocks, hence it is often seen in such places as a projecting
mass, which not infrequently can be traced for considerable
distances by the topography alone.
The tin occurs almost alone in the form of cassiterite,
S n O 2 • Cupro-cassiterite occurs at the Etta, stannite has
been identified, and a peculiar hydrous oxide is occasionally
found, but aside from their scientific interest are of no value.
The cassiterite is found as a constituent mineral of the peg-
matite in crystals or masses of all sizes up to many pounds
weight. Some of the heavier masses at the Etta weighed
fifty or sixty pounds, and lumps of three or four pounds
were common.* Many claims afford crystals weighing
several ounces, and in some localities specimens suitable
for gems have been found, but most of the material in
all of the mines comes in fine particles. The mineral oc-
curs chiefly in a feldspar-muscovite aggregate, but is occa-
sionally found in a quartz-muscovite aggregate or in quartz
alone. »The following mineral associates are listed as hav-
ing been found :
Albite-oligoclase Griphite Petalite
Almandite Grossularite Quartz
Andalusite Heterosite Rutile
Apatite Ilmenite Scheelite
Arsenopyrite Lepidolite Scorodite
Autunite Lencopyrite Sphene
Barite Liebnerite Spinel
Beryl Lollingite Spodumene
Biotite Melanite Stannite
Bismuth Microcline Tantalite
Columbite Molybdenite Tourmaline
Corundum Monazite Triphyllite
Cupro-cassiterite Muscovite Triplite
Epidote Olivenite Wolframite
Galena Orthoclase Zircon
Graphite
* Blake, W. P. Tin. Min. Res. of the United States. 1883-84, U. S. G. S., p. 607.
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
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MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 65
A few of these minerals deserve special mention. Spod-
umene occurs in extremely large crystals, and being of
some economic importance on account of its lithia content,
receives a more extended notice elsewhere in this paper.
The beryl, the tourmaline and the columbite are also note-
worthy. Beryls one foot or more in length are not un-
common, and one crystal was found which measured four-
teen inches in diameter. Tourmaline is particularly abun^
dant, occurring in well defiaed crystals and in the massive
state, the crystals being sometimes 'six inches or more in
diameter. The columbite is found less widely distributed,
but well developed, and in the Bob Ingersoll mine one mass
obtained, said to be the largest known to mineralogical
science, weighed approximately one ton.* Cupro-cassiterite
.and the variety of triplite known as griphite are found only
in the Black Hills, the first mineral having been described
by Mr, Titus Ulkef and the second by ProL W. P. Head-
den. J
The cassiterite runs high in metallic tin, as indicated by
the following analyses : §
Stannic Oxide. Metallic Tin,
Per Cent, Per Cent,
Occidental mine , . . 96.42 75.86
Tin Mountain mine 97.5 76.7
First Find mine 94.7 74.5
Nigger Hill strea'm tin . , 92.6 72.84
Nigger Hill stream tin . . 93. 73.21
Southern Hills stream tin 92.8 73,
Professor Carpenter calls attention to the fact that while
the stream tin is clearly derived from the tin veins by dis-
integration, yet the vein tin carries a higher percentage of
the rnetal than does the stream tin, This is peculiar, as
alluvial tin is generally purer than lode tin, because dur-
ing the process of disintegration and transportation the
* Blake, William P. Columbite in the Black Hills of Dakota, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d Ser.
Vol. XXVIII, pp. 340-341.
t Ulke, Titus. A New Tin Mineral in the Black Hills, Am, Inst, Min. Kng., Trans,,
Vol. XXI, pp. 240-241,
$ Headden, William P, A New Phosphate from the Black Hills of South Dakota,
Am. Jour. Sci., 3d Ser., Vol. XLI, pp. 415-417.
§ Carpenter, Franklin R. The Mineral Resources of the Black Hills, Their Charac-
ter, Occurrence and Extent, Dak. Sch. Mines, Prelim, Kept., 1888, pp. 141-142.
66
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
more soluble impurities are removed. Heavy minerals
other than cassiterite, such as columbite, tantalite, etc., are
found in the stream gravels of the Black Hills and possibly
these aid in lowering the percentage of tin.
The analyses given indicate the excellent character of
the cassiterite, and no one acquainted with the tin deposits
can doubt their great extent, hence the chief uncertainty
is whether or not the mineral occurs sufficiently concen-
trated in any of the deposits to yield a continuous supply
of ore of high enough grade to oe profitably worked. High
grade samples can be readily obtained from many locali-
ties, but percentages in such cases have little value from
an economic standpoint. Of the various reports and assays
that have been made on the tin properties the following
estimates and results will best serve our purpose:*
Results of Assays of Harney Peak Tin Ores.
Name of Assayer.
Average No.
pounds black
tin per long
ton of 2240
pounds rock.
Pounds of
white metal
yield per ton
of 2240 Ibs.
Percentage
of tin.
Prof. W. P. Blake
72 8
36 4
1 625
E N Riotte
67 2
Prof. H. O. Hoffman
57.54
39.2
1.746
Prof. C. M. Vincent (estimate)
Prof. C. M. Vincent (eel. samples)..
Capt. Josiah Thomas (estimate). . .
30.
40.
22.5
38.8
29.2
1.
1.732
1.3
Prof. Carpenter estimates that in sorting the ore, if only
such rock is saved as will carry ten pdunds or more of cas-
siterite to the ton, the average for the Black Hills tin ores
will probably reach two per cent. Many individuals con-
sider this estimate too high, while others think it too low.
During the year 1892 five ^thousand tons of ore were
milled by the Harney Peak company, but the concentrates
collected were estimated to yield only one-fourth of one
per cent of metallic tin per ton of rock crushed. Loss in
concentration incidental to the use of new machinery doubt-
* Rolker, Charles M. The Production of Tin in Various Parts of the World, 16th
Ann. Rep., U. S. G. S., Min. Res., Pt. III. p. 533.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 67
less influenced the result, but it is claimed that the loss was
much greater than it should have been. The ore for this
run, which occupied about two months, was obtained from
many claims, and apparently little or no account was kept
of the relative value of the ores from the various places.
In the minds of many mining men the failure to profit-
ably work the tin deposits in the past was due in great
part to unwise management and not to the low grade of
the ore. In view of this belief some effort is now being
made to reopen old mines, and possibly by careful avoid-
ance of extravagant methods some of the more favorable
deposits may yet be made to yield fair returns.
The total amount of metallic tin that has been produced
from Black Hills ores is indefinite but small. In 1884 sev-
eral hundred pounds were produced, in 1891 four hundred
forty-seven pounds, and in 1893 nearly nine thousand
pounds. Previous to this time ore and concentrates, in-
cluding stream tin, the latter chiefly from the Nigger Hill
district, were shipped to England, sufficient to produce
perhaps two or three tons of metal. Considerable stream
tin has been shipped to England from the Nigger Hill dis-
trict during the past few years, so that the total product
of metallic tin from the Black Hills has possibly reached
50,000 pounds. At the present time the placer miners of
the Nigger Hill district have a number of tons of stream
tin in their possession, and Mr. M. R. Hydliff, of Bear
gulch, has more than one hundred pounds of the metal
which he has obtained from stream tin by such simple
means as the assayer with small laboratory is able to util-
ize. One specimen of nearly pure stream tin (cassiterite)
found by Mr. Hydliff in Bear gulch and now in his posses-
sion, weighs eighty ounces.
TUNGSTEN.
Tungsten of commercial importance was discovered near
Lead in 1899.
In the early days of the tin excitement in the Black Hills
wolframite, FeWo4,was identified at various localities
in the Harney Peak and Nigger Hill granite districts, but
68 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
the deposits were not considered important and no effort
was made to prospect for the mineral. Since the discovery
of the deposits in the northern Hills, special search has
been made for commercially valuable deposits in the gran-
ite areas, but, with the possible exception of one or two
properties in the Harney peak region,, the search thus far
has been fruitless.
The existence in the refractory siliceous gold ores near
Lead and on Yellow creek of a heavy mineral locally
called u black iron " was known for several years prior to
1899. This black material when sufficiently auriferous to
be of value as a gold ore was sent to the smelter and treated
for its gold content. When low in gold values, which was
frequently the case, it was thrown out as worthless mate-
rial, and thus considerable quantities gradually accumulated
in the waste heaps of the mines where it occurs.
Mr. O. A. Reitz, a teacher in the Lead high school, be-
came interested in the mineral on account of its high spe-
cific gravity, and in January, 1899, secured some of the
material for examination. A few simple tests proved the
mineral to be wolframite. Manufacturers of tungsten steel
immediately became interested in the region and various
small sales of ore were quickly made at prices ranging
from $100 to $250 a ton, the percentage of tungstic acid
in these shipments varying from 35 to 54 per cent.
Only two localities have thus far afforded ore in any ap-
preciable quantity. One lies just north of Lead. The
other is situated about two and one-half miles south-south-
east of Lead. The deposits in both localities are intimately
associated with the Cambrian siliceous ores. Much of the
hill to the north of Lead, forming the divide between Gold
Run and Deadwood gulches, is capped by Cambrian rocks,
and it is near the gently rolling crest of the western portion
of this hill that the most extensive wolframite deposits have
been found. These are known as the Lead deposits, and
the following properties have contributed to the output:
Durango, Harrison, Sula, Hidden Fortune (plate 19),
Reddy and Golden Crown. South-southeast of Lead on
the ridge between Yellow and Whitewood creeks there is
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 69
a northerly projecting tongue of Cambrian rocks in which
wolframite occurs in considerable abundance, and the de-
posits here are known as the Yellow creek deposits. The
Wasp No. 2 and the Two Strike mines have been the chief
producers. A straight line drawn through the two wol-
framite areas follows closely the schistosity of the upturned
metamorphic rocks below, and the open cuts of the Home-
stake mine, which are situated immediately east of the
Lead deposits, lie in a line nearly parallel to that connect-
ing the wolframite areas.
The wolframite bodies are quite irregular in shape, al-
though partaking to some extent of the form or outline of
the flat gold ore shoots with which they occur. Their
thickness is rarely more than two feet, and the concentrated
portions are generally only a few inches thick. Their lat-
eral extent occasionally reaches thirty feet or more. Irving
calls attention to the fact that the wolframite should be
considered in the nature of a basic phase of the siliceous
gold ores rather than as a separate and distinct deposit,
since it always occurs in intimate association with them.*
The wolframite is dense, black, granular, and shows
good crystal faces only when the mineral has formed on
the surface of cavities. Crystal druses of yellowish and
green scheelite, C aW O 4 , are common. Barite, B a S O 4 ,
is frequently present, sometimes in great abundance in large
white tabular crystals. Stibnite, S b 2 S 3 , in long slender
crystals has been found in the leaner ores of Yellow creek.
The last two minerals have been found, however, in sili-
ceous gold ores elsewhere where no wolframite has been
detected, hence possibly have little or no direct connection
with the deposition of the wolframite. The wolframite
from the Harney Peak and Nigger Hill districts is dis-
tinctly crystalline and is easily distinguished from the ore
of Lead and Yellow creek. It occurs in pegmatitic granite
in close association with quartz. The mineral is unevenly
distributed throughout the pegmatite and occurs in bunches
or masses sometimes of several pounds weight. The per-
* Irving, J. D. Some Recently Exploited Deposits of Wolframite in tke Black Hills
of South Dakota, A. I. M. E. Trans., Pamphlet Edition, February, 1901.
70 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
centage of tungstic trioxide is high, as is also manganese
oxide, the former being given as 74.82 per cent and the
latter at 19.95 Per cent-
The following analysis of Yellow creek wolframite is by
Mr. W. F. Hillebrand, of the United States Geological Sur-
vey.* The specimens for analysis were obtained at the
Two Strike mine:
SiO2 ; 12.87
WO3 61.50
F e 2 O 3 3.85
FeO 9.18
A 1 2 O * 0.52
MnO 8.21
CaO 0.93
SrO 0.02
BaO 0.04r
K2O-hNa2O+Li2O 0.08
H2O| 0.20
H2O j 0.87
As2O5 1.25
P205 0.12
V 2 O 5. Trace
S or SOg Trace
99.64
Assays: — Gold, 0.05 ounces per ton; silver, 0.25 ounces
per ton.
Extremely minute traces of magnesia, zinc, copper, an-
timony and tin were also found.
Concerning the mode of formation of the deposits and
the probable source of material, I quote at length from
Mr. Irving:
That they are formed through the gradual replacement of the
country rock by wolframite, seems to the writer to be clearly indi-
cated by the character of the ore, the nature of the beds in \vhich it
is found, and the metasomatic origin of the ores with which it is in-
separably connected. First, the wolframite itself is filled with cavi-
ties of irregular form and distribution, such as are almost always to
be observed in ores formed by replacement, where the aggregate
* Irving, J. D. Some Recently Exploited Deposits of Wolframite in the Black Hills
of South Dakota, A. I. M. E. Trans., Pamphlet Edition, February, 1901.
t Up to 105 ° C. * Above 105 ° C.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 71
volume of the mineral introduced is smaller than that of the original
rock; secondly, the beds in which the ore occurs, are composed chiefly
•of magnesian limestone, often quite impure, it is true, but 'of a pre-
vailingly soluble character; thirdly, the wolframite is an integral
part of the shoots of siliceous gold ore, ihe metasomatic origin of
which has been conclusively proved by careful microscopic study.
As regards the source from which the tungsten minerals have been
•derived, no positive conclusion can be formed; but the relation of
the deposits to the geology and to the other ore bodies of the neigh-
borhood seems to furnish some evidence as to their derivation. They
are found at two rather widely separated localities on the west side
of the outcrop of the Homestake ore body. Along this line there ha«
taken place, first, the heavy mineralization of the Algonkian rocks,
which has produced that well-known ore body; secondly, the miner-
alization of the Cambrian above, resulting in the formation of sili-
ceous gold ores, which are richer and contain a more varied assort-
ment of secondary minerals than ores of similar character away from
the Homestake lode; and, thirdly, the formation of the wolframite
ores themselves. It seems, then, that the line of strike of the Home-
stake lode is also a line along which mineralization has been both
varied and unusually intense. During this extensive mineralization,
the circulation of waters capable of dissolving the metallic contents
of the surrounding rocks, must have been active. That these waters
were, in the case of the siliceous ores, and hence in the case of the
wolframite, ascending waters, is proved by the concentration of these
deposits beneath impervious beds. It is therefore not unreasonable
to suppose that if wolframite occurred in the Algonkian rocks at
some point below the deposits now worked, just as it occurs in its
normal relations at other points within the Hills, the action of as-
cending thermal waters upon this material should have given rise
the mineral-bearing solutions which carried the wolframite up to
its present position, and, there encountering rock sufficiently soluble
to admit of metasomatic interchange, should have redeposited their
metalic contents.
If this be true, it may be said that there are two distinct but ge-
netically related types of wolframite deposit in this region: (1) That
which characteristically occurs in the granitic and related rocks of
the Algonkian, and is comparable with the greater number of such
deposits from other parts of the world. This is instanced by the
wolframite from Nigger Hill and the Etta tin mines in the southern
Black Hills. It may be termed a " primary" deposit. (2) That which
has been formed by the solution of bodies of the first t}^pe, and a
metasomatic redeposition of the material in stratigraphically higher
beds. This may be termed "secondary."*
* Irving, J. D. Some Recently Exploited Deposits of Wolframite in the Black Hills
of South Dakota, A, I. M. E. Trans., Pamphlet Edition, February, 1901.
72 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
The ore is low grade, demanding hand picking or ma-
chine concentration. Most of the material sold has been
concentrated sufficiently to give from 38 per cent to 50 per
cent tungstic acid. Of the producing mines the Durango
has placed the largest amount upon the market, while the
Harrison has at the present time the largest amount imme-
diately available. The price has varied from less than
$100 to more than $200 a ton, the earlier shipments com-
manding the higher prices. The total amount marketed
will approximate 140 tons. Practically all of this was sold
during the years 1899 and 1900.
GRAPHITE.
Graphitic slates are abundant in many parts of the Hills
and in not a few places the percentage of graphite is suf-
ficiently high to arouse some interest in the economic pos-
sibilities of the deposits. Considerable prospecting has
been done in the central Hills, particularly near Custer
and Rochford. Recently sixteen car loads of the mineral
were ground at the Mineral Paint works in Custer and
shipped to Aurora, Illinois, for final preparation for market.
MICA.
The earliest explorations for mica in the Black Hills
were made in 1879, tne McMacken mine (plate 20) near
Custer being the first property upon which much work
was done. Up to July i, 1884, it had produced 45,000
pounds of cut mica, at an average price of $3 a pound, or
a total of $135,000. The New York, the Lost Bonanza
and the Climax mines were opened only a little later, and
up to July i, 1884, had produced as follows: New York,
5,700 pounds, value $19,950; Lost Bonanza, 26,000 pounds,
value $113,100; Climax, 7940 pounds, value $34,539- In
addition to these mines, other smaller mines produced
40,000 pounds, value $140,000. The total product for the
year 1884 amounted to 18,150 pounds, worth $63,525.
