Hunter Diggings (Hunter Lead Mine; Thomas Diggings; Thomas Mine), Camden County, Missouri, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hunter Diggings (Hunter Lead Mine; Thomas Diggings; Thomas Mine)	Mine
Camden County	County
Missouri	State
USA	Country

Hunter Diggings (Hunter Lead Mine; Thomas Diggings; Thomas Mine), Central Missouri District, Missouri, USA

These were formerly known as the Thomas mines. They are situated in section 21, township 39 N., 16 W. When visited by the writer in November, 1893, no work was in progress, but several pits and drifts were open for inspection. The galena was found in the magnesian limestone in irregular pockets, distributed generally along the stratification planes . It was associated with a great deal of barite. The barite was partly in peculiar nodules, the surfaces of which were roughened by small crystals of the same substance, stained a red color, causing somewhat the appearance of an Osage orange. Into the rock enclosing the cavities, irregular veinlets of barite often penetrated; in places the adjacent limestone was decomposed to a dolomitic sand. The galena was bright and clean on a fresh surface, and had a sharp contact with the barite. Over exposed surfaces it is oxidized to cerussite. Barite and galena often line the interior of the cavities, but as a rule do not fill them completely. The barite is generally compact and chalky. The contact between it and the magnesian limestone is sometimes sharp; but, at other times, a scale of iron oxide separates the two. The barite generally surrounds the galena, but crystals of the latter protrude beyond the barite balls, and the faces of the galena crystals are often well developed in the mass of the barite. The faces of some of the galena crystals are coated with white crystals of barite, showing later deposition of the latter. Large quantities of ore were found in the surface clay here, associated with broken chert. Calcite is rarely found, and no zinc was observed.