The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-12 00:00:00

FOREIGN MINERAL PRODUCE.

The mining districts of the European continent
produce very !arm quantities of valuable ores, sonic of
which are peculiar to themselves. In many of these dis-
trict., mining operations have been carried on from very re-
mote periods ; some have been and in part continue to bo
remarkable for the nature and natural position of their•
ores, the modes of working them, and the application of
water power and machinery adopted.
rho mines of the Scandinavian penirsula are perhaps
inferior to none in point of national importance and general
interest; they form the main source of the industrial
wealth of the country, and consequently occupy a con.ider-
able part of the contribution, which Sweden and Norway
have sent to the Exhibition.

The proprietors of mines and smelting works in those
countries appear to have exerted themselves to illustrate in
the best manner the nature of these productions, and
the manufactures derived from them. The iron and
steel of Sweden has long been celebrated for
its excellence, and there are few countries, per-
haps, which combine so many natural advantages for its
manufacture. Inexhaustible deposits of the richest and
most valuable ore (magnetic oxide) lie amid extensive
forests of beech and fir, which afford fuel and the charcoal
which is the best adapted for smelting. The chief mines
are situated towards the south and east, near Lake Weiler,
and the smelting works are in their immediate neighbour-
hood. The most remarkable are those of Dannetnora,
the provtne.. of 172'14. The "" !`: in the printi•
five rock, and is rather quarried than mined, sometimes to
a depth of nearly a hundred fathoms. Specimens of the
ore, pig iron, liar iron, and the peculiarly tine steel which
this iron yields, are exhibited by Baron Tatum, proprietor
of the Ostcrby Iron Works,
M. ltettig, the ore of the Iloslagen district, together with
the iron, musket barrels, and hardened steel made from it.
Front the Motala Iran and Engine Works have been sent
boiler plates and a variety of tubes, &c. ; pig iron for cast-
ing. M. Layerhjelm exhibits a serial collection of the ores
with their analyses, the rocks in which they are situated,
mostly gneiss, chlorite and hornblende, pig iron, and the
scoria; or slag, formed during the smelting.

•
The quantity of iron amorally produced in this country
(74,000 tons) is very much larger than is required for home
consumption; nearly threc-fourths arc exported. Most of
the finer steel of England was formerly made from Swedish
iron. In 1839 we imported 17,009 tons; but latterly,
owing to the improvements which have been introduced
into this manufacture its England, the importation has
decreased. The manufactured iron and steel of Sweden
are exhibited in great variety by several persons : tools,
locks, cutlery (plain and ornamental), nails, and the other
articles, which are contained in glass cases ut each cad
of the collection, give a favourable impression of their ma-
nufacturing skill.
The iron and ores of Norway, though not equal to tho
Swedish, are exceedingly good. Bath are exhibited by
Messrs. Flood and Lovens Kiold respectively. The mines
and works which produce the iron are situated ou the
coast of the Gulph of Christiana. The annual produce is
about sixteen millions.
The only specimen of the manufactured iron of this
country is a most formidable-looking musket. The sin-
gular toughness of the iron is well shown by some stout
iron bars which have been knotted without showing any
signs of fracture.
Of the copper ores of these countries no specimens are
seat, a mass of copper from the Itoraas Copper Works being
the only illustration of their copper produce. The mine

from which the ore is extracted at Roraas is opened upon
an enormous mass of pyrites, and is worked open. Its
produce is about 4,000 tons unnually.
In the front of the Norwegian division is a case of very
beautiful specimens of native silver, and the silver ores
' from the famous mine of Konigsberg. The ruck in which
the metal is found consists of carbonate and ttuate of lime,
through which it is disseminated in a kind of fine net-work.
A block of this rock is shown at the back of the case of
ores. This mine has been worked fur upwards of two
hundred years, and in the year 1768 it produced silver to
the value of 79,0001.; since which time it has materially
declined in productiveness.
MM. Roe and Gallitano exhibit specimens of the chro-
mate of iron found near Drontheirn, showing their different
stages of preparation, the washed ore, and the chromate
manufactured from it.
Tho cobalt ores of Tunaberg, in Sweden, have only been
worked during the last 30 years. The mines do not yield
very large quantities, hut the ore is of great purity. There
are also sonic mines of cobalt at Mixture, in Nor-
way. The rough ores of Tunaberg, the calcined and
washed cobalt, and the pure oxide, arc exhibited by the
Tunaberg Cobalt Company. The principal use which is
made of this substance is as a colour for glass and porce-
lain.
There are soma specimens of the serpentinerocks and tlo
marbles of Norway among the collection.