Other openings have been made along Coal Mine creek from which lignite is belng taken and the output from the banks along this stream will amount to several hundred tons this winter. At every opening springs appear, and many strong springs at points not developed indicate the presence of lignite.

One mile northwest of Belfield in Township 140, Range 99, Section 30, sixty feet above the railroad track and at an elevation considerably greater than that of the seam just described on Coal Mine creek, five feet of a seam said to be nine feet thick The lignite appeared to be of excellent quality.

was seen.

Lignite South of Belfield.-Three miles south of Belfield, on Norwegian creek, a tributary of the Little Heart river, which flows nearly east-west, and empties into the parent stream eight miles southeast of Belfield, there are a number of seams which are well exposed and locally developed.

The Engelhartson bank, in Township 139, Range 99, Section 20, shows four feet of good and two feet of inferior lignite. The bottom of the exposure is six feet above water level. The amount of stripping required at present is eleven feet, and a large area can be mined at no greater disadvantage. Lignite, probably the same seam that is opened one-fourth of a mile farther down the creek, was found in the barnyard, but heavy springs prevented the opening of a bank advantageously. The structure of the seam where exposed is as follows:

The Anderson bank, on the same creek, in Township 139, Range 99, Section 19, north one-half, shows twelve feet of lignite, the lower six or eight feet good, the upper part of the seam being soft. As now exposed, from eight to ten feet of stripping is required to secure the lignite. The position with reference to water level of the stream is the same as that at the Englehartson bank, and the distance between them being only two miles, the two exposures probably represent the same seam. At the Anderson bank two thin streaks of clay occur in the lignite.

Other localities in this vicinity where lignite was reported by responsible persons, but which were not personally visited by a member of the survey staff, are as follows:

The Anderson homestead, Township 139, Range 100, Section 24, sixteen feet of good coal reported to have been found in a well twenty-two feet below the surface.

On Paddy creek, a tributary of the Little Missouri, four miles north of Sully spring, lignite in eight and ten-foot seams.

On Government creek, a tributary of the Little Missouri, excellent lignite seams.

One mile west of Belfield, on the south side of the Northern Pacific track, a seam of some importance is slightly exposed, its total thickness being undetermined.

LIGNITE DEPOSITS OF HETTINGER COUNTY

A limited area only in Hettinger county has been studied, the greater part of the large area included within its limits. being necessarily reserved for the field work of the coming summer. From New England as a center work was carried on up and down the north fork of the Cannon Ball for ten miles in each direction: south along Coal Bank creek, a tributary of the stream just mentioned, and just across the line in Billings county, in the Rainy Buttes. The country between Dickinson and New England was twice traversed by different routes and observations with reference to lignite were made. The region is marked by a few high buttes, by one or two elevated plateaus of the same elevation as the low buttes which are plainly remnants of these and similar plateaus, and by extensive nearly level stretches in the valleys of the present streams.

The Rainy Buttes are large, flat topped buttes of the "Sentinel Butte type already described, and the stratigraphic series that they disclose is nearly identical with that of the other high buttes in Billings county. East Rainy Butte with its outliers. occupies nearly two thirds of a township, while the top includes an area one-third as great. The upper half is steep, the last fifty feet nearly vertical, the total height above the surronnding

country amounting to 400 feet, its elevation above the Cannon Ball river reaching 460 feet.

Lignite About New England.-The Laramie as exposed on Cannon Ball at this postoffice consists of sand and sandstone, but two miles north of the river lignites and clays are found. The bank from which most of the coal for New England is obtained is that of Jacob Riess, in Township 136, Range 97, Section 22. Here a seven foot seam of good coal is laid bare by stripping off four feet of clay. Large springs issue from the lignite. The seam is exposed along the edge of the hill where the bank is located for 300 feet. An analysis of dried lignite from this bank gives:

Lignite from this bank sells for fifty cents a ton at this mine. On John Ermintrout's ranch, six miles northwest of New England lignite is mined by stripping. His bank shows: