The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-07-22
Purchase of manganese Ore Land

James 3, White u Co., Of this city
have just completed the purchase OF 5000
acre tract of manganese ore land in Vir-
ginia. They will commence the devlop-
ment of the tract at once, and inside of q
few months will have a new town built
about 1000 men at work, and be getting
out an output of 800 to 800 tons of ore pei
day.
The new purchase lies twenty miles
from WayDesboro and is within three
miles of the Shenandoah Valley railroad
Messrs. White 81 Bro. will at once com
mence the construction of branch road
and it will be pushed to completion as
rapidly as possible. Men are at work now
developing the tract and find that the ore
is reached at a depth of about eighty feet
AS soon as the exact lay of the ore is
determined on the work OF mining will be
Immediately commenced. The tract lies
up IN the mountains where there are nc
dwellings, and contracts for the build
ing of town will be let. Two hundred
houses will be erected at once, and in the
meantime the shafts will be sunk and all
made ready for the beginning of work in
the mines. The company expects within
eight months to be able to ship at least 500
tons of the ore per day.
In addition to what is quoted as COM
ing from the Manufacturer, the Pittsburg
correspondent of the New York Times
has the following relating to the same sub.
ject 1.-The deposit is so much larger and
the ore SO easily mined that they expect to
have no trouble in doing this [getting out
500 tons day.. The present demand for
manganese and spiegel, which contains 4C
per cent. of manganese, is about 10000
tons month. With the except ion Of the
Cambria Iron Works and the mills of the
Carnegies, all these metals are brought
from England. and the manufacturers
have always labored under a disadvan-
tage. By their purchases these two firms
have been given a great advantage over
quently secured great lead. The less
favored mills have tried to secure mines
of their own, but so far have failed. The
Whites will be able to place in the mar
ket at least 10000 tons per month Of
manganese ore from their new purchase.
This will shut out half the English i'm
ports, and with little more time they
may be able to double their capacit y."
The above is taken from the Pittsbure
american Manufacturer of July 10Th. II
refers to lease for five years (not sale,
made to James B. White, of Pittsburg.
and S. M. Donald, Of Augusta county
Va, Of the Kennedy tract of land con.
tanning 4,500acres, situated about twelve
miles south of Waynesboro, and three
miles east of the Shenandoah Valley Rail.
road, and running parallel with it fol
about six miles. The stipulation of the
lease is for royalty upon each ton of
manganese ore mined, no provision being
made in the lease for any other kind of
ore than manganese. The Kennedy tract
is owned one-fourth by j. F. Slaughter, of
Lynchburg, one-fourth by Maj. Ed. Nc
Mahon, of Stanton, and j. G. Green. of
Wytheville, and the other half by S. M.
Yost, of this place.
The parties leasing the property com.
menced operations On it last week. The
writer of this had made some develop
ments On it before the lease was effected.
A shaft eighty feet in depth had been
sunk, passing through from thirty to forty
feet Of manganese formation, and stopping
six feet below water on what was believed
to be solid body of the ore. Other open
ings had been made several years ago for
hematite iron ore, and manganese discov-
cred in a number of them, but as that was
not the mineral that was then wanted, the
examination was not prosecuted further
than from 10 to 20 feet III depth. The
manganese ores already discovered, show
by analysis to contain from so to So per
cent. Of metallic manganese, according to
locality and depth, and very little phospho.
rus, making the ore useful in the manu-.
facture of steel. A number of experts have
been on the property, and the concur emf
opinion was expressed by them that it is a
valuable manganese deposit or deposits.
Whether the operations recently com
menced by the parties leasing will show re-
suits to Justify the statement in the above
paragraph as to the. number of hands to be
employed and the amount of ore to be got.
ten out, cannot at this time be stated.
tions from the time the experimental tests
were commenced in January last. From
40 to rs tons Of manganese ore were got
ten out of the shaft in a straight drive
down. with no purpose or effort to follow
the drift of the deposits or veins, as they
were found. The object was to go down
through the formations to the water level
to ascertain their character, and judge
from that whether it would justify more
enlarged and systematic efforts for the de
velopment Of the property. AS there was
nothing in the least discouraging in the
whole experiment the conclusion was
reached that it was nganese property,
On this portion of tn tract there seems
to he about 800 or 400 acres underlaid with
the manganese ore. To what depth it goes
has not been tested. In the so foot shaft
the ore was penetrated three feet by a
hand drill below the bottom, without 60
ing through the ore deposit. South Of this
deposit. about a mile, a vein of brown
hematite iron ore is found, which shows
go per cent. of metallic iron, and but a
small per cent. of phosphorus. From this
ore furnace was operated on the property
many years ago. About five miles south
Of this there is another manganese depos-
it. the extent of which has not been tested,
but the indications are equally as favora-
bic as on the portion above referred to.
This ore shows higher metallic char
acter (56 to SO per cent? as well as little
more phosphorus. but not enough of the
latter to destroy it's usefulness in steel
making.
While the actual tests by pick and
shovel have not been made to justify such
extensive calculations as are given by our
Pittsburg contemporary, the indications are
as favorable as could well be, from the
limited and primitive examinations made.
The gentlemen who have leased the prop
erty have had considerable experience in
working in manganese, and are amply able
to develop this tract to it's fullest capacity,
as the terms of the lease require. If their
expectations Of the mineral wealth of the
property are realized, the figures given by
the Manufacturer may become facts, and a
seat of busy industry opened up in an
isolated and neglected portion of the
county.
Anart from the personal interest the