The mines which contributed to this output were the Cli-
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 73
max, the Lost Bonanza, the White Spar, the Eureka, the
New York, the Last Chance, the Warren, the Keystone,
the Window Light, the Millard and the Nellie, of Custer
county. In addition to these a small group of mines near
Keystone, in Pennington county, including the Emma, the
Peerless, the Celia and the Alice, produced some mica, the
amount not known.*
With the output of 1884, most of the mines practically
ceased operating, the work during subsequent years until
1899 consisting of scarcely more than such development
work as is necessary to hold claims. During this period
of quiescence the output so far as I am able to learn was
as follows: In 1886, six hundred pounds; 1896, eight thou-
sand one hundred pounds; 1898, nine hundred ninety
pounds. In 1899 and 1900 the output greatly increased.
During the latter year scrap mica was shipped for the first
time, all of the earlier product having been sold in the
form of sheets. The output in 1899 was 20,299 pounds,
valued at $18,000. In 1900 the sheet mica output reached
the unprecedented amount of 65,000 pounds, value $45,000,
while the production of scrap mica amounted to 222 tons,
worth $1,554. The New York, the Lost Bonanza and the
Monarch mines were the chief producers, most of the out-
put going to the Chicago and the New York markets.
During 1901 approximately 200,000 pounds were shipped,
but the proportion of sheet and scrap was not learned.
The entire production came from the Crown (McMackin)
mine and the New York mine.
The mica is found in pegmatite dikes, which occur in
great abundance in the granite region of Pennington and
Custer counties. The dike material is made up chiefly of
coarsely crystalline quartz, feldspar and mica, the masses
of quartz and feldspar being not infrequently developed in
pieces of many pounds weight, and mica books two feet or
more in diameter are said to have been mined. For a
fuller description of these dikes the reader is referred to
the tin deposits described elsewhere in this paper.
Many of the dikes do not contain large mica books in
* Clarke, F. W. Mica. Min. Res. of the United States, 1883-84, U. S. G. S., pp. 909-910.
74 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
sufficient amount to make them profitable producers, but
all have the mica present to a greater or less extent. The
books sometimes show much regularity of arrangement
with reference to the hanging wall and the foot wall, the
books being situated near the wall and oriented in all
planes perpendicular to it. This arrangement is particu-
larly noticeable in the New York mine, five miles west of
Custer, where the pegmatite dike has a thickness of forty
feet, and in which most of the workable mica lies within a
few feet of the outer walls, the side next the foot wall hav-
ing produced the larger quantity. In many mines the mica
is irregularly distributed within the dike, and when such is
the case much worthless gangue must be removed, and ex-
ploratory work is necessarily carried on with some degree
of uncertainty. Thus it is clear that the percentage of
mica in given portions of the dike varies widely. The
mica occasionally amounts to eight or ten per cent of the
total mass of pegmatite mined, but it is generally much less.
In the early days, when mining was active, stove mica
was the chief product, but now most of the material is sold
for use in electrical work. Much of the scrap mica for-
merly considered as waste material has been sold to be
ground for lubricating purposes.
Concerning the probable future development of the Black
Hills mica industry I cannot do better than to quote from
Professor J. A. Holmes, who has made a study of the de-
posits:
There are undoubtedly large quantities of mica which, with fair
prices and modern mining methods, can be profitably taken from
the McMackin, Climax, New York, Lost Bonanza, White Star and a
dozen other mines in that district. Besides these there are numer-
ous other large unopened dikes which exhibit on the surface as
good prospects as did originally many of those which have been
more or less developed. The mica in this district is, as a rule, good
in color and free from iron specks. Its greatest defect is the consid-
erable extent to which the blocks or "books" of mica are ruled and
wedge-shaped, making the sheets smaller and the splitting defective.
But, notwithstanding these defects, there are still to be found in
Custer and Pennington counties large quantities of high grade mica.
Indeed it may be fairly claimed that mica mining in the Black Hills
region is yet in its infancy.* •
* Holmes, J. A. Mica Deposits of the United States. Mineral Resources of the
United States, 1898, U. 6. G. S., Part VI. cont., pp. 705-706.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 75
SPODUMENE.
Spodumene, LiAl(SiO3)2, has recently achieved com-
mercial importance in the Black Hills, and considerable
local activity has been shown in the development of the in-
dustry. The deposits are all found in the Harney Peak
district in Custer and Pennington counties.
Attention was first attracted to the mineral during the
tin mining activity, at which time its occurrence was ob-
served in several localities. The most noted of these is the
Etta mine (plate 18), at which place exposures have been
made of some of the largest crystals known to this mineraj
species. Owing to their extreme size and irregularity of
position, mining operations seldom disclose complete
lengths, but Professor Blake mentions one showing in the
sides of a drift for thirty-six feet without break or deflec-
tion.* In diameter they range up to four feet or more.
Crystals three feet in diameter are not uncommon, and
those having diameter of as much as two feet are abun-
dant. Mr. Samuel Scott informs me of one crystal on prop-
erty adjoining the townsite of Custer that has been exposed
for a distance of ten feet, which measures in cross section
five feet four inches by four feet nine inches.
The crystals or " logs," as they are more generally called
by the local miners, lie imbedded in the pegmatite matrix
already referred to under the subject of tin, and are inti-
mately associated with the tin-bearing material. They
apparently lie in all possible positions with reference to
each other, s6metimes considerably separated, sometimes
segregated in bunches, but more often evenly distributed
through the pegmatite in great profusion (plate 21).
The mineral associates of the spodumene in the Black
Hills are practically the same as those given elsewhere in
this paper for cassiterite, and, with the possible exception
of two or three unimportant minerals there mentioned,
were contemporaneous. In reference to their origin Prof.
Blake says:
* Blake, W. P. Tin. Min. Res. of the United States, 1883-84, U. S. G. S., p. 608.
76 MINKRAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
All these minerals appear to have crystallized out of a semifluid
or pasty magma in which the elements were free to arrange them-
selves from one side of the dike to the other, and to separate out by
slow crystallization. There is a banded arrangement, sometimes
very distinct and again obscure; but different from the banded
structure seen in fissure veins, where there appears to have been an
open fissure subsequently filled gradually by the flow of water de-
positing layer after layer upon each side of the fissure until it be-
came filled. In the dikes the rude structure seems rather to be due
to the crystallization of the magma which filled the space between
the walls, the difference of the structure of the portion next to the
walls being the result possibly of difference of pressure or tempera-
ture, or the different temperature or conditions governing the for-
mation of one compound after another. Thus in the great dike or
injected mass of the Etta mine, mica is generally found next to the
walls, so also at the Ingersoll, while feldspar and quartz fill the cen-
ter; but this central mass is penetrated in every direction by the
enormous crystals of spodumene, the cassiterite being disseminated
in bunches, but particularly in the included masses of albitic grei-
sen which seem to have filled the spaces left after the other minerals
had assumed their form.*
Attention seems to have been first directed in 1895 to
the possible economic value of the spodumene. During the
summer of that year a lithium analysis of the mineral was
made at the South Dakota School of Mines, and Dr.
M'Gillicuddy, then Dean of the School, endeavored to have
the mineral investigated by reliable chemical manufactur-
ers. Little or no active attention was given to the subject
until three years later, when, during the latter part of 1898,
one carload of thirty tons of the spodumene was mined at
the Etta for experimental purposes, under the direction of
Messrs. Reimbold and Company, of Omaha. During the
following year, 1899, the Etta produced 500 tons, and in
1900 approximately 700 tons. A considerable proportion,
however, of the latter amount remained last year at the
mine ready for shipment, and active operations for the
time being have ceased.
Subsequent to the earlier shipments from the Etta other
properties were developed and various amounts have been
mined. Several of these properties show large crystals,
especially the Wood mine, -two and one-half miles east of
* Blake, W. P. Tin. Min. Res. of the United States. 1883-84, U. S. G. SM pp. 596-597.
•
i!
§
1°
Q
CM
0>
-«— I
C3
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 77
Keystone; the Boomerang one mile southeast of Keystone;
the Sunday Fraction, immediately adjoining the Boomer-
ang; and the Palmer Gulch, five miles southeast of Hill
City. Each of these has produced about 200 tons. In
addition to these properties spodumene has been found on
the Grand View claims, situated adjoining the Boomerang
and the Sunday Fraction; on the Tin Mountain vein, six
miles west of Custer; on the veins of the Telegraph Group;
and on properties near Custer and Glendale. It is doubt-
less present also in greater or less abundance on many
claims where little attention has been paid to its observa-
tion.
The value of the mineral varies with the lithia content.
The samples analyzed at the School of Mines carried 6.16
per cent lithia, and this is perhaps a fair average. The
chief use of the product is in the manufacture of lithium
salts, chiefly lithium carbonate, for the preparation of lithia
water. Most lithium salts are obtained from lepidolite,
nearly all of the supply for the United States being im-
ported from Europe. The cherflical processes are complex
and rather carefully guarded, and it has been found difficult
to develop methods for extracting the lithia content from
the spodumene with profit. For this reason there has been
practically no regular price offered for the mineral, most
of the material having been secured by direct purchase of
claims or by royalty arrangement. The total cost per ton
of most of the material delivered on the car at Keystone
has been between $20 and $25. A total amount of about
1600 tons has been shipped.
MISCELLANEOUS MINERALS.
Of the many minerals occurring within the Hills, a few
in addition to those already described deserve mention
here.
Antimony in the form of jamesonite is found in some
quantity near Silver City and Rochford. The extent and
value of the deposits have not been determined.
Bismuth is occasionally found in the southern Hills, and
a few years ago some exploratory work was done in this
78 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
connection near Hayward. The efforts failed to reveal
good material in quantity, and after a short time operations
ceased.
In the early days of Black Hills mining not a little inter-
est was taken in the occurrence of cinnabar on Victoria
creek a few miles above Rapid City. Later the mineral
was found also near Pactola and Rochford. Considerable
prospecting was done but no deposits of importance were
found and the search was abandoned.
Nickel is said to occur in many places. Pyrrhotite is
found throughout the Algonkian area, and Professor Car-
penter states that in practically every instance the pyrrho-
tite carries nickel. More recent investigation has thrown
doubt upon the general application of this statement, and
in the absence of careful analyses little can be said in re-
gard to the possibilities of the metal within the Hills.
Uranium minerals have been observed in various places,
particularly in the Poisoned Ox mine near Pactola and in
the Davier mine on Anna^creek near Portland. Uranium
is also reported as occurring near Carbonate. At the Poi-
soned Ox mine the mineral occurs with copper in slates.
In the Anna Creek property it is intimately associated
with porphyry. At the latter place effort has been made
to obtain the mineral in commercial quantities, but as yet
success has not been attained.
Rarer minerals of beauty and interest, but of little or no
value in metallurgical processes, occur throughout the
Hills. To local dealers they are a constant source of
profit, but their description does not come within the pur-
pose of this paper.
Resume of Mineral Production.
In the table given below the writer has endeavored to
summarize as carefully as possible the total mineral pro-
duction of the Black Hills. From what has been given on
previous pages it may be inferred that the statistics of out-
put of gold, silver, tin, tungsten, mica and spodumene are
fairly complete and approximately accurate. The estimate
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 79
for lead is quite uncertain and may need correction. The
output given for copper, iron, manganese, graphite and
miscellaneous minerals is also uncertain. Perhaps least is
known of the total production of structural materials, lime
for fluxing purposes, abrasive materials, etc., hence the fig-
ures given under the head of Structural Materials, etc.,
should be considered only a rough estimate made with
little available data.
Total Mineral Production of the Black Hills, 1875-1901.
Gold $100,210,000
Silver 4,154,000
Lead, 400,000
Copper, Iron, Manganese, Graphite, etc 40,000
Tin 10,000
Tungsten 25,000
Mica 600,000
Spodumene 40,000
Structural Materials, etc 3,600,000
Total $109,079,000
Conclusion*
The mining interests of the Black Hills were never in a
more satisfactory condition than at the present time. For
several years the mineral output has been steadily and rap-
idly increasing. The mining problems have always been
fairly simple, and metallurgical difficulties which long hin-
dered the development of much good property have been
largely overcome.
The Homestake, the great mine of the Hills, has never
before dropped so many stamps nor produced so much
gold. Among the siliceous deposits high grade ores con-
tinue to be found, nearly all of the developed mines are
regularly producing, and at no previous time has it been
possible to utilize so much of the low-grade ores. Mines
are being profitably opened on mineral deposits which hith-
erto have received little or no attention, and older mines
once abandoned are being rejuvenated. Mills and metal-
80 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
lurgical plants judiciously constructed and backed by wor-
thy quantities of suitable ore, are rapidly multiplying, and
wise management and modern methods prevail. Good
yellow pine, -pinus -ponderosa, suitable for mine timbers,
buildings and fuel, is in great abundance, various coal de-
posits are convenient, and water is generally plentiful.
Excellent detailed topographical maps prepared by the
United States Geological Survey are available, a bullion
depository government assay office has been established at
Deadwood, the railroads are advancing in harmony with
the needs of the region, and all classes of mineral develop-
ment give assurance of stability and growth.
MINERAL BUILDING MATERIALS, FUELS AND
WATERS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
By James E. Todd.
Introduction*
A brief general statement covering this ground was given
in Bulletin No. i of this survey eight years ago, but the
steady increase in our knowledge, with the greater demand
for such resources, have called loudly for a fuller and more
reliable statement concerning them.
Prof. CVHarra in the preceding pages has discussed the
metalliferous deposits of the Black Hills, which include all
of such resources for the State. This fact calls again for
a similar treatment of the principal non-metallic minerals
to supplement it. These minerals, moreover, while prom-
inent in the Black Hills extend also in good degree to other
parts of the State, and hence the expressed scope of our
subject. A few less prominent minerals, as lithographic
stone, fuller's earth, etc., will be discussed in connection
with the more 'prominent materials with which they are
respectively related.
Geological Formations*
In our discussion of the various deposits we must fre-
quently refer to their geological relations. It will be un-
necessary, however, to repeat a synopsis of the geological
series, which has already been well stated on page 3. That,
though referring particularly to the Black Hills, need not
be materially changed to apply to the whole State, for the
time which it professes to cover; but it omits the crystal-
82 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
line rocks, known as the Algonkian, or Huronian, and also
the Cenozoic rocks.
The former include the schists, slates and quartzites
which form the core of the Black Hills, underlying and
antedating the Cambrian rocks of the series referred to,
and also the small area of granite near Big Stone lake and
the much larger area of Sioux quartzite.
The last is commonly referred to the later Huronian,
while Black Hills rocks are counted early Huronian, and
the Big Stone granite is supposed to be still earlier and
has been considered Laurentian. More recently the term
Algonkian has been used by the United States Geological
Survey to include all of them, with the possible exception
of the Big Stone rock.
All of them are more or less attended with voluminous
eruptives, including granite, diabase, amphibolite and por-
phyries of great variety. The last are confined entirely to
the Black Hills.
The Cenozoic rocks include the Oligocene, or White
River formation, and the Miocene, or Loup Fork, together
called Tertiary, and the Pleistocene or Quaternary. The
Tertiary rocks are estimated to attain a maximum thick-
ness of 600 feet. They cover most of the surface south of
White river in its easterly course, and west and northwest
to the Black Hills; also, many square miles around the
Slim Buttes and Short Pine hills in the northwestern cor-
ner of the state.
The Pleistocene deposits comprise the thick deposits of
boulder clay which cover the State east of the Missouri
river, with various river and lacustrine deposits attending
it, and also covering more or less the rest of the State.
Building Stone*
As will appear from the following pages, our common-
wealth is well supplied with building stone, but it is mainly
restricted to the extreme ends of the State. Moreover,
the general development of the State has not reached such
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 83
a stage as to call for the systematic and continuous work-
ing of the strata, which are known to be excellent and
readily accessible. Special enterprises have temporarily
stimulated quarrying, so that great possibilities have been
repeatedly displayed, but demand has not been sufficient
to justify careful plans for continuous working in most
cases. Expense of transportation has been an important
obstacle.
Under the head of Building Stone we have the crystal-
line and metamorphic rocks: granites, porphyries, quartz-
ites and marbles, and the clastic and sedimentary rocks:
limestones, sandstones and gypsum.
GRANITE.
No quarries of true granite have been opened in this
State. Near Big Stone lake, in Minnesota, extensive quar-
ries are worked, and polishing works have been erected.
The stone has been pronounced equal and even superior to
New England granite for ornamental purposes by those ac-
quainted with both. The granite extends across the line
at Big Stone City, and there is an outcrop five to eight
miles southwest of that place. The rock rises several feet
above the general surface, and there is no reason why it
should not be quarried, except distance from the railroad.*
The granite of the Black Hills is usually composed of
quartz and mica, the latter locally developed into valuable
mica veins. Elsewhere its feldspar, albite, which is ordina-
rily scarcely perceptible, is remarkably developed, as at
the Etta mine. Because of its soda ingredient, of the
prominence of mica, and perhaps still more because of its
coarse grain, it is not a very durable rock, nor well adapted
for working. It is an eruptive rock in the Algonkian slates.
Because of the easy erosion of the slates, the granite rises
as walls, ridges and needles high above the intervening
areas.
The so-called " Sioux Falls granite " is a quartzite and
will be described under that head. In justification of the
* These facts are kindly furnished me by Supt. M. M. Ranier, of Grant county.
84 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
popular term it may be said that it really possesses in high
degree the beauty, strength and durable qualities usually
associated with the term granite in the commercial world?
while it is superior in color and size of blocks to most
quartzites.
PORPHYRIES.
Various kinds of eruptive rocks are widely distributed
in the northern Hills. None have been quarried, and they
have been little studied from an economic standpoint.
They may be conveniently grouped under the popular
name of porphyry, though they include several varieties of
rhyolite, trachyte, anderite, etc. They vary much in color
and in fineness of grain. Some are light colored and jwould
furnish durable and cheerful stone for building whenever
needed. Others are of dark shades of green with light
phenocrysts or embedded crystals and may sometime be
desired for monumental or ornamental work. Samples of
the former class appear about Terry peak and on Bear
creek east of Deadwood, and of the latter east of Tilford.
Dr. J. D. Irving has recently published the results of a care-
ful study of many of them.* In this paper description is
given of an eruptive rock in Bear gulch west of Spearfish
creek. " It is a dense, black rock, carrying no noticeable
phenocrysts, and of extremely fine grain." This may
eventually be of value to those desiring a fine black rock
for ornamental purposes.
QUARTZITES.
Under this head we group compact rocks composed
wholly of quartz or silica. They are metamorphosed sand-
stones in which the grains have grown and interlocked like
the constituent grains of granite, or, in other words, the
spaces between the original quartz grains have been so per-
fectly filled with silica that in breaking fractures cut through
the original grains and the embedding cement with equal
* A Contribution to the Geology of the Northern Black Hills. N. Y. Acad. Sci., An-
lials, Vol. XII, 1899, No- 8, pp. 187-340.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. * 85
ease. In sandstone, on the the contrary, fractures rarely,
if ever, traverse the sand grains. This is perhaps the best
distinction between the two classes of rocks, which grade
into each other insensibly.
Quartzites are known to occur in the early Huronian, in
the later Huronian, in the Cambrian and to a very limited
extent in the Cretaceous and in two stages of the Miocene.
MINOR DEPOSITS. — The early Huronian quartzites are
so interstratified with schists and dip at so high an angle
that they are never likely to be quarried to any extent.
Those also of the Cambrian, though lying horizontally,
are generally so overpaid and so coarse in texture that they
are not available for building stone. The Homestake
company reports using quartzite, probably from this hori-
zon for building and as flagging. A sample of the relations
of this quartzite to the porphyry and slates is shown in
Plate 9.
Some strata in the Cretaceous have been locally silicified
so that they may be classed as quartzites. One of these is
in the upper part of the Lakota, as I am informed by Mr.
Darton of the U. S. Geological Survey. Its best known
locality is on Lower Johnny creek, two miles west of the
railroad. Specimens of it at the Columbian Exposition at-
tracted much attention because of the variety and beauty
of the small pebbles largely composing it. When polished
it formed a rare ornamental stone. Mr. Darton says that
as far as he could ascertain, there are only a few cubic
yards available.
Similar silicification with the development of rather at-
tractive purple tints has been noted also near Hot Springs
and south of Minnekahta, but irregular development and
the difficulty of preparing it forbids any hope that this will
ever be of any economic importance.
Of the quartzite in the Miocene, one in the White river
resembles buhrstone and has been found in place only in
the Cave hills in strata only two or three feet thick.*
Another in the Loup Fork, is a local vitreous hardening
of fine granite sandstone, which affords rough but durable
* South Dakota Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 2, p. 51.
86 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
building stone. It would scarcely be used where other
forms abounded. As it frequently stands without a rival,
it may be considerably used in the vicinity of some of the
buttes scattered between the Missouri and the Black Hills.
It caps also the Bijou Hills and a few other points east of
the Missouri.
THE Sioux QUARTZITE, named from its prominent oc-
currence along the Big Sioux river, is the only quartzite,
therefore, of any great commercial value. It has been long
and favorably known as u Sioux Falls granite,1"1 or " jasper.'7
This is a very hard, strong and durable stone of light,
cheerful color. It is sometimes of a mottled gray color,
but usually of different shades of pink, or of light purple.
In a few localities, strata several feet in thickness are of a
blood red, and in other cases it shows considerable masses
having a structure reminding one of ribbon agate, the thin
color layers being red and white and wavy because they are
the results of ripple action.
It is commonly fine grained and breaks quite evenly, not
only with the plane of stratification, but also in other direc-
tions. With properly tempered tools it is capable of quite
satisfactory dressing, but it will not generally pay to do so
beyond the formation of squared rubble, which is the form
of wall usually used.
Some layers- are thin and much jointed. These are un-
surpassed in durability for paving blocks and rubble. ,But
more commonly the strata are thick, and blocks of any size
desired in building may be easily obtained. This massive
character of some of its ledges is interestingly illustrated
by a great boulder of this rock, known as Pilot rock, near
Cherokee, Iowa. It is about 40x50 feet and rises over
twelve feet above the surface. This was transported by
the glacier at least seventy- five miles without going to
pieces.
Extent. — The outcrops of this rock are scattered over a
rudely triangular area extending from the* northwest corner
of Iowa to the latitude of Dell Rapids on the east line of
the State, and westward to an apex a few miles southeast
of Mitchell. In this area there are probably three or four
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 87
square miles of naturally exposed surface, mostly in the
valleys of streams. Such exposures have been quite gen-
erally worked a little for local use, but nowhere for ex-
portation except at a few localities.
At East Sioux Falls one of the largest quarries is located.
It is owned and worked by Messrs. Lowe & Handley, and
a general view of it is shown in Plate 23. They are able
to obtain blocks of stone of any dimension up to 5x2x14
feet. The prevalent colors are a light pink and a purple
or " peachblow " shade.
Near Sioux Falls the State Penitentiary quarries and
dresses considerable stone. Messrs. John J. Nysoe and
Moses Blum provide also considerable rough stone for local
use. The Spencer Stone company at Spencer are actively
quarrying building stone for shipment. At Dell Rapids in
years past much paving stone has been made, but less ac-
tivity has been shown lately. In the year 1900 Mr. E. A.
Erwin was the only one reporting from that locality. For
details of production see summary on a subsequent page.
Uses. — :As already mentioned incidentally, it is used for
paving, for which it is commended for its durability, but it
has been somewhat less used of late because of its harshness
on vehicles, its noisiness and its tendency to become slip-
pery. It forms an admirable base for macadam which is
subject to heavy traffic, either in block or when crushed.
It also forms a very durable element for macadam, but
needs to be mixed with some binding material.
For public buildings it is a favorite because of its strength
and attractive and unchangeable color. Dirt does not seem
to stick to it, and it is practically unfading. Experiments
have shown the strength of the typical quartzite to be 25,-
ooo pounds to the square inch.
It deserves high rank also as an ornamental stone. It is
capable of perfect and lasting polish, as has been demon-
strated by the Drake Polishing company, of Sioux Falls,
where they have an extensive polishing plant.
In some localities it grades into a sandstone of light gray
color, and sometimes even into plastering sand. Further
discussion of these naturally belongs to a subsequent sec-
tion.
88 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
MARBLE.
Four or five miles northeast of Custer and 200 to 300
feet higher than that place there is found an extensive de-
posit of white marble. It exhibits grades from a pure
white, fine grained crystalline rock to coarse mottled vari-
ety, with thinner layers of white, beautifully specked with
light and dark green, due to particles of serpentine.
It is compact crystalline dolomite, evidently very dur-
able and susceptible of a fine polish.
The deposit is found embedded in and somewhat inter-
stratified with the Algonkian schists. Granite is in some
places in contact with it.
The Black Hills Porcelain Clay and Marble Co. began
work early in 1901 and in August had stripped the ledge
in three points in a distance of about one mile and a half
extending in a nearly north and south direction. The dip
varies from sixty to seventy degrees in directions varying
from S 87 ° W on the south to S 70° W at the north. The
last being at the locality shown in Plate 22. The fragments
of marble on the surface are said to have been traced on
the surface for a distance of four or five miles in an irregu-
• .
lar horseshoe-like strip. It is not improbable, therefore,
that the portion exploited is on the western side of an ir-
regular anticlinal which eventually may afford a valuable
key to the stratigraphical arrangement of the schists.
The marble is in distinct layers from one to three feet
or more in thickness, the different layers differing from each
other somewhat. Above, they are thinner and more shaly.
The serpentine spots also lie in bands parallel with the
stratification.
At the southern excavation, granite, rich in albite, seems
to have come in contact with the marble below, and by
some reaction the feldspar has been kaolinized to a consid-
erable degree. The marble deposit is from thirty to forty
feet in thickness.
Another deposit of marble has been found on Box Elder
creek in the schist, but has not been developed. So far as
ascertained it is of grayish color and mixed with schist.
It deserves more careful examination. It is said to be
twenty feet thick.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 89
GLACIAL BOULDERS.
East of the Missouri river, and a short distance west of
it, are scattered many granite boulders with quartzite, trap
and limestone interspersed. These are comparatively rare
'over most of the surface, or were before they were gath-
ered up, but in certain strips known as moraines they are
found in such abundance as will long supply the local de-
mands for rough building stone. Many of the granite
boulders are of beautiful colors and very durable. They
are often capable of being accurately shaped, and some-
times several cords of stone may be gotten from a single
boulder. They have been brought from extensive ledges
in Minnesota and Canada.
The terraces of the western tributaries of the Missouri,
and even the divides between them, are considerably strewn
with small boulders from the Black Hills, and even from
mountains farther west perhaps. They have evidently
been transported by streams. These are usually much
smaller than those brought by glaciers from the north.'
They are hard and durable, but are rarely of sufficient size
to be of much service as building stone, except within a
hundred miles of the Black Hills.
LIMESTONES.
There is little limestone worthy the name in our State
outside of the Black Hills. The only exceptions are a few
strata of clayey limestone of fresh-water origin in the Ter-
tiary of the Bad Lands, and the chalkstone of the Creta-
ceous, which will be considered by itself.
Again, the most of the limestones in the Hills belong to
the Carboniferous age. The exceptions are thirty to fifty
feet of a coarse, sandy, buff limestone of the Silurian m the
northern Hills, and a gray limestone (Minnewaste) of the
Cretaceous, locally developed in the southeastern part of
the Hills.
Neither of these require more than mere mention, for
they are too impure and irregular in character to be of
90 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
value. Perhaps a third might be mentioned in the same
connection — an impure, slabby, calcareous, shaly limestone
(Greenhorn) which forms a low hogback all around the
Hills outside of the more prominent Dakota ridge.
Probably more important than these others, though not
as extensive, is a very fine grained white limestone found
in the red shale of the Triassic. It has been observed
northeast of Whitewood, but is probably found elsewhere
in the same horizon. It is beautifully white and very fine
grained. Where exposed it was split into layers a few
inches thick, but when unweathered it may be compact
enough to furnish larger blocks. It resembles gypsum ex-
ternally, but effervesces freely and is harder. It has not
yet attracted attention, but seems well worth careful ex-
amination. It is not over twenty feet thick and may not
be found extensive.
The limestones of the Carboniferous are exhibited in
their stratigraphical relations on page 3, where their char-
acteristics are briefly stated and their relative thickness
given.
The Englewood limestone, because of its impure char-
acter and thin bedding, does not weather well and is not
suitable for either building stone or lime.
The Pahasapa or Gray limestone is the great source for
all purposes, for, though the great mass of it for one rea-
son or another is unsuitable, its great thickness and wide
extent and varied character afford many opportunities for
valuable quarries. It is said by Darton in his recent re-
port to be about 500 feet thick in the northwestern Hills
and about 225 on the east and south. It covers the west
half of the Hills, forming a broad table land nearly as high
as Harney Peak. Over the east half, it and the Cambrian
below have been worn through and so removed by erosion
that they form an irregular rampart of high cliffs facing
inward toward the central granite ridges and porphyry
peaks, and overlooking the lower parks between. As the
various streams cut through this escarpment the limestone
forms very picturesque canyons, as the noted ones of Spear-
fish and Elk creeks and scarcely less so of several other
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 9i
streams. Those mentioned are threaded by railroads, so
that the stone is easily accessible.
Much of it is not favorably bedded for quarrying. Strata
are so interlocked by stylolites, or by continuous deposition,
that masses forty to fifty feet thick may be found, especially
in its lower portions. Above it is sometimes brecciated
and more siliceous or cherty. But beds of very uniform
texture occur, sometimes so white that they have been
called marble. Some strata are quite magnesian.
It has not been used to any considerable extent for build-
ing for the simple reason that other kinds of rock have
been found more available.
Its main uses have been for smelting and for lime. The
former has been exclusively by the Golden Reward Con-
solidated company, of Deadwood. Plate 15 gives a view
of the smelter, and to the left of it is seen the lower portion
of the Carboniferous, which is used as a flux. It is a dol-
omite.
The following parties have manufactured lime during
1900: Wood & Tipton, Pringle, W. V. Doyle, Doyle, and
August Schedine, Deadwood. Their output is shown on
a subsequent page. It is also considerably quarried and
crushed near Argyle, for ballast on the Burlington railway.
Another limestone called the Minnekahta from its rela-
tion to the Hot Springs ( " Minnekahta " of the Sioux In-
dians), better known locally as the Purple limestone, has
lately been shown to belong also to the Carboniferous. It
was formerly supposed to be Triassic. It averages less
than fifty feet in thickness, but is a prominent feature. It
commonly covers the inner slope of the Red valley all
around the Hills. It is compact and very fine grain, re-
sembling flint. It is commonly pink tinged with purple,
but often streaked or mottled with darker shades.
It is structurally thin bedded and by ordinary weather-
ing breaks into slabs usually two or three inches in thick-
ness. It is often much cracked by folding, and yet it is
usually so recemented that it appears like one layer through
its whole thickness. Films of clay are found between the
thin layers, but stylolytes are so abundant as to effectually
interlock the layers nevertheless.
92 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Darton remarks that its color is usually darker on the
west side of the Hills, varying from dove color to lead
gray.*
Analyses show that the Minnekahta varies considerably
in composition, but on the whole is an unusually pure lime-
stone. Prof. H. W. Jensen, of the School of Mines, found
it, presumably from the vicinity of Rapid City, to be 98.75
per cent calcium carbonate, and Dr. W. P. Headden found
it 95.75 per cent the same.f The impurities are mainly
fine sand and iron oxide. Mr. Geo. Stegner, of the U. S.
Geological Survey, more recently obtained the following
for a typical specimen, probably from the southern Hills:
Analysis of Minnekahta Limestone.^
Constituent. Per Cent.
Lime 31.51
Magnesia 19.85
Alumina, iron, etc 36
Water 1.25
Carbonic acid. 44.66
Sulphuric acid ( SOs ) 07
Silica 1.12
Manganese, soda and potash x none
98.82
The rock has been used very satisfactorily for lime,
and at some points for building. It has been thought
that it might be found useful as an ornamental stone, but
there has been no serious attempt in that direction as yet.
There is little doubt that slabs of considerable size could
be sawed from it after the weathered portions have been
stripped off, and the variety of color might afford an agree-
able mottling. The main difficulty is likely to arise from
lack of liveliness of color.
It has been quarried at Spearfish by George Schon for
building stone.
A very fine grained white marble closely resembling
ivory has been submitted to me by Mr. W. R. Bond, of
Custer, who gives the following information concerning it:
* Twenty-first Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey, Vol. IV, p. 575.
t Carpenter, P. R. Geology and Mineral Resources of the Black Hills, 1888, p. 43,
* Darton, N. H. 21st Annual Report, U. S. G. S., Vol. IV, p. 515.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 93
A large porphyry dike has upheaved through the/ gypsum and
brought up the Potsdam. On the top of the Potsdam lies this bed
about twenty-five feet thick and showing 500 feet in length. It does
not seem to be stratified — it is one solid mass. It is thirty miles west
of Deadwood.
This locates it in Wyoming, but the relations are given
here to guide for something similar within our borders.
It may be metamorphosed Minnekahta limestone, or possi-
bly gypsum changed to carbonate of lime, and similar to
the limestone already mentioned as occurring near White-
wood.
LITHOGRAPHIC LIMESTONE.
In the upper part of the Pahasapa limestone ten miles
west of Custer two or three strata of compact fine grained
limestone have been found which have proved satisfactory
for lithographic work. The Black Hills Marble and Por-
celain Clay Co. has been developing the uppermost of these.
Several feet of limestone above have to be removed. The
stratum is about four feet thick and lies nearly horizontal.
A view of the excavation looking east is shown in Plate 3oa.
The possibilities of the rock have not yet been demon-
strated.
Mr. W. R. Bond, of Custer, has sent in samples from
the vicinity of Loring, twelve miles south of Custer, which
have proved satisfactory for lithographic work of smaller
size. The deposit has not been developed, and how large
blocks may be obtained has not been determined.
CHALKSTONE.
This need only be mentioned as a building stone. In
early days it was locally used for building at Yankton,
Mitchell, Scotland and in a few less prominent towns.
Some neat looking buildings still look well after twenty
years trial. The material is easily trimmed with a saw or
knife, and if well selected is quite durable. Most buildings
made of this stone are apt to show here and there a block
which has disintegrated. Its disadvantages are its fre-
quently cracked condition and its- brittleness. It hardens
94 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
by exposure. Quantities of it might be obtained without
much difficulty along the Missouri river from Yankton to
Chamberlain; along the James; Firesteel, Enemy and
Twelve Mile creeks in Davison county; and along Turkey
creek in Yankton county. It occurs also sparingly on
Brule creek in Union county, near Canton and near Bran-
don.
