A hand book of Virginia . steady, the annual value being between $50,000and $100,000. At present the production is very small, but con-siderable activity is now being manifested in the mines of thisbelt, which should yield steady and profitable returns if properlymanaged. Copper ores are found in many counties of the State, but theprincipal areas are three in number: (1) The Virgilina district,including parts of Halifax, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg counties;(2) the northern Blue Ridge region including parts of Warren,Fauquier, Rappahannock, Madison, Page, and Greene counties;and (3) the Southwe
A hand book of Virginia . steady, the annual value being between $50,000and $100,000. At present the production is very small, but con-siderable activity is now being manifested in the mines of thisbelt, which should yield steady and profitable returns if properlymanaged. Copper ores are found in many counties of the State, but theprincipal areas are three in number: (1) The Virgilina district,including parts of Halifax, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg counties;(2) the northern Blue Ridge region including parts of Warren,Fauquier, Rappahannock, Madison, Page, and Greene counties;and (3) the Southwest Virginia region including Floyd, Carroll,and Grayson counties. The principal production has been fromthe first and third areas. The Virgilina area is commercially themost important copper district in Virginia, and the principaldevelopments include a considerable number of mines. Lead mining in Virginia dates back more than 150 years, andthe old lead mines of Austinville, Wythe county, were the first M .?? ?<$. Si to be worked. Mining of zinc ores in the State dates from theopening the mine at Bertha, Wythe county, in 1879. A smeltingplant (the only one in the South) owned and operated at presentby the Bertha Mineral Company, was promptly built at Pulaskifor the making of spelter from the Virginia ores. The Berthaspelter is of exceptional purity, and has a world-wide reputation. The first coal mined in the United States was in the Richmondbasin, where mines were opened and worked on the James river,near Richmond, as early as 1750. For the next 71 years, or from1750 to 1822, there are no available records of production from themines near Richmond; the first year for which figures of pro-duction are given in 1822, when 54,000 short tons of coal weremined. The production from Richmond basin continued to in-crease until 1832 (the production in 1828 being 100,280 tons),when it began to decline. ?The construction of the Norfolk and Western Railway throughsouthwest Virginia in 18
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidhandbookofvi, bookyear1911
