In and around the Weinebene (also a popular recreational and hiking area) there are pegmatitic strata which contain significant amounts of Spodumene, making this area the largest known lithium deposit in Europe.
The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina.
He also was the first to discover another important lithium-containing mineral spodumene from the same source, an island near Stockholm.