Its chief use at present is in the manufacture of Portland
cement, and it will be discussed further under that head,
SANDSTONES,
These are especially varied and valuable. Inexhaustible
supplies of choice kinds are found in the Black Hills, and
varieties suitable for rough building are found quite widely
distributed through most of the State.
Specially extensive deposits occur in the Cambrian, Car-
boniferous, Jurassic, Dakota, Laramie and Miocene. Even
older than the Cambrian there are quarries in the Sioux
quartzite whose product ranks as a sandstone rather than
a quartzite. One of these is in the southern part of Sioux
Falls. The stone is somewhat porous, of medium grain
and fine texture. It is of light flesh color to light gray.
In some localities this rock becomes quite friable.
The Cambrian sandstone is finely exhibited in Plate n.
This formation underlies the Carboniferous limestone and
is commonly exposed more or less at the foot of the main
escarpment facing the interior of the Hills all around.
Some layers, particularly toward the top and bottom, are
thick bedded enough for building purposes. The interme-
diate portions are quite apt to be too shaly. This rock
has not recommended itself for use to any considerable ex-
tent, except because of its vicinity in some cases. It is
not of attractive color, and is apt to be of uneven texture.
The Minnelusa Sandstone, in the upper part of the Car-
boniferous is a series of more than 360 feet consisting mostly
of sandstones, varying in color so much that they were
called Variegated Sandstone by Newton. Red, yellow and
purple are often represented. The stone varies much in
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
95
hardness and composition. Mr. Darrow, of the firm of
Darrow & Mowatt, informs me that at Doyle, where they
have opened quarries, some strata rival the Sioux Falls
quartzite in hardness. This is exceptional for this forma-
tion. The rock is generally much softer. The following
table exhibits the testing of the different qualities of stone
in the Darrow & Mowatt quarries, made by John Muckley,
of Omaha, Neb., in 1894:
Table Showing Strength of Sandstones from Darrow &
Mowatt Quarries, Doyle, S. D.
No.
Kind.
Average Strength
Iba, per sq. in.
'Remarks.
1
Pink No 1
56706
Failed without report.
2
Pink No 2
4285
do.
3
White . .
139606
Failed with loud report.
4
R"ed fine
20,575.5
do.
5
Red coarse ....
8,318.
Samples tested at the United States arsenal at Water-
town, Mass., from this same locality give the following:
Kind.
Strength per sq. in.
Remarks.
Pink
10,532
Black Hills Quarry Co.
Buff
8,401
do.
Light drab . .
5,937
do.
The red coarse has been used for trimming public build-
ings in Lead, and has shown that it stands fire well. It
has seams eight to twenty-four inches apart. The quar-
ries are favorably situated near the station Doyle on the
Burlington & Missouri River railroad. Doubtless similar
quarries might be opened at a dozen points where the dif-
ferent streams traverse this sandstone which surrounds the
Hills.
The Unkpapa Sandstone, of the Jurassic, is less regu-
lar in thickness than most other formations; is sometimes
lacking or so soft that it does not show itself as an outcrop;
96 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
but at certain localities is remarkably developed, being
sometimes 100 to 150 feet thick, though commonly not
over twenty-five feet. It is usually remarkably massive,
showing little trace of layers. It is soft, but remarkably
uniform in color and size of grain for many rods. The
colors found are bright red, white, yellow and variegated,
the last showing thin -lines of pink and red corresponding
to the stratification, often crossed at a large angle by dark
lines, perhaps due to faulting, in a way which reminds one
of a plaid. The red has proven itself stronger and more
durable. All varieties carve beautifully. Plate 263. gives
a general view of a mountain of this sandstone southwest
of Buffalo Gap, where considerable stone was taken a few
years ago. It is not now worked. The white and yellow
varieties seem to follow a fissure, as though at some time
they had been subject to chemical action which hydrated
or removed the iron oxide which gives the general red
color. This would agree with the diminished cohesion of
the grains.
The Lakota Sandstone is the name by which it has been
recently agreed to designate the lower and thicker mem-
ber of the heavy sandstone formation formerly and still
quite generally known as the Dakota. It is a massive
buff sandstone, coarse grained and often cross bedded. It
is parted by occasional layers of shale several feet in thick-
ness. The whole formation is from 200 to 300 feet in thick-
ness, according to the locality. It has not been much
quarried. Neither in quality nor color is it attractive,
though local beds may sometimes pay for working.
THE DAKOTA SANDSTONE. — It has been recently-
agreed to limit this name to the upper member of the
heavy sandstone formation first named the Dakota by Dr.
Hayden. It is that which has been most quarried about
the Black Hills. It is well exposed in all canyons cut
through the main hogback surrounding the Hills, and also
on the outer slopes of the same ridge throughout. Because
of its topographical relations, it is the most exposed of the
sandstones of the Black Hills.
Some of the more prominent quarries which have been
Plate 26.
•
SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
BULLETIN NO. 3.
a.— ELM CREEK QUARRY IN JURASSIC SANDSTONE.
.— GYPSUM LAYERS OVER TWELVE FEET THICK, ONE MILE NORTH OF HOT SPRINGS.
Plate 27.
SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
BULLETIN NO. 3.
a.-WORKS OF THE HOT SPRINGS PLASTER COMPANY, HOT SPRINGS.
b.-ARTESIAN WELL FURNISHING BOTH HARD AND SOFT WATER.
Seuen miles northwest of Mt. Vernon.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 97
worked are in this stone. Perhaps the most notable is the
Evans quarry, five miles southeast of Hot Springs. From
it was obtained a pink and light gray sandstone, out of
which the finer buildings of that place have been con-
structed. It is massive, easily worked, and a stronger
stone than the Unkpapa. Samples at the Columbian Ex-
position tested at the U. S. ordinance department at the
Watertown arsenal, Mass., showed a strength of 6,305
pounds to the square inch, and the test stood 7,491 before
yielding. A view of the Evans quarry is shown in Plate 24.
More recently the Burke Stone company, which had
been working the Evans quarry, in 1899 transferred their
efforts to a point two or three miles further north, where
the higher part of the ridge is faced with a sheet of excel-
lent stone, twenty feet or more in thickness with a natural
front, which is afforded by a ravine extending from top to
bottom of the eastward slope.
The prevalent color of the stone is called a " pearl grey,"
almost white. A mill for sawing the stone is built near
the railroad at the foot of the slope and the stone is run
down the slope by a gravity tramway. There are two
gangs of saws. The works are equipped with steam der-
ricks and stone are landed directly on the cars. Tests of
this stone made at the Watertown arsenal, Mass., Oct. 25,
1900, show that the strength of the stone is 8,047 pounds
per square inch, and the chemical composition is 97.75 per
cent silica and 2.20 per cent alumina.
In the same formation is the quarry of L. E. Thoen on
Lookout mountain, at Spearfish, which has been worked
many years. Samples tested in 1893 as before mentioned
showed a strength of 4,516 pounds per square inch. It is
of a light grey color, a handsome stone.
An extensive quarry was opened several years ago three
and one-half miles north northwest of Edgemont, from
which much fine building stone was taken. Certain strata
made excellent grindstones, but the works are not now in
operation. Other strata are said to have furnished hone-
stones of fine quality well adapted for sharpening razors.
The quarry is unusually well situated on a high bank north
98 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
of Red Canyon with good drainage and plenty of room for
removal of waste. The dip of the strata is toward the
southwest at a low angle.
Near Rapid City a good quarry in the Dakota has been
worked for local purposes.
A rusty sandstone of irregular structure believed to be-
long to the upper portion of the Dakota displays a thick-
ness of twenty to thirty feet along the James river in
Hutchinson county and along the Firesteel and Enemy
creeks in Davison county. Some layers of it are quite
durable. It is used successfully for foundations and rough
building, and to small extent for more pretentious structures.
LARAMIE SANDSTONE. — In the upper portion of the
Laramie stage of the Cretaceous is a notable massive
buff sandstone forty to fifty feet in thickness, capping the
Cave hills as shown in Plate 31. It has good color and
fair strength and durability, as shown from its natural expos-
ures.
Thinner beds are also found lower down and also in the
Fox hills below. These are often exposed on the tops of
buttes and mesas in the northern half of the State. They
will serve a good purpose in meeting the ordinary demands
of local building as the region settles up.
TERTIARY SANDSTONES. — Thin strata of light gray
sandstone of coarse and irregular structure varying greatly
in hardness, are scattered through the White River and
Loup Fork beds in the southern half of the State. They
are somewhat similarly situated and will serve a similar
purpose to the Laramie and Fox Hills strata first mentioned.
Cements and Clays.
Under this head we include all deposits which furnish
fictile products, or contribute to ceramic work. More-
over, all need to pass through the fire to accomplish their
purpose. As regards their raw condition, the cements
shade into building stone through limestone, chalk and
gypsum, and into clays on the other hand. What we call
cements are first burned, which gains for them the property
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 99
of solidifying or setting when moistened on account of the
lime in their composition. Clays on the other hand are
rendered plastic by water and are hardened by burning.
CEMENTS.
Of cements we enumerate lime, plaster and Portland
cement; and of clays, kaolin, fire clay, potter's clay, brick
clay and fullers' earth.
LIME. — This has already been briefly mentioned under
the head of limestone. About 28,500 bushels of lime were
made in the Black Hills in 1900, valued at $8,500.
GYPSUM. — This so abundant that it might have been
discussed as a building stone, for which it might be used,
but it more naturally falls under this head. It is found in
extensive deposits, both as regards thickness and breadth,
in the red marly clay of the Spearfish formation. Its white
masses often show in pleasing contrast with the surround-
ing clay. Plants were erected several years ago at Hot
Springs and Sturgis for preparing it for plaster. Only the
former has been worked for several years, and that not to
its full capacity. The mills of the Hot Springs Plaster
company, J. M. Brelsford manager, are shown in Plate 273.
Their raw material is obtained conveniently from the cliff
back of the mill. It occurs in ledges of from ten to forty -
four feet thick, with from four to six feet of red clay be-
tween. Three such ledges are in sight, and there is evi-
dence of a fourth below. A view of a similarly situated
deposit about a mile further north is shown in Plate 26b.
The mill has a capacity of forty tons a day. The prod-
ucts made are as follows:
1. Stucco. — This is calcined and ground gypsum, which
will set in eight to ten minutes.
2. Plaster. — Another variety so mixed that it will not
set for forty-five to fifty minutes.
3. Dental Plaster, of choice quality and very finely
ground. It will set in six minutes.
Products of this mill are sold in Nebraska, Colorado,
Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. Handsome carv-
100 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ings from the natural gypsum, or alabaster, are made by
veterans in the Soldiers' Home.
Veins of gypsum in the form of satin-spar occur in the
Bad Lands, and search may discover some of thickness
sufficient for profitable working, but none over six inches
in thickness have yet been reported.
PORTLAND CEMENT. — The material used for the man-
ufacture of this most valuable product is chalkstone of the
Colorado Cretaceous and a dark, fat clay overlying it,
commonly referred to the Pierre or Montana epoch. Clay
is also found below or in the chalk.
While the material is quite widely distributed, the plant
near Yankton is the only one which has been erected. It
was built in 1889-90. A general view of this plant is
shown in Plate 28. The cliff of chalk is shown in the
background. The capacity of the plant is 250 barrels a
day. It is estimated that 250,000 barrels had been put on
the market before 1899. The product for 1900 was 39,-
500 barrels (380 pounds each), worth $80,000.
The method of manufacture employed is known as the
semi-wet process, which is thus described by Mr. Andreas
Lundteigen, chemist of the company:
The chalk and clay are weighed separately in their natural moist
state, when they contain 25 to 30 per cent of water. They are then
shoveled into crushing and grinding- machines where enough water
is added to make the mixture, called slurry, run somewhat freely
into very large tanks with a capacity of several hundred thousand
pounds. After being stirred and mixed well the slurry is elevated
into other grinding machines, where it is reduced to extreme fine-
ness. Frequent chemical tests are made to insure the exact compo-
sition of the slurry. For this purpose small samples are dried and
weighed, and the carbonic acid is determined, or the samples are
dried, burned, crushed, ground and analyzed for lime and silica, a
process that requires about two hours. According to the results of
each analysis the scales are adjusted, and in this way a uniform
composition can be maintained, although that of each of the raw
materials may vary. The slurry is pumped into drying tunnels, to
be dried by the waste gases from the kilns, or it is pumped into open
level squares on the ground to be dried by the sun and the dry Da-
kota winds. The slurry shrinks and cracks by drying into blocks
weighing from ten to fifty pounds. These are piled up in sheds for
further drying or storing, or they are conveyed to an overhead tram-
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH PAKXDTA. Id
way direct^ into large pot kilns, which are filled by placing alter-
nate layers of coke and broken up lumps of slurry. There are six of
these kilns at Yankton, each burning about 310 barrels of cement at
a time. While it is sufficient to burn hjTdraulic or natural cement
only until the most of the carbonic acid is expelled, it is essential to
Portland cement that the burning is carried to incipient fusion,
which makes the burning of this cement a very costly process. The
greenish black honey-combed clinker is as hard as granite and very
heavy. It is wheeled into a strong iron crusher, in which it is re-
duced to the size of hazelnuts. From the crusher it passes through
two sets of steel rolls, which reduce it further to the size of rice, after
which it is finally ground to impalpable powder (cement) by burr
stones. The cement is carried by revolving steel conveyers into
warehouses. A daily test for soundness and strength is made,
which gives the operators perfect knowledge of the quality of the
cement in stock.
Should there develop a demand sufficient, similar plants
might be developed at a score of places along the Missouri
and James rivers. (See the distribution of chalkstone given
in a previous section.) The product of the Western Port-
land Cement company has an excellent record, and cement
walks and walls and other works are increasing in favor.
SLAG CEMENT. — A cement may be made by grinding
together furnace slag and slaked lime. This product is
quite extensively manufactured in Illinois, Ohio and Mary-
land.* No attempt of this kind has been made in our
State, but favorable localities are not wanting. At the
Golden Reward smelter (Plate 14) abundance of slag and
limestone are in close relation and favorably situated for
transportation.
CLAYS.
Clays abound in our State, but have been little utilized
and have not been systematically studied. The State is
largely covered by the Cretaceous formation which here
as elsewhere is mainly clay. When clay becomes the main
building material, as eventually happens in every country,
no doubt this resource will be found admirably fitted to
the need.
We will under each item note the present development
* Twenty-first Annual Report TL S. Geological Survey, Part VI Continued, p. 403.
102 MINERAL RESOURCES OF 'SOUTH DAKOTA.
and the future possibilities so far as our limited knowledge
may indicate.
KAOLIN OR CHINA CLAY. — Samples of a clear white
clay have been received from Mr. W. R. Bond and Mr. A.
H. Smith, of Custer, from different localities near that
place. One of these, which is owned by the Black Hills
Porcelain Clay and Marble company, has been explored
by a shaft to the depth of eighteen or twenty feet. The
deposit appears to be a decomposed feldspar, mostly in
original position, but in part rearranged. In samples ex-
amined some were quite infusible, but most give a strong
yellow flame and were quite easily fused to a white enamel.
From these facts and a hasty examination of the locality,
it is inferred that the deposit is due to a weathering of a
vein of granite, which elsewhere, as at the Etta mine, is
known to be locally mainly composed of albite. It is
claimed that practical tests have found it a choice clay.
Its easy fusibility and whiteness may recommend it for a
bond clay or for medium grades of ware, but hardly for
the highest grades. In the locality visited it is in close
proximity to the marble and apparently underlies it.
Kaolin elsewhere has been connected with veins of peg-
matite or " graphic granite." These are known to abound
in the Harney Peak and Nigger Hill regions; hence we
may expect the discovery of other and perhaps more im-
portant deposits than those yet reported.
FELDSPAR. — Quantities of albite, or soda feldspar, occur
at the Etta mine, and at other mines. It is in large crys-
tals, quite pure, associated with spodumene, which is also
a valuable product. (See page 75.) This may be used
after grinding for similar purposes as china clay. The
soda variety fuses more readily than the potash or flesh-
colored or reddish feldspar, orthoclase. No attempt has
been made to utilize it, but it is a promising mineral.
FIRE CLAYS. — Under this head are included clays
which will resist a high temperature without fusing. The
degree which may be set as a minimum limit of fusion is
2700° F., though some so-called fire clays fuse as low as
2300° or 2400°.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 103
So far as yet ascertained, the fire clays of the State oc-
cur mainly in the Fuson formation. There are three or
four horizons which seem the best developed in the vicinity
of Rapid City, though they are known to occur also at
Hot Springs and probably at other points.
Prof. C. C. O'Harra informs me more definitely that
with one exception all of the beds developed near Rapid
City are in the Fuson formation. The exception is in the
top of the Unkpapa sandstone, a soft, massive rock, which
is there argillaceous enough to serve as a fire clay. It was
opened on the north side of Rapid creek just above the
electric light reservoir, but after considerable working it
has been abandoned.
The deposits in the Fuson include much of that forma-
tion, but most of the openings have been made near the
middle of the formation. Southwest and south of Rapid
City several gulches cut back from the east into it and
have afforded good exposures. In Powder House gulch at
least forty feet of the middle beds are now being worked.
Further exploitation would doubtless disclose still greater
thickness. The workable beds on Rapid creek are perhaps
fully as thick and have been developed almost as exten-
sively.
The only practical testing of material has been done by
Mr. C. A. Marshall, who has erected a quite extensive
plant (see Plate 290) and has manufactured fire brick of
various forms, which has been found equal to any imported,
into the Hills. He has control of several beds and has been
systematically experimenting to ascertain the best con-
structions for particular results. Some deposits are ex-
tremely refractory, while others are more easily fusible
and more easily rendered plastic. All show the compact,
light gray appearance and conchoidal fracture usually dis-
tinguishing fire clay.
The beds dip to the east at a high angle, and when ex-
posed on a west slope will need to be mined, but there are
extensive exposures on east slopes where many square rods
are easily accessible. A characteristic view of such ex-
posures is shown in Plate 2c/b. This particular locality,
moreover, has furnished the most satisfactory clay.
104
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Dr. R. A. Slagle has kindly furnished from the records
of the School of Mines the following:
Analyses of Rapid City Fire Clays.
1
2
3
4
S i O 2
87.050
83.30
76.78
81 98
A 1 o O *
6 560
12 30
14 43
13 08
F 69 O^
640
80
18
21
C2 O
950
1 30
2 18
1 46
MgO
1 243
trace
95
31
Alkalis .
3.008
trace
trace
Loss on ignition
1.800
4 62
4 07
101.251
99.40
99.14
100.86
Nos. i and 2 are varieties tried at an earlier stage of
experimentation. No. 3 is from the east slope of ridge,
middle Fuson, the locality shown in the plate. It has
given the best results. No. 4 is from Rockerville hill,
the upper softer part of which is serviceable for cementing
the harder varieties.
On general principles it seems possible that the under
clay of the lignite beds of the Laramie in the Cave hills
may afford refractory clays, but no search has been made
in that direction.
POTTERS' CLAY. — No systematic search has been made
for this material, but it is probable that any desired quality
may be found in inexhaustible quantities. Drab and gray
shales abound in all the Cretaceous formations, particularly
the Fuson, Dakota, Pierre and Laramie, while in the Ter-
tiary lighter and more calcareous clays abound.
These materials are distributed in all parts of the State.
East of the Missouri, however, the covering of glacial de-
posits renders them generally inaccessible, except in favor-
able localities along the larger streams.
The Pleistocene is too heterogeneous to serve for this
purpose, because of included pebbles or lime nodules.
BRICK CLAYS. — Brick have not yet been very exten-
sively manufactured in South Dakota. Over much of the
State, particularly in close proximity to the principal towns,
o?
« 5
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 105
good brick clay is not very accessible. This results from
the fact that settlements have been mainly made in the
glacial region east of the Missouri and in the mountainous
region of the Black Hills, where clays are generally stony
because of their proximity to the original rocks. In the
regions between, where clay is more abundant, population
has been small and fuel scarce; hence few attempts have
been made to utilize the clays of the Montana and Lara-
mie, which are most promising for the purpose.
Nevertheless, many brick of fair quality have been made,
and when once constant demand shall justify the engage-
ment of experienced workmen and the erection of suitable
plants, as in older States, we have no fear that suitable
materials will not be found in abundance.
The term ' brick clay ' is not very definite, but may be
used to include the darker colored and more easily fusible
clays — those which by moderate heat (1800° or 1900° F.)
are rendered sufficiently coherent for building purposes, or
vitreous and tough for paving or tiling.
Color, also, both its shade and permanence, is a very
important characteristic, particularly for front or pressed
brick.
Material hitherto used for brick-making in our State has
been mainly from alluvial deposits either of the Pleistocene
epoch or more recent.
The following is a list of the brick makers of the State,
beginning with some of the older and more permanent
plants:
W. G. Bower, Vermilion, Clay county, has a plant furnished and
equipped with two ovens for making1 common brick, pressed brick
and paving brick. The material used is the alluvium at the old
junction of the Vermilion and Missouri rivers, a few feet above the
water. Satisfactory results were obtained from Benton shales from
the southern bluffs of the Missouri, but they are too far away to be
used economically.
C. A. Marshall, Rapid City, has already been mentioned in con-
nection with fire claj^. He, however, manufactures common brick
and pressed brick. The material used is derived from different
sources, mainly from clays selected from the Red valley, mostly re-
deposited as alluvium; but for giving a satisfactory red color, clays
probably from the Permian are used.
106 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
W. E. Cone, DeSmet, manufactures common red building brick
from a yellow clay, doubtless of alluvium, possibly deposited in the
Glacial period.
W. R. Mason, of the same place, common wall brick, probabty
from similar material.
The Big- Stone City Brick Co., of the city of that name, manufac-
tures common brick, probably from material of similar deposition
to the preceding.
H. R. Fregert, Englewood, W. E. Butler, Lead City, and Brown &
Robinson, Hill City, are all manufacturing brick, probably from the
silt in the valleys where they are located respectively; but, judging
from the last, which was the only one visited, the material is neither
most favorable nor abundant.
Attempts to manufacture satisfactory brick economically
have been made at Chamberlain, Pierre, Mitchell, Yank-
ton and several other points with indifferent success, so
that operations have been discontinued. The usual dif-
ficulties found with drift clays are the small pebbles and
concretions which are apt to occur, which not only inter-
fere with the moulding of the clay, but if they consist of
lime they will split the bricks by slaking after burning.
Moreover, the color is not likely to be good. Similar dif-
ficulties attend alluvial deposits if they are too coarse, as
is frequently the case near rocky strata, as in the Black
Hills.
The shales of the Cretaceous may not be so easily
worked, but doubtless in many localities would give good
.results; and the plastic clays of that age, while working
more easily, if mixed with sand prove satisfactory.
In Iowa and Nebraska good building brick are easily
made from a yellow loam called loess. It needs to be se-
lected, so that it will be free from lime nodules, which are
not uncommon in it. Extensive deposits of this occur in
Union county, and a very similar deposit caps some of the
terraces of the Missouri at and above Pierre. Strata of a
similar buff loam occur in the Laramie formation in the
northwestern part of the State.
At some points in the Black Hills extensive beds of
loamy material have been accumulated by the winds,
which resemble loess and should be tested for this purpose.
One of these is at Chilson siding on the B. & M. railroad.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 107
In the upper strata of the White River bad-lands there
are also abundant loams which, if not too calcareous, may
make good brick, probably of light color because of lack
of iron.
FULLERS' EARTH. — This is a peculiar form of clay
which was formerly used for cleansing cloth from grease;
hence its name. In later years it has been used perhaps
more for clarifying oils by filtration and is in good demand.
Much that is used in this country is imported from Eng-
land; some is obtained in Florida. Its value depends more
upon its physical properties than its chemical. It is a
spongy clay, rather than plastic. It may vary much in
color. In the Twenty-first Annual Report of the U. S.
Geological Survey it is stated that uthe earth discovered
in South Dakota is almost the exact duplicate of the Eng-
lish earth, and will no doubt become a valuable substitute
for it." * Mr. Darton, of the U. S. Survey, in his recent
paper on the Black Hills, says:
In the 'Chadron formation adjoining the Black Hills there are
thousands of square miles of deposits having the chemical and
physical properties of fullers' earth, but it is not known what pro-
portion of the material is available for commercial use. Mining op-
erations were begun at a point three miles southwest of Argyle, and
on the east side of the Hills three miles south of Fairburn, but the
first shipment failed to yield satisfactory results in the factory tests.
It is claimed by owners of the Argyle property that their trial ship-
ment was not selected with sufficient care to exclude extensive ad-
mixture with the more sand}^ associated beds, and the failure at
Fairburn appears to be due to a similar hasty shipment without
careful selection of the best material. As tests of the small samples
were satisfactory, the miners supposed that the earth was all ser-
viceable and did not discriminate in making a bulk shipment. It is
desirable that further trial should be made of the earths on a larger
scale, and that the shippers should be guided by careful sampling
and testing, so as to be able to select only the very best material ob-
tainable. Proper powdering and drying are also to be considered.
The fullers' earth deposits extend from the high slopes of the hills
west of Fairburn and Hermosa far eastward into the Bad Lands.
The deposit southwest of Argyle covers an area of at least 1000 acres.
The tests made of small samples of these earths from Argyle and
from the beds a mile northeast of Fairburn have given excellent re-
* Twenty-first Annual Report U- S. Geological Survey, Part VI Continued, p. 591.
108
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
suits with cottonseed oil, and, as the}7 possess all the characteristics
of genuine commercial fullers' earth, they deserve to be carefully
developed.
The following are analyses of some of the fullers' earth
deposits, taken from a paper by Henrich Ries:*
Analyses of Fullers' Earth from South Dakota.
Constituents.
1
2
3
4
Silica
68.23
60.16
55.45
58 72
Alumina
14.93
10.38
18.58
16.90
Ferrous oxide
3 15
14 87
3 82
4 00
Lime
2 93
4 96
3 40
4 06
Magnesia
87
1 71
3 50
2 56
Loss on ignition .
.20
7 20
8 80
8 10
Volatile
5.35
Alkalis .
2 11
Moisture
2 30
Total
96.31
99.28
98.45
98.90
Analyses i to 3 were made by Prof. Flinterman, South
Dakota School of Mines; 4 by Mr. E. J. Riederer. No. i
is from Wm. Bodener's pit north of Fairburn (which is
shown in Plate 3ob). 2 from M. Palmister, Fairburn; 3
from D. Renault, Custer, from Argyle mines; and 4 from
southeast of Fairburn. -f-
These beds seem to have been formed in the valleys of
the Cretaceous clay before the mass of the Tertiary was
laid upon them.
VOLCANIC ASH.
This material has similar properties to pumice stone.
It differs from it mainly by having been so much inflated
by steam or other gases at the time of its ejection that the
bubbles in the former were burst, pulverizing their walls
into very minute particles, which were carried in the air
for great distances, and when dropped into still water
* The Fullers' Earth of South Dakota. Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng. 1897.
t Twenty-first Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey, part IV, p. 588.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 109
formed very pure and often quite thick beds of a snow
white or light green ash-like material.
Mr. Darton, of the U. S. Geological survey, reports it
from several levels in the White River formation in Ne-
braska and this State. He states that a bed three feet
thick is found near Argyle, and that a limited deposit of
fine quality occurs near Oelrich.* He also informs the
writer that strata of it occur near the tops of Sheep and
Cedar mountains in Washington county. A stratum ten
or twelve feet thick extends some distance along the South
fork of White river in Lugenbeel county, f
This material is used like pulverized pumice for a pol-
ishing powder and for mixing with soap for scouring.
Like trass and pozzuolana, it may be used for strength-
ening cement and mortar and making them more durable.
It seems probable that it may also be utilized for making
a valuable glass.
SAND AND GRAVEL.
Deposits of sand and gravel abound along the streams
in and near the Black Hills, not only in the channels but
often in larger deposits along the tops of the high terraces.
In the eastern portion of the State similar deposits are
found along the terraces and channels that were occupied
by streams in the Glacial age. Over portions of the State
covered only with Cretaceous clays, sand may not be easily
obtained for local needs, but upon the Tertiary and Lara-
mie areas little trouble will be found in this respect.
GLASS SAND. — Besides the volcanic ash already sug-
gested as possibly available for this purpose, may be men-
tioned extensive masses of the Unkpapa sandstone on Elm
creek, which by leaching have been rendered incoherent
and of a clear white color. They appear in Plate 26a.
* Nineteenth Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey, Part IV, p. 760. and Twenty-
first Annual Report, Part IV, p. 591.
t Bulletin No. 2, South Dakota Geological Survey, p. 128.
110 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Mineral Fuels.
Under this head fall coal, lignite, peat, petroleum and
gas. These as a whole are but feebly represented in our
State, and so far as known are wholly obtained from the
Cretaceous formation.
COAL.
The Carboniferous rocks in the Black Hills show no-
trace of coal. Evidently during that age this region
was open sea, far from land, at least without marshes fa-
vorable for the formation of coal. As the eastern end of
the State was at the same time dry land, it follows that
the shore line lay somewhere between, crossing the State
from north to south. It is not unlikely that along that
line those marshes existed and beds of coal were formed.
However, they will never be accessible, for they are below
the copious artesian waters which underlie our State,
They deserve no mention except to suggest their possible
connection with the gas supply as will be more fully de-
tailed on a subsequent page.
In the Lakota, traces of coal have been found at several
points around the Black Hills. The more important are
in the neighboring State of Wyoming about New Castle
and on Hay creek, but workable beds of fair quality of
bituminous coal were opened along the Cheyenne east of
Edgemont several years ago, and several tons were taken
out; but the locality is difficult of access and not thought
extensive enough to justify building a railroad to the place.
Mr. Darton in a recent report to the government covering
this area says:
In the gorge of the Che3^enne river below Edgemont the coal beds
have been opened at various points. On the south bank of the river
three miles below the town a drift has been run in on a thin bed of
coal in the basal portion of the Dakota sandstone fifty feet below
the top ledges of this formation, in which a thickness of three feet
of coal of fairly good quality is exposed. Beginning at the second
bend of the river, five miles southeast of Edgemont, where the
stream is flowing nearly due south, there are a number of coal open-
ings in the bluffs on the east bank. From one to three feet of vari-
able coal is exhibited in the first series of prospect pits. In the
bend where the river turns east northeast again, there is a mine
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. Ill
•wMch has been worked to a small extent, exhibiting four feet of coal
lying in a basin which is seen thinning- out to the east. There are
two tunnels about seventy-five to one hundred feet in length, along
which the coal varies in thickness from four to five feet. It lies be-
tween massive, light colored, fine grained sandstones, about forty
feet above the base of the Lakota formation. The beds dip very
gently to the southeast. Small showings of coal occur in the deep
•canyons northeast of this locality, but the beds are very thin and
impure. Apparently this was at the southeastern margin of the area
in which the conditions were favorable for coal accumulations at
the time of the deposition of the Lakota formation.*
At probably the same horizon, beds a few inches thick
have been discovered near Rapid City, Whitewood and
southwest of Minnekahta.
The only chance for finding workable beds in such local-
ities is the possible occurrence of " pockets " of very lim-
ited extent. Such occurrence is extremely improbable.
LIGNITE.
This term is used to designate a comparatively light and
porous carbonaceous deposit. It burns easily with a flame,
is often of a brownish color, and hence is sometimes called
brown coal. It presents characteristics intermediate be-
tween bituminous coal and peat, but is nearer the former.
Frequently pieces of it show bright lustre and are as clean
as anthracite. They are pieces of carbonized logs.
Adjoining the eastern end of the State a porous coal more
properly called lignite has been found in thin beds about
Sioux City and near Ponca, Neb., where, despite their
thinness, they were formerly worked in a desultory way.
Probably from the same geological horizon similar beds
have been reported at a few points in Yankton, Clay and
Turner counties, but they are illusive. They are of inferior
quality, thin, and flooded with artesian water. They lie
in the upper part of the Dakota formation.
In the northwestern corner of the State, in the Laramie
formation, are numerous layers of lignite varying in thick-
ness from a few inches to ten or eleven feet. Many of the
beds are too thin to have value; others, though thick, are
* Twenty-first Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey, Part IV, p. 583.
112 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
too impure. A frequent difficulty is the lack of suitable
roof for mining. Moreover, the strata vary much in qual-
ity and thickness within short distances. In some cases
they have been burned out quite extensively, leaving hori-
zontal lines of brick-like clay or slag-like fragments in place
of the thick beds of lignite, which originally existed. How-
ever, at several points the lignite is pure, with good lustre
and angular fracture, and of good thickness. In a few lo-
calities it may be quite extensively uncovered with a
scraper.
In Plate 31 is shown a view of the south end of the
North Cave hill. It exhibits in connection -with the fol-
lowing section a fair representation of the strata to be
found about the Cave hills, Slim Buttes and to some ex-
tent in the Short Pine hills.
Section of the South End of North Cave Hills.
1. Yellow, fine grained quartzite or flint 2 feet
2. Whitish marl, with thin layers of limestone above 18 "
3. Purplish massive sandstone 27 "
4. Gray and white plastic clays 12 "
5. Yellow massive sandstone and sand, mostly the latter
below fifty feet 79 "
6. Dark plastic clay with a nine-inch stratum of lignite near
the bottom 86 "
7. Good lignite, shown in the plate ! 5 "
8. About twelve strata consisting of dark and yellow lami-
nated clays, loams and shaly limestone, including
two beds of lignite about six inches thick 46 "
9. Gray sand 55 "
10. Five strata of laminated clay loam with sandstone con-
cretions, including two thin layers of lignite 17 "
11. Quite pure lignite 5 "
12. Light colored silt or loam 21 "
13. Shales, dark and light, almost lignite below 7 "
14. Coarse sand with small concretions 10 "
15. Very pure lignite 3V2"
16. Light colored clay three feet, then talus 30 "
17. Light colored silt, with some sandstone ...» 20 "
18. Eleven strata, clays, loams, a little sandstone, and three
thin layers of lignite, the lowest with large pieces of
wood.. .42 "
Total, about , 486 feet
Plate 29.
SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
BULLETIN NO. 3.
a.-BRICK PLANT OF O. A. MARSHALL NEAR RAPID CITY.
b.-BED8 OF FIRE CLAY SOUTHWEST OF RAPID CITY.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 113
Between a and b in Plate 31 is a stratum of good lignite
five feet thick, and below the bottom of the plate is another
of similar thickness. Traces of two such beds seem not
uncommon in that region. In the Slim Buttes near the
North gap are three beds four to six feet thick, tilted at a
considerable angle. Two or three miles southwest of that
point, on the west side of the Slim Buttes, twenty-two feet
of good and fair lignite are found in three beds in a verti-
cal distance of less than fifty feet. A seven-foot bed of
good lignite occurs at Riley's on the east side of Cave
hills north of the cave.
Mr. Kippax, of the Surveyor General's office, has kindly
submitted for my use reports of the land surveyors, who
reported " coal " near Grand river. It proves to be in
the area studied and reported on by the U. S. Geological
Survey in 1885. The thickest bed then found was about
three feet thick and quite local. Within a few hundred
feet it passed into " nodules of iron carbonate," and on the
other side into u brown clay."*
The area then examined covered most of the region be-
tween the Grand and the Moreau rivers between 101° and
102° 30' W. Long. As we have seen, the lignite beds are
thicker and more numerous further west.
None of the lignite beds are worked, except a little for
local use. They are all far from lines of easy transporta-
tion. They may in time compete in a small way with
similar beds of north Dakota, which have long been mined
to advantage.
PEAT.
No beds of this material have been worked in the State.
Only -s. few localities have been reported, and none of them
have been examined thoroughly. The deposits reported
are on the lands of Mrs. Courtis around the head of Cot-
tonwood creek, in T. 98 N., R. 79 W. They are said to
cover 300 acres. If so, they probably owe their existence
to springs near the junction of the Tertiary sands and Cre-
taceous clays; and probably similar deposits may be found
* Bulletin No. 21, U. S. G. S. The Lignites of the Great Sioux Reservation, p. 13.
114 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
around the heads of the southern tributaries of White river
generally.
Among the few very copious perennial springs in the east-
ern part of the State are some believed to be fed from the
great artesian supply. One of these, three miles east of
Ethan, in Davison county, abounds in an extensive growth
of moss and bulrushes. It is not improbable that peat may
occur there in considerable quantity. At several points
along the James river in Brown, Beadle, Sanborn and
Hutchinson counties, and along the Missouri, are springs
of some size, supplied from sand and gravel deposits of the
Glacial period, but generally so hard that calcareous de-
posits have interfered with the formation of peat. More-
over, the occasional severe drouths and prairie fires have
probably destroyed what little beginning may have been
made in that direction.
NATURAL GAS.
For many years natural gas has been known to occur at
several points in the State, but only quite recently has the
thought gained wide credence that a valuable and extensive
supply of this product lies within our borders.
Minor Areas. — There are several minor areas scattered
through the James River valley, besides the main area,
which, so far as has been determined, lies along the Mis-
souri river. One of the earliest known of these, as well as
one of the most important, is at Ashton, and Mr. S. W.
Bowman, of that place, has recently very kindly given the
following:
The gas was first discovered by John Bushell in digging a well
near the center of town, at a depth of 66 feet. The gas took fire from
a miner's candle he was using. He seized the rope and was drawn
up as quickly as possible, but was so badly burned that he was con-
fined to his bed for six or eight months. The gas was found in a
light colored clay overlaid by blue clay.
This was in the fall of 1881. Nothing more was done till October,
1885, when a three-inch well was put down through the 66-foot flow
to a stronger flow at 89 feet, which was also in a light colored clay
mixed with gravel, overlaid with blue clay. The closed pressure was
forty-six pounds. I immediately piped this into my hotel and used
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 115
the gas in my kitchen and office until the next March, when water
broke in and gave me so much trouble that I abandoned it. During
the same time Stevens & Co. heated and lighted their large general
store from the same well. There appeared to be as much gas when
we quit using it as when we commenced.
The same fall John Clifford, two miles and a half south of town,
while putting down a two-inch well for water, found gas at a depth
of 75 feet, piped it into his house, where it furnished him fuel and
light until the next July. This well not being piped all the way
down to the gas, water broke in and destroyed his well. Since that
time nothing has been done here with the gas.
In all artesian wells that have been put down in this vicinity, gas
has been found. The strongest flows are at 450 and 700 feet. The
trouble with the flow at 89 feet is that from twelve to sixteen inches
below the gas there is a strong flow of water which in time breaks
through and destroys the gas pressure.
More than ten years ago gas was struck on the farm of
Mr. Schmidt, about three miles south of Dolton, Turner
county, at a depth of more than 100 feet, and it flowed for
several months.
Another locality from which it has been reported at mod-
erate depth is a few miles north of Canistota.
Mr. J. W. Parmley, of Ipswich, kindly responds to re-
cent inquiries as follows:
Mr. Kimmitt, a well driller, informs me that ten or eleven years
ago he drilled a well on Sec. 29, T. 121, R. 66, to a depth of about 320
feet, and that he struck a very good flow of gas; that it was piped
into a barn and filled a burner about the size of an ordinary gaso-,
lene stove; that the family residing there cooked potatoes, etc.,
thereon. Mr. Steen Hagen, the owner, has never utilized it, as he has
intended. It is still flowing.
In the well now being drilled on Sec. 20, T. 122, R. 69, at 1080 feet
there was a small flow of water and considerable gas coming with it.
The Main Area. — The localities already mentioned are
judged to be disconnected with each other, for numerous
borings between them have failed to reveal any continuity.
We now proceed to outline a region in which gas seems
to be generally struck. Its eastern limit so far as yet de-
termined maybe inferred from the following facts:
It appears in McClure's artesian well on Antelope creek
twenty miles south of Pierre and how far east is unknown.
116 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
At Blunt gas was first noticed about fifteen years ago in
wells a few miles north of town, just below the glacial
clays. The supply was small, but clearly inflammable.
The discovery was not followed up. Recently in drilling
a deep well, Mr. Peter Norbeck kindly informs me, a large
supply of gas was found 860 feet down, with the first flow
of water. The well was continued to 1450 feet. The
main flow of water at 1300 feet had no gas.
At Pierre, though gas had been found in a few shallow
wells north of the city several years before, no large sup-
ply was struck before the drilling of the well at the Indian
school in 1894. In that a strong flow of gas was met writh
at a depth of 800 feet, " in dark gray shale." Soon after
the proprietor of the Locke hotel put down a well which
supplied abundant water at a temperature of 92° F. and
abundance of gas, which has been utilized for heating and
lighting ever since. In 1898 a company was organized to
sink a well specially for gas and power. This developed
two important facts. Quantities of gas were struck at
600, 1130, 1205 and 1260 feet, with different veins of wa-
ter, but none with the water at 890 feet. At 1250 feet, or
1 88 feet above sea level, granite was struck, which showed
it to be useless to go farther. Since then another well of
similar dimensions has been constructed. Dr. D. W. Rob-
inson, of that city, has estimated that these two six-inch
wells furnish the city daily 80,000 cubic feet of gas. A
gas holder of 45,000 cubic feet capacity is used, and con-
siderable overflows, though it supplies fuel for a 60 H. P.
engine for the pumping station, a 57 H. P. engine for a
mill, and four smaller engines of 4 H. P. each, besides
lighting the whole city and supplying stoves for many
houses. No careful record has been kept of amounts used.
Twelve miles north of the city on the ranch of Mr,
Wadleigh, which is 300 feet or so higher than Pierre, gas
and water were struck at 1400 and 1567 feet. The ratio
of gas to water is estimated to be 1 13, which makes over
12,000 cubic feet per day from a three-inch well. The
temperature of the water is 101° F.
Two township wells in Pearl township, T. 115, R. 79,
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 117
furnish gas with water in the ratio of 1:5, but neither is
supplied so copiously. They come from 1587 and 1625
feet depth and below.
Similar results were obtained from the Hallam well on
Sec. 19, T. 1 1 6, R. 78, at a depth of 1595 feet.
At Cheyenne agency on the Missouri river, gas was*
found at a depth of 650 feet in dark gray shale. It was
roughly estimated to furnish 2,400 cubic feet a day, but
has not been utilized.
At Selby, also, gas was found with the water at a depth
of 1880 feet, though not noticed at first. It is said by one
acquainted with both that there is more than at the Locke
hotel at Pierre. When lit it makes a flame about 1^x5
feet, according to my informant, Mr. Fred Griffin.
It is reported that gas is also found at Edgeley, N. D.
It seems quite possible that this area may connect with
those about Ipswich and possibly writh Edgeley.
On the other hand, no gas appears in the deep wells at
Gettysburg, Potter county; Onida, Sully county; Harold,
Hyde county; or Crow Creek agency, Buffalo county.
As to the western limit, no deep borings have been made
further west, except a few in the vicinity of the Black
Hills. Mr. Durst, of Belle Fourche, informed me that an-
other struck gas at a depth of 440 feet, thirty-five miles
east of Belle Fourche, which burned with a flame three feet
high; but I have been unable to get data first-hand. He
did not strike gas in a deep boring at Snoma, nor in the
flowing wells around Belle Fourche.
Probable Source and Prospects. — In nearly all of the
cases reported, the gas has been found in Cretaceous for-
mations ranging from the Dakota to the Montana. The
possible exceptions are the minor areas in Turner and
McCook counties, where the source may be from peaty
accumulations preceding, or contemporaneous with, the
Glacial period, though these have not been distinctly dis-
covered.
Moreover, the gas seems clearly to come from different
levels, some above the water, which may possibly be ac-
counted for by leakage upward from below; and also from
118 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
the same horizons as the principal flows of water. That
the upper flows may not be from below, but are derived
from the level where they appear seems strongly suggested,
at least, by the occurrence between, at Blunt, of a water
stratum showing no gas. Besides, the upper strata about
Pierre seem to correspond to the exposures of sandstone
about Sioux City, which are known to contain thin beds
of lignite in patches. These correspond to the Dakota in
the later and narrower sense. The upper deep source at
Ashton would correspond to the same.
The stronger supply, which comes with the lower flows
at Pierre and north, probably come from the Lakota, as
the lower part of the original Dakota is now called. Al-
though traces of coal are not reported from that level at
this end of the State, it is known to abound in plant re-
mains with some coal around the Black Hills.
Another and perhaps more probable source may be
pointed out for the lowest supplies, viz: the probable beds
of coal in the eastern edge of the Carboniferous, as sug-
gested on page no. Gas from that source may be con-
ceived to escape from the eroded eastern edge of that for-
mation into the lower portion of the overlapping Lakota.
Moreover, this may be assisted by the flow of water east-
ward along the same channels.
Further north, particularly around Selby and Ipswich,
gas may be derived from beds in the Montana, which in
its upper part especially is known to have accumulated
carbonaceous matter in some regions, foreshadowing the
conditions toward the north which formed the numerous
beds of lignite in the succeeding epoch of the Laramie.
No clear trace has yet been found of low anticlinal folds
in the strata to concentrate the gas, though such may ap-
pear as more borings are made. If so, they may assist in
foretelling where gas may be found in abundance and
where not. As it is, it seems likely that gas may be
counted on as appearing with the artesian water over
much of the region north of White river and west of the
Missouri, besides that already mentioned east of that
stream.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 119
Uses. — This gas will be of service not only as a fuel and
for lights with the Wellsbach mantle, but also as a natural
airlift to raise the artesian water and cause it to flow at
higher levels than it would otherwise.
Tests for Natural Gas. — As the interest in the discov-
ery of gas may awaken false hopes, a statement of how
tests may be applied may be of much service. If it es-
capes rapidly or in a stream, touching a match to it will
determine whether it is inflammable or not. If it comes
in bubbles, it may be collected by filling a fruit jar or bot-
tle with water and inverting it in a tank or dish of water
and passing the bubbles into it. When enough is collected
it can be easily tested as befpre. It is well to know that
air and carbonic acid gas are found confined in the earth
and escape through borings, oftentimes with high pressure.
As water passes through pipes with velocity, air is often
sucked in through cracks to show as bubbles in the escape
pipe. This is especially liable to mislead in artesian wells.
PETROLEUM.
This product is not yet known to exist within our bor-
ders, but the excitement produced by recent discoveries
elsewhere has roused new search for it. Very naturally
the occurrence of gas has led to an inference that oil may
be not far away.
Reports of signs of it in the extreme southeastern part
of the State arose from the excessive desire of some to
find it, and the common mistaking of films of iron oxide
for oil scum on water in springs and wells.
Numerous inquiries have been received by the State Ge-
ologist concerning the occurrence or probability of occur-
rence of oil at numerous points east of the Missouri. He
would take the opportunity of forestalling other similar in-
quiries by saying there is little or no chance of finding oil
in the eastern half of the State, at least. This will become
evident when we consider: —
i. That there is no chance for finding it below the sur-
face of quartzite or granite, which is exposed or very near
the surface in Minnehaha, McCook, and portions of Tur-
120 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ner, Hanson and Davison counties, and which underlies all
the rest of the eastern half at from 300 to 2,000 feet, accord-
ing to the elevation of the surface and the distance from
the exposures mentioned.
2. That no clear trace of it has been found in the nu-
merous borings which have been made for artesian wells.
Again, there is no hope of finding in Dakota formation
in the western half of the State, for it is permeated so com-
pletely with artesian water, which has been flowing east-
ward for ages, that some trace of it would have been borne
eastward into the numerous wells which have been opened.
If any ever existed, it has been completely washed out.
The only way of avoiding this conclusion is to suppose that
there may be an anticlinal, of which no evidence has been
found.
The only remaining strata which can afford petroleum
are the strata older than the Dakota, which are known to
lie between it and the granite in the Black Hills and ex-
tending indefinitely from them in all directions. The fact
that all of these slant upward toward the Hills favors the
escape of the oil to the surface in that direction, if it exists
anywhere in those strata. The fact that none has been
found so escaping is strong presumptive evidence that none
exists. The only way to avoid such a conclusion is by
supposing a dome-shaped fold, or an anticlinal, which would
prevent such an escape, and no trace of such a condition
has been found.
It remains to consider the probability of finding such a
deposit in the strata above the Dakota, in the later Creta-
ceous or Tertiary rocks. In favor of the possibility or
even probability the following considerations are suggested
by our present knowledge of the geological structure:
1. There are quantities of organic matter deposited in
them, especially in the upper part of the Cretaceous.
2. The strata, being composed largely of clay, are
mainly impervious and hence so far favorable for retaining
any oil compounds which may have been deposited within
them. On the other hand, however, there may be doubt
whether sufficiently porous strata occur for conveying them
Plate 30.
SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
BULLETIN NO. 3.
-LITHOGRAPHIC STONE, TEN MILES WEST OF OUSTER,
Stratum four feet thick below the star.
b.-FULLERS' EARTH NORTHEAST OF FAIRBURN.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA. 121
or anticlinal folds for collecting them. There is little or
no evidence of either.
3. These strata are known to contain petroleum else-
where.
In our neighbor State, Wyoming, at New Castle, a thick
lubricating oil is obtained from the Graneros shales of the
Benton, (See section, p. 3.)*
So, also, the Rattlesnake oil field is supplied from the
whole upper Cretaceous, including the Dakota.
The Salt Creek basin, which is quite productive, is sup-
plied mainly from the Pierre and Fox Hill formations.f
In Colorado, also, the same formations are more or less
productive.
Hence we conclude that it is not improbable that petro-
leum may be found in the northwestern quarter of the
State, though there is as yet no distinct sign of its presence.
Tests for Petroleum. — The most decisive test is to col-
lect it and show its inflammability. A simpler test may
often, however, render such a test unnecessary. It is pop-
ularly believed that an irridescent scum on water is sign
of oil ; but while oil will produce a scum, several other
things will also, particularly, oxide of iron, which is very
apt to form in connection with organic substances. This
occurs very commonly. A very simple observation will
invariably detect the difference between this and oil. At
ordinary temperatures the former is solid and the latter
liquid ; hence, if the water is stirred, the former cracks
into angular fragments, while the latter streams or flows.
Mineral Waters.
The mineral waters of South Dakota are doubtless as
varied as those of any other State of the Union. The
wide range of geological conditions, including a nearly
complete mountain unit which has been subjected to re-
peated disturbances, and extensive plains upon which rivers
have borne the solutions from the Rocky mountains for
* Twenty-first Annual Report U. S. G. 8., Part IV, p. 586. Darton.
+ See Petroleum Series of Wyoming. School of Mines Bulletin, by Profs. Knight and
Slosson.
122 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ages, and underlaid with a wonderful subterranean drain-
age, all unite in making this a safe conclusion. Neverthe-
less, but one locality has become prominent as a resort and
had its waters placed on the market. This is that of
the well-known Hot Springs of the white man or the u Min-
nekahta" of the red man, who, long before the former came,
prized them for their genial temperature and curative
properties.
THE MAIN LOCALITY.
According to Mr. Darton, all the principal springs are
connected with the Minnekahta limestone, locally known
as the Purple limestone. It seems that the underlying
Minnelusa sandstones have collected it from the, outer slopes
of the Hills to the north and west, but it overflows through
the crevices and channels in the limestone which every-
where forms the inner slope of the Red valley. The rea-
son why the waters escape more copiously and at a higher
temperature at this point may be in some way connected
with a sharp fold in the strata a little west of the town.
The popularity of the locality is attested by the building
here of several large hotels and many minor ones, capable
of accommodating more than 1200 people. The largest of
these, the Evans, furnished with all modern conveniences,
is a beautiful five-story structure of pink sandstone erected
at a cost of $200,000. It will accommodate 400 guests;
all rooms are outside rooms. The soldiers' home of the
State is located here, and there is talk of erecting a na~
tional one. Two large plunge baths, which may be used
by hundreds at a time, and about half a dozen sanitari-
ums afford abundant accommodations for all. Two rail-
roads make the point easily accessible from all parts of
the country. The excellence of the mineral waters is the
main reason for all these improvements. No illustrations
are presented here, for they are freely scattered in adver-
tising circulars.*
THE SPRINGS AND WELLS. -- i. The Minnekahta
Springs are located in a side ravine a few hundred yards
* Address J. Francis, General Passenger Agent, B. & M. R. R.. Omaha, or H. D. Clark.
Hot Springs.
xv ^
i OIF Tl! \
fuNWE \
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH P^ggfc&KN,. 12:i
east of the railroad station. They are now covered with
a bath house. As near as can be judged, they well up
through a bed of travertine. These are the original
springs utilized by the Indians. The temperature of the
springs is 92° F.
2. The Mammoth Spring appears in the bed of Hot
brook, where it crosses the Minnekahta limestone. It sup-
plies the Evans plunge bath, in which the temperature is
91° F., and also the new plunge which has a temperature
of 82° F. It is also used to supply the city waterworks.
3. The Hygeia or Kidney Spring issues from under
the heavy conglomerate which caps the Pleistocene terrace
of the valley opposite the Evans hotel and below the mouth
of the ravine leading from the Minnekahta, suggesting a
possible connection with the latter, which suggestion is
strengthened by a comparison of their analyses. It enjoys
a high reputation for medicinal properties. Its tempera-
ture is 83° F. The water of this spring is bottled and sold
quite widely as a specific for kidney diseases, but the
amount sold cannot be given.
4. The Lakota or Indian Spring is a small spring
near the railroad bridge below the junction of Cold and
Hot brooks. It is used only for drinking.
5. The Hiaivatha or Catholicon Spring is situated
about a mile southeast of those already described, on the
right bank of Fall river just before it enters its canyon
through the Dakota ridge. It comes from quite a differ-
ent source from the others. Over it is erected a fine sani-
tarium capable of acommodating 100 guests. Tempera-
ture 82° F.
Siloam sanitarium close by is supplied from a well pro-
fessing to have similar properties.
6. The u Lithia Spring" is fourteen miles south of
Hot Springs. 1 am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Jen-
nings, of that place, for an analysis of it. It has not yet
won much prominence. Its waters abound in magnesia.
7. * The Stewart Sanitarium and bath-house is supplied
from a well which claims to go down to the same source
as the main springs.
124 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
8. Sulphur Spring Bath-House is supplied from a well
located near the station of the F., E. & M, V. Ry. The
water comes from a depth of 166 feet. No analysis has-
been made.
Cold spring, which does not profess to be medicinal, is
at the head of running water in Cold brook, less than half
a mile from Mammoth spring. It issues from the red
marly sandstone a short distance from the Minnekahta
limestone and has a temperature of 52.5° F.
ANALYSES. — The Survey has not had the means for an-
alyzing the waters, nor for thoroughly investigating their
curative qualities. The analyses published on the follow-
ing page are judged to be reliable, because signed by dis-
interested and qualified chemists.
OTHER POSSIBLE LOCALITIES.
Copious springs issue from the Minnekahta limestone at
many other points around the Hills. Some of these may
be found having peculiar virtues.
Thermal springs are reported along the Missouri river
in Charles Mix county and elsewhere. These are prob-
ably connected with oxidizing pyrites and should be inves-
tigated, without, however, very great expectations.
Along the James river at several points very copious
springs exist, which come from the artesian supply.
At Wessington Springs a copious spring issues from the
lower part of the Pleistocene, which is sulphurous, and at
one time was something of a pleasure resort.
MINERAL PROPERTIES OF ARTESIAN AND
OTHER DEEP WELLS.
It was at first planned to issue with this bulletin, or soon
after, a systematic treatment of all the water resources of
our State, particularly of our wonderful artesian supply,
and much material has been collected, but time and lack of
means have rendered it necessary to postpone such publica-
tion for some time yet. We have space for only a few gen-
eral statements.
All artesian well waters contain considerable mineral
O 0 O C O O O
r-K r^ r+ r-f- r-f- <-+ ^
ff 3- 3- 3- 3- ST §
O ^D C* C^ ^D O >».
gffiporgto
»^ ^^ ^M tt
liffsla
» «3 . a"*^
^<2 S 5'3!/q ^
' »iH*§
^ g s.U^ °
ntf$$&
83 3
g
se last two ar
sp
e
ne
s
ekahta spring, No. 1 by G. A
. B. Gibson, of Chicago.
y the same chemist as
ring, by E. C. Smith, of
s south, made by Chas
re by
the State School of
N.
f Beloi
s. R. G
3.
College
bson.
Mariner, No. 2 by Edgar Ca
Chicago
Inorganic and Non
Organic and Volati
Total Residue
o
00 i— ' -<r
CO OS I— i
TITUENTS.
ains per gall
COi-* O I-1
^Oirf^. rf^
(— >• O ^ O
o -a »-* co
CO
O5
tO
Ol CO
coco. .•:..- co -o 01 *».
-j oo ~3 *•> o 01
CC CO O -4 «C -J
coto^
*|s||f S|3-B
as
CO
X\5 1— i
rf^OO M h-
t— ' h-» O CO tC CO -J
01
?D ^5
CO -4 CO
OOQ ^ SiQ
CO O O O O
126" MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
matter. Those are hard where lime and magnesium salts
are prominent, and those soft which abound in soda salts.
Wells deriving their waters from the glacial drift deposits,,
whether flowing or not, in the eastern half of the State are
usually quite hard. Those supplied from the upper layers
of the Dakota are generally, soft, both around Belle
Fourche and in the eastern part of the State. Pump wells
and a few flowing wells " soft as rain water " are found
from Geddes in Chas. Mix county northward and through
the James River valley, at least as far north as Huron.
Deeper wells are generally hard, especially toward the
south. Passing north from Mitchell, the lower flows,,
which are hard at that point, become soft one after an-
other in quite regular descending order, so that at Red-
field most are soft.
The valuable table on the following page, compiled
mainly from Bulletins 41 and 49, U. S. Experiment Sta-
tion, South Dakota, by Prof. Jas. H. Shepard, of Brook-
ings, gives the analyses of several of the more prominent
wells.
Numbers i to 20 are all from deep artesian wells from
500 to 1500 feet deep. Nos. i to 12 are all on and north
of the latitude of Huron, and are grouped together by
Shepard as first-flow wells and marked by having a larger
proportion of sodium compounds, while 13 to 20 are as-
sumed by him to be second -flow, with a larger proportion
of lime and magnesia. They are all south of the latitude
of Huron, except Aberdeen and Northville, which he thinks
are contaminated by mixing of the flows. Later study has
made it more probable that there is softer water in the
same flows farther north, as already stated; also, that there
are more flows than two, and, therefore, that the matter is
more complicated than Professor Shepard supposed.
No. 21, by a Chicago chemist, is the only example from
the first stratum below the chalk, which supplies the widely
distributed soft-water pump wells. In a few cases at lower
levels it gives flows. Plate 27b shows one such, while
from the same hole hard water flows from a lower level.
It is on the farm of John Althen northwest of Mt. Vernon.
Number.
i'fill.2 Mffil^SiSf
[|§|pi|l|lfiJF|P
<T> !
oo • • • • • ^' !'.!!!
i-1 K;
<^i>&osi-i>-ih_ircrNit-'c^cooowt>sosi— 't>sivDH-'booo Sodium Chloride
Di CO CO i— 'O5QCOOi*>-OSOwGOi£»-OJO5CJ»C7lOC7'OO (NaCl)
I—4 -I—1 H- 1 h-» I— ' h- * t— i
co i— ' co H-i o o c>2 • 01 1—1 -o co co i—1- 1— 1 1— i rf^ Ci m b* CN r-J bs bs "os i>5 'rf^. Sodium Sulphate
§t 00 H- 00 S S* 3 • OCOl— l I— 'OOOStOtCi-OCOOSl— i h-
i ' '. ; i i i • • • : '. ' i i i i : . : : . sodium .
So ' Sf' ' r»S Carbonate.
j£: w; ; ^2^! (Nacos)
^ . tc . . -di—i
Magnesium
cs^^fo^o ®iibo<iS§w: ; &: gg Sulph^,te«o
00?OOOO1OS 00 O W OO I— 'COOS- • OO-OJOi (Mg»U4)
" t— *». CH h-i OS O • • CO • I— ' -O
. '. I I I : .!!!!!!!....._.;.:;.. Magnesium
^ *O 4^- H^ ..•.•••• OS ^O -O DC >^ OS • CO • • Ol ^^ I
• • - I
Calcium
co- cov^-oooo ocoiscbocnjoO' • • • oo- tooO' • (CaSO4)
tc • ?c «<j oo co co o o MI o o «c o • • • •
Calcium
^ o H- tc o o Carbonate.
4^ CO CO pi -^J CO
Potassium
o Chloride.
(KC1)
oooooooooooooooooooooooo Silica.
S?§88S^Q 8§lg||gg|g||ggg (Si°2)
Alumina.
... ooooo- OOOOOO^QOOOOQ ~ Ferric Oxide.
CD • O1L>SOO5O' H^OOCCOOSCOOSCOOOOOOOOO
128 MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Numbers 22 to 27 are from the sands in or below the
glacial till or boulder clay. All are flowing, except the
last, which is a pump well. Their waters are all hard.
No. 28 is from a deep flowing well, analysis by Mr. F. J.
Angier, chemist of the Burlington railroad.
The medicinal value of the waters has not been tested.
Without doubt some of them, especially those of higher
temperature, will be found to have considerable therapeu-
tic value. The wells of Hughes and Sully counties have
temperatures ranging from 90° F. to 101° F. and are rich
in soda salts. That at Pierre may be considered typical.
They generally carry much marsh gas.
Artesian waters are free from organic matter and germs
of disease, so that fevers are notably diminished by their
use. Trace of lithia, which is valued as a medicine, espe-
cially for rheumatism, is found in nearly all the deep arte-
sian waters.
From the table it will be noticed that sodium sulphate
or Glauber salts, magnesium sulphate or Epsom salts, and
iron salts, which are more or less used medicinally, are all
found in considerable quantities in the artesian wells. In
most cases they are so weak or so neutralize one another
that a healthy system may drink them with impunity.
Prof. Jas. H. Shepard, in discussing the subject a few
years since, expressed it wrell when he said:
In general it would be safe to say that the artesian waters, as a
rule are tonic-laxative in their effects on the system. All artesian
waters of the State carry a larger amount of salts than would be de-
sired in first-class potable water. But it nevertheless remains a fact
that in some cities these waters are used with impunity for all do-
mestic purposes, and, in fact, no other water is used at all.
He accounts for this by supposing that as the waters
carry no germs of disease, the energies of the system are
not weakened at any time by such diseases as arise from
organically impure water, and consequently " the system
finds it less difficult to eliminate the excess of saline com-
pounds than it would to ward off the effects of albuminous
poisons and disease germs." Again, the system has a ca-
pacity of learning to thrive on that which is at first offens-
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
129
ive, because it learns to eliminate any ex-
cess which might be injurious.
Concerning the laxative effects which
may show themselves in early stages, he
suggests that " in towns where soft arte-
sian waters are used and injurious effects
follow, "the acids of fresh fruits would cer-
tainly tend to neutralize the effects of the
ant-acid salts of the waters," *
Concerning the suitability of the waters
ior irrigation, the same authority concludes
that the hard waters are better adapted for
that purpose, particularly for lands inclined
to be clayey; that " if evil effects from the
water be manifest, the remedial agencies
of land plaster, lime and under drainage
should be promptly applied." The soft
waters, on the contrary, are to be used
with greater caution, because rich in soda
salts, which, though helpful to vegetation
when diluted, are very harmful when con-
tracted.
General Summary for J900.
On the following page the amounts and
values of different products with the names
of producers are shown in tabular form.
This has been obtained direct from the
parties indicated. It is not unlikely that
some minor plants have been overlooked.
It is, therefore, not exaggerated at all, and
we believe it is fairly complete, at least
for a first attempt.
The adjoining table showing production
by years is taken from the annual reports
of the U. S. Geological Survey, with the
exception of -1900, which is taken from
the other table.
* South Dakota Experiment Station, Bulletin 41, p. 8.
»
'*
s
C5 CO ?D '
O "J
^2 CD
t« -J --J
OS -O -O
ft
Oi ?D
gg
CO O--J
General Summary for 1900.
ABBREVIATIONS. — cl. Carload, o. Cord. p. Perch, t. Tons. m. Thousands, bbl. Barrels, bu. Bushels.
BUILDING STONE.
Parties and Addresses.
Product.
Amount.
Valne.
Penitentiary, Sioux Falls *
Footing" Stone.
cl
231
do
Buildinc" Stone
rl
118 [
do
Cut Stone
rl
83 r
$15,147
do •
Macadam .
c]
10
Lewis & Handley, Sioux Falls . . .
J J Nysoe Sioux Falls
Pav. and B'ld'g- . . .
Rubble for B'ld'o"
.C
c
769
226
39,514
1000
Moses Blum Sioux Falls
Rubble &
c
400
1 600
E. A. Erwin, Dell Rapids
200
800
Spencer Stone Co., Spencer
650
3000
$61,051
SANDSTONE.
W. V. Doyle, Doyle
Building Stone
do
...cl
... p
50
20,000 v
$ 1,500
25,000
Homestake Co Lead
$26,500
LIMESTONE.
Geo. Schon, Spearfish
Building Stone . .
400
$ 1,200
Golden Reward, Deadwood
do
936
561
do
Flux
t
92,839
33,C82
W. V. Doyle, Doyle
Lime
rl
40
2,500
$53,343
LIME.
Wood & Tipton
Prino-Je
Lime
. . . bu
10000
$ 3000
Aug Schedine
Deadwood
Lime. .
bu
9000
2700
$57,000
GYPSUM PLASTER.
Hot
Spr.
Plaster Co
,Hot
Springs
Hard
Wall
Plaster, t
3,000
$16,000
CEMENT.
Yankton Cement Co., Yankton. . .
PortlandCement, bbl
39,500
$80,000
BRICK.
W C Cone DeSmet
Com.Red B'ld'gBr.m
100
$ 700
W R Mason DeSmet
Wall Brick m
156
1,248
W G. Bower, Vermillion
Common Brick . . .m
300
2,400
Big Stone Br. Co., Big Stone City
Englewood Brick Co., Englewood
W E Butler Lead
do . . . m
Building Brick . . .m
do . . .m
1,000
500
175
6,500
6,000
1,750
Brown & Robinson, Hill City
C A Marshall Rapid City
do ...m
Fire Brick m
275
150
2,475
4500
do
Common Brick . . .m
200
2,025
do
Tiles
2,500
500
$28,098
* This report is for the* year ending June 30, 1900.
Index.
A LBITE 64, 83, 88, 102
Algonkian 2, 4, 5, 11, 23
59, 71, 78, 82, 88
Alice Mica Mine 73
Almandite .64
Alpha-Omega gold mine 24
Amalgamating stamp mills . . .50
American Express gold mine. .32
Amphibolites .., 3, 21, 23, 82
Analyses —
Cement gold 27
Homestake gold 27
Fire clay 104
Fullers' earth / 108
Iron ore 58
Lime-siliceous ore 42
Placer gold 48
Siliceous ores 39
Spodumene .76
Tin ore 66
Waters . 124,125,127
Wolframite 70
Andalusite 67
Andesite 84
Ankeny,O.P 40
Antimony 38, 77
Apatite 64
Arrastre 19, 24,40
Arsenopyrite 22, 64
Artesian wells 126, 121
Assay office 80
Assays of tin ores 66
Atlantic gold mine 12
Aurum, The 51
Autunite . . .64
"D ALD MOUNTAIN 10, 29
Balmoral 47
Barite 38,64,69
Barrel, R. W ....62
Basic eruptions 4, 23
Battle creek 46, 47, 48
Bear gulch • 30, 67
Beryl , 64
Benton group 3
Beulah shale 3
Big Bonanza gold mine 32
Big Stone City Brick Co. .106, 130
Bion pyrite vein 16
Biotite 64
Bismuth 64, 77
Black Hills Copper Co 53, 54
Black Hills Development Co.. .21
Black Hill's Gold Extraction Co.40
Black Hills Placer Mining Co.. 46
Black Hills Porcelain Clay
and Marble Co 88,93
Blacktail gulch 9, 28, 47
Blake, W. P 63, 64, 66, 75
Blanket formation 35
Blatchford, Mr 37
Blue Lead copper property, 53, 54
Blue siliceous ore 36
Bob Ingersoll mine 65
Bobtail gulch 26, 47
Bodener, Wm 108
Boomerang spodumene prop ..77
Bower, W. G 105, 130
Bowman, S. W 114
Box Elder 47
Breccias 11, 16
Brick 104,106,130
British Am. copper property . .54
Buffalo Gap .• 10
Building stone 82
Bullion gold mine 18
Burke Stone Co 97
Burlington railroad 10, 95, 122
Buxton gold mine 36
Buxton Mining Co 40
(CALCIUM 38
~* Caledonia 20
Cambrian 4, 5, 11, 23, 25, 27, 28
29, 61, 68, 69, 71, 82, 85, 90, 94
Carbonate 50, 60, 77
Carboniferous 2, 3, 5, 11, 23
59, 89, 91, 110
Carlile formation 3
Carpenter, F. R 18, 21, 22, 50
65, 66, 78, 92
Cassiterite 49, 63-67, 75
Catholicon spring 123
Celia mica mine ..73
Cement 98, 101
Cement ores 23, 29, 52
Cerargyrite 60
Cerussite 60
Chalkstone 93
Chief of the Hills gold mine. . .24
Chilkoot gold mine 14
Chilkoot district 15
Chloridizing plant 60
Chlorination process 40, 51
132
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Cinnabar 78
Clays 9$ 101, 109
Brick 104, 105
China 102
Fire 102, 104
Cleopatra gold mine 31, 33, 36
42,44
Climax mica mine 72, 74
Coal 110
Columbite 49,64,66
Cone, W.E •. ....106
Conglomerate ores .... 9, 11, 23-29
Corundum 64
Crystals, size of 65, 75
Copper 11, 53-56
Copper Castle property 54
Copper Cliff property 54
Copper Glance property 54
Copper Reef property 54
Cretaceous 2, 3, 5, 85, 89
98, 101, 106, 109, 110
Cross, Fred J 63
Crown mica mine 73
Crown hill 10,29,31
Cupro-cassiterite 64, 65
Custer. . .6, 7, 12, 58, 59, 72, 74, 75, 77
Custer county 12, 16, 58, 59, 73
Custer, Gen., expedition of 6, 7
Cyaniding 57
Cyanide lixiviation * 40
Cyanide plants 20, 22, 50, 51
r>ACiTES 3
** Dacy drill hole 32
Dacyflat 41,42,45
Dacy shaft 32
Dacy vertical 43
Dakota formation 3, 94, 96
98, 104, 110
Darrow & Mowatt 95
Darton, N. H 34, 85, 90, 92
107, 108, 110, 122
Davier mine 78
Dead wood, city of 4, 10, 19, 23
40, 50, 54, 60
Deadwood formation 3, 25
Deadwood gulch . . .9> 24, 26, 28, 68
Deadwood mill 21
Deadwood placers 23, 28, 47
Deadwood & Delaware smelter
40,50
Deadwood Stand. Mining Co. . .43
Decorah gold mine 31, 32
Delaware shaft 32
Depth of shafts .14, 21, 33
Devereux, W. B 26, 27
Diabase 82
Dikes 11, 16,30,63, 73
Dioritic rocks 16-
Discovery claim 9, 48>
Discovery of gold 7
Dolomite . . 88, 91
Doyle vertical 43
Doyle, W. V 91, 130
Drainage 4
Drake Polishing Co 87
Dry diggings ..... 46
Duektown copper deposits ... .55^
Durango gold mine 68, 72
DurstrF.A „ 117
J7 ARLY PROSPECTING 7, 8-
Elephas primigenius 50
Elk creek 47,54
Elk gulch 62:
Elkhorn prairie 57
Emma mica mine ....... 73
F)mpiregold mine 40
Englewood limestone 3
Enos, Mr...-. .19'
Epidote 64
Erwin, E. A ^ . . 87
Estrella del Norte Co 46
Etta tin mine ,. .63, 64, 71, 75, 76, 83
Eureka mica mine 73
Evans quarry 97
Exploratory work, method of. .36
PATHER DESMET MILI/. 21
Faulting in ore bodies 3£
F. E.&M. V. R. R 10
Feldspar 102*
Fire brick 103, 130
Fireclay 102,104
Fissure veins 11,13
Flintermann, Prof 108
Fluorite 38
Fluxes 16, 5Z
Folger gold mine 40
Fossil placers 26
Fossils in placer deposits 49*
Fox Hill formation 3, 98
Free milling ores 40
Fregert, H. R 106
French creek 6, 8, 12, 47'
Fuson formation 3, 103, 104
Fullers' earth 107, 108
(TALENA DISTRICT.. 16, 29, 35, 60, 61
J Galena, mineral 14, 60, 64
Galena, town of 10, 29, 60
Gardner, Chase & Co 24
Garnets 4$
Gas •. .. 114
Prospects 117
Tests 119
Gashweiler, Gen 63
Gems . 64
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
133
Geological formations 1, 2, 81
Generalized section 3
Giant claim 19
Gil more pyrite vein 16
Glacial deposits 89
Glass sand 109
Gold 1, 6, 7, 10, 53, 61
Gold, classification of ores 11
Gold, free in Cambrian 28
Golden Crown mine 68
Golden Reward Co 35,37,91
Golden Reward chlorination
plant 40
Golden Reward smelter, 16. 51, 101
Golden Star claim 19
Golden Star mill 20
Golden Terra mill 20
Gold hill 25
Gossan 54, 55, 58
Grand Junction gold mine 12
Grand View claim 77
Graneros shale 3
Granites . . .2, 5, 16, 63, 82, 83, 88, 130
Granite range 15
Graphite 11, 64, 72
Gravel .* 109
Greenhorn limestone 3
Green mountain 31, 40
Grindstones 97
Griphite 64
Grizzly Bear gold mine 12
Grizzl}7 gulch 46
Grossularite 64
Gustavus gold property 40
Gypsum 3, 5, 38
J-JAGGIN. J. B ,19
Harney Hydraulic Co 46
Harney granite range 2
Harney Peak 2, 8, 49
Harney Peak Tin Co 63, 66
Harrison gold mine 68, 72
Hayden, Dr. F. V 96
Headden, W. P 63, 65, 92
Hearst, Senator 19
Heinault, D 108
Hematite 37, 57, 59, 61
Heterosite 64
Hiawatha Spring 123, 125
Hidden Fortune Co 21
Hidden Fortune mine 29, 68
Hidden Treasure mine 24
Highland mine 19
Highland mill 21
Hill City . . 11, 12, 54, 77
Hillebrand, W. E 70
Historical review 6-11
Hoffman, H. O 66
Hogback ridges 2
Holmes, J. A 74
Holy Fright copper property. .54
Holy Terror mine 12, 14, 15
Homestake belt .... 10, 18, 21, 25, 52
Homestake Co 10
Homestake open cuts 21
Homestake lode 71
Homestake mills 21, 50
Homestake mine. . .18-20, 27, 52, 69
Homestake tailings 22, 51
Honestone 96
Hoodoo mine 17
Hornblende district 18
Hot Springs , 122
Hot Springs Plaster Co 99
Huronian 82, 85
Hydliff, M. R 49, 67
Hydraulic mining 46
Hygeia spring 123, 125
IGNEOUS ROCKS 29
Ilmenite 64
Impregnated zones 18
Indians 7, 8
Indian Affairs, Commissioner. .7
Indian depredations 9
Indispensable claim 40
Ingersoll mine 65, 76
Iron H, 37, 57-59
Iron carbouate 61
Iron Hill mine 41, 60, 61
Iron mountain 58
Irving, J. D 30, 37, 38, 39
42, 69, 70, 84
TAMESONITE '...61, 77
* Jasper ore 58, 61
Jenney, W. P 7, 8, 13, 16, 47
Jensen, Prof. H. W 92
Joint planes 44
Jurassic 3, 5, 94, 95
K" AOLIN 102
• Kellogg, L. D 19
Keystone ... .11, 14, 18, 46, 58, 73, 77
Keystone gold mine 14
Keystone mica mine 73
Kidney siliceous ore 37
Kidney spring 123, 125
Kildonan Milling Co 40
Kiln roasting 40
King Solomon gold mine 12
Kippax, Mr 113
JACCOLITES 30
" Lakota formation 3, 85, 96
110, 111
Lakota spring 123, 125
Lame Johnny creek 85
134
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Laramie formation 3, 94, 98
1C4, 1C6
Lardner, William 47
Last Chance mica mine 73
Laurentian 82
La wrence count}7 10, 12, 13
Lead City 10, 19, 20, 50, 67, 69
Lead-silver deposits 59-67
Lepidolite 64
Leucopyrite 64
Liebnerite 64
Lignite Ill, 112
Lime 91,99,130
Lime siliceous ores 10, 40-44
Limestone 2, 82, 93
Limonite 37, 49, 58, 61
Lithia spring 123, 125
Lithium salts 77
Little Bud vertical 43
Little Rapid creek 48
Loess 106
Lost Bonanza mica mine, 72, 73, 74
Loup Fork formation 82, 98
Lowe & Handley 87, 130
Lower contact 31
Lower quartzite 61
Ludlow, William 6
Lundteigen, Andreas 100
1\7[AGNESIUM 38
Mammoth spring 123, 125
Manganese 11, 59
Marble 88
Marshall, C. A 103,105
Mason, W. R 106
Mastiff copper property 54
May Flower gold property 12
M'Gillycuddy, Dr 76
McKay, W. T 6
McMackin mica mine. . . .72, 73, 74
McMasters, Samuel . . .* 20
Metallurgical processes 52
Mica 11,63,72-74
Millard mica mine 73
Milling character of gold ores, 50
Milling of tin ores 66
Mineral associates 37, 64, 75
Mineral fuels 110
Mineral paint works 59, 72
Mineralized zones 11
Miners' wax 37
Mineral waters 121,124
Minnekahta limestone. . . .3, 91, 92
93, 122
Minnekahta spring 122, 125
Minnelusa formation 3, 59, 94
Minnewaste limestone 3
Mint, report of director of 62
Miocene 82, 85, 94
Miscellaneous minerals 77, 78
Monarch mica mine 73
Montana gold property 12
Montana formation 100
Muckle}7, John 95
Muscovite 64
f^ELLIE MICA MINE 73
Newark mine 14
Newton, Henry . . . .6, 7, 8, 13, 57, 58
Newton - Jenney, survey 7
New York mica mine 72, 73, 74
Nickel 55
Nigger Hill. .46, 48, 49, 63, 67, 69, 71
Niobrara formation 3
Norbeck, Peter 116
North Cave Hills 112
Northern connected district . . .29
North Star gold mine 12
Nuggets 53
Nysoe, J. J 87, 130
OCHRE 58,59
^ O'Harra, Prof. C. C 81, 103
Old Abe gold property 19
Old Bill gold property 12
Old Charlie gold property 12
Olive gold property 40
Olivenite 64
Opeche formation 3
Orthoclase 64
Output of Gold 52
do Copper 56
do Iron 57,59
do Manganese 59
do Lead 62
do Silver 61
do Tin 66
do Tungsten 67
do Graphite 72
do Mica 72, 73
do Spodumene 76,77
Output, summary of 79
PACTOLA 46, 54, 78
Pahasapa limestone 3, 90
Palmer copper property 54
Palmer Gulch mine 76
Palmister, M 108
Pan-amalgamation 40
Parmley. J. W 115
Pearce, Richard 38, 62
Pearson, J. B 19
Peat 113
Peerless mica mine 73
Pegmatite 63, 69, 73, 74
Pennington county 12, 16, 18
53, 58, 73, 74
Permian .. 3, 5
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
135
Perseverance gold mine 40
Petalite 64
Petroleum 119
Petroleum tests 121
Phonolite 3, 29, 30, 43
Pierre shale 3, 104
Pilgrim gold property 40
Pinney, Milton E 24
Placers 9, 11, 26, 28, 45-50, 52
Plaster 99
Platinum 49
Plattner process 40
Pleistocene 4, 11, 82, 104
Poisoned Ox copper prop. . .52, 78
Porcelain clay 102
Porphyry 3, 16, 21, 61, 82, 84
Portland. .10,29, 31, 35, 37, 39, 60, 78
Portland cement 100
Portland Mining- Co 39
Potato creek 47, 49
Potsdam 25
Potters' clay 104
Pumice 109
Purple limestone 91
Pyrrhotite 21, 78
Pyrite .14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 39
Pyrolusite 59
QUARTZITE 84, 85
^ Quartzite. sinking to 36
Quartz porphyry 29-30
Quartz veins 4, 11, 15
PACINE MINING AND MILL-
AV ING Co 19
Ragged Top 30, 31, 41, 42, 45
Railroads 1, 30-11, 80
Rainfall... 4
Ramer, Supt. M. M 83
Rapid City 4, 50, 78
Rapid creek 8, 53, 57
Rare minerals 78
Red beds 5
Red Canyon creek 60
Red siliceous ores 37
Reddy gold mine 68
Refractory ores 14, 29, 50
Reimbold & Co 76
Reitz, O. A 68
Resume of mineral production, 78
Reynolds, Joseph 12
Reynolds copper property 54
Rhyolite 84
Riederer, E. J . , 108
Rio Tinto copper property 54
Riotte, E. N 66
Robinson, Dr. D. W 116
Rochford 12, 18, 53, 59, 72, 77
Rockerville 25, 29, 45, 46
Rolker, C. M 66
Ross, H. N 6
Ruby basin . . 10, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 51
Rutile 64
SAND 109
Sandstone 94
Satin spar - 100
Schedine, August 91, 130
Scheelite . . '. 64, 69
Schon, George 92, 130
Scorodite 64
Scott, Samuel 58, 75
Seim pyrite mine 16
Serpentine 88
Sheeptail gulch .29, 31
Shepard, Prof. James H. . .126, 128
Sheridan 46, 48, 53, 54
Siderite 14
Siliceous gold ores 29,44
Silurian 5, 89
Silver 1, 27, 37, 59, 62
Silver Ridge property. 41
Simmons, A. J 63
Sioux Falls 87
Sioux Falls "granite "..83, 86, 130
Sioux quartzite 86
Slag cement 101
Slagle, Pres. R. A ...104
Slate breccias 16
Slavonian pyrite mine 16
Sluicing 45,46
Smelter 16, 22, 51, 57, 60
Smith, A. H 102
Smith, A. J 40
Smith, F. C 14, 29, 37, 38, 40, 42
Spearfish formation 3
Spearfish Gold Mining Co 43
Sphalerite 14
Sphene 64
Spinel 64
Spodumene 64, 75-77
Spokane mine 61
Stamp mills 19, 20, 24, 50
Standby mine 18
Stannite 64
State penitentiary. 87, 130
Stenger, Geo 92
Sterner vertical 43
Stewart sanitarium 123
Stibnite 38,69
Stockade, the 7
Stream tin 65, 67
Strength of building stone
87, 95, 97
Stucco 99
Sugar Loaf hill 30
Sugar Loaf laccolite 32
Sula mine 68
136
MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Sulphide enrichments 55
Sulphur 37
Sulphur Springs bath house.. 124
Summary 129
Sundance formation 3
Sundance gold mine 32
Sunday Fraction mine 77
"TAILINGS 22, 50
Tallent, Annie D 12
Tantalite 49, 64, 66
Telegraph group 77
Tellurium 38
Terra ville 20
Terry 32,33,36,38
Tertiary. 3, 4, 89, 98, 104
Tests.— Gas 119
Petroleum 121
Stone 87,95,97
Tetradymite 14
Thoen, L. E 97, 130
Thomas, Capt 66
Timber 80
Tin 62-67
Tin Mountain vein 77
Tonalite 3
Topography 2
Tornado mine .35
Tornado shaft 32, 36
Tourmaline. 64
Trachyte 84
Treatment, methods of 50
Triassic 2, 3, 5
Triphyllite 64
Triplite 64
Trojan mine 40
Truax copper property 54
Tungsten 67-72
Two Strike mine 69, 70
TJXKE, TITUS 65
Ulster mine ..42
Uncle Sam mine ............... .12
Union Hill mine ................ 17
Union shaft .................... 32
Unkpapa sandstone. .3,95, 103, 109
Upper contact .................. 31
Uranium ....................... 78
U. S. Geological Survey ..... 3, 80
VAN HISE, C. R ................ 13
Veins ...................... 11-17
Verticals .............. 11, 33, 41, 43
Vigilante copper property ..... 54
Vincent, C. M ................... 66
Vogesites ........................ 3
Volcanic ash .................. 108
Vosburg, Theodore ............ 62
•
\Y7ARREN MICA MINE .......... 73
Y Wasp No. 2 mine ............ 69
Weed, W. H .................. 55,57
Welcome Mining Co ............ 40
Wells.— Artesian .......... 124, 127
Soft water .................... 126
Pump ....................... 126
Wessington Springs .......... 124
Western Portland Cement Co.
101, 130
West Virginia claim ........... 60
White River formation.. 82, 98, 107
White Spar mica mine ...... 73, 74
Whitewood creek ..... 45, 47, 50, 68
Windy flats ..................... 54
Window Light mica mine ..... 73
Wolframite ........ ....... 64, 68-72
Wood & Tipton ............. 91, 130
Wood mine ..................... 76
" Worm-eaten " sandstone ...... 31
CREEK ____ 29, 31, 44, 68, 73
64
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