St. Paul daily globe., 1891-11-26


is not alone to be measured by the area
which they are known to cover. Their
depth has thus far eluded all efforts to
determine. Large numbers of boringS
have been made at different points for
hundreds of feet without reaching the
bottom Of the veins. The thickness of
the veins is, in many cases, marvellous.
In some of the openings of the Mime
sofa mine the width of the iron depoS sits
in many places reaches 200 feet.
The further exploration and develop
ment proceed, the more surprising the
| wealth of the mines appears. All the
shipments made since 1884 have been
substantially from two mineS-the Min
nesota and the Chandler. Small
amounts have been sent out
from the Pioneer. The amount
! shipped in 1884 was. in round num-
I berS, $4,000 tons, from August to the end
of the season. The amount or these ship
| mentS has increased year by year until
| the present season, which Will exceed
| the record OF any other year since the
! opening of the mines. For this year
| the amount apprOXimates 900,0O0 tons.
In the seven years from 1884 the aggre
| gate is about 100000 tons.
The earnings of this single road, with
a mileage as given above, but little
| the first enormous. In 1889 they are
placed at 1886, 6,51S.76, the net earnings
| being little short of 100000. The
| total train mileage for passengers and
| freight was 502,6S7.
Some further conception of the extent
of the deposits in this region may be
gained from the fact that the number of
companies incorporated under the laws
of Minnesota for the purpose of mining
these ores, up to the close of 1890, prob
| ably reaches 100 or more, while the
leases Of Mining Property
under the act Of the legislature of 1889
were nearly 800.
This act authorizes the commissioner
OF the land Office to execute leases and
| contracts for mining aud shipping iron
| ores from any lands now belonging to
/ the state, or from any lands which the
/ certain conditions. The object of this
/ act was to hasten the development of
I the country ard enable the state to de-
rive some revenue from its lands.
| The leases run for fifty years, and
authorize the lessor to mine and remove
I from the lands merchantable shipping
! iron which Is or may be found on, in or
I under said land together with the right
! to construct all buildings, make all ex-
1 cavatlonS, openings, bitches. drains,
| railroads, wagon roads and other i'm
( proyements upon said premises which
/ are or may become necessary or suitable
I for the mining or removal of iron ore
I from the said premises. with the right
( during the existence of the lease to cut
and use the timer found upon said
! premises for fuel, other than for smell
! ing purposes, and SO far also as may be
| necessary for the construction of build
: ings required in the operation of any
! mine or mines on the premises leased,
as also the timber necessary for drains,
| tramwayS and supports for such mines.
The lessor is required to pay a royalty
| at the rate of twenty-five cents per ton
| for all the iron mined and carried away,
| each ton reckOned at 2.240 pounds. He
i is also required to pay the sum of 500
/ at the time of making the lease and an
| nually thereafter.
The properties upon which mines
! have been developed. but are not yet
shipping, are Oh the VermiliOn range
| the Zenith Iron company" the Mil
] Ter 81 Brown" the Anderson" the
"Macum 'er," and the chippewa"
! These, with the three producing mines,
make a total of eight actually produc-
! ing and under development.
| OF those which have been partially
| developed, but are not yet shipping, OH
/ the Mesabi range, may be mentioned:
| The Mallman.' "Mesabi Syndicate"
! ''Bewabic' and Mountain Iron COM
| pany."
| Besides these there are ten companies
prosecuting work upon their locations.
J OF cOurSeit is not expected that prop
! critics remote from railway tranSpOrta-
! ton can be prOfita6ly worked. but the
! construction and extension OF railroads
! is now going on with more activity than
| at any former period. The Duluth d
! Winnipeg road, now completed for a
distance of 1l0 miles. passes through
! the Mesabi range. The Duluth. Mesabi
! d Northern is projected, and the right
| of way is being cleared. Active work
| will be prosecuted during the winter
/ and spring, and the road is expected to
reach valuable properties during the
/ next season.
In addition to this the Iron Range
! will doubtless extend branches to prop
| critics whose development is sufficiently
| advanced or assured 10 warrant the con-
! struction. With the growth of the rail-
| way system the development of the
| mines may be expected rapidly to adj
| vance. 1t is difficult to estimate what
even the next five years may bring forth
in the working of these wonderful
| mines.
Another feature of the situation Is
quite as remarkable as that of the area
covered and the depth of the deposits.
From the records kept the following
! statement is made:
/ The amount o: the different grades of ore
mined and shipped between Dec. /, 1888, and
| Aug. 1. 1889. from the Minnesota mine alone
! is IS follows: Tons
June shipments ts............. ...... JOB, 669
| Previous report u,So5
Total. 49,. o14, 0SS
/ More than half of this iron was low in
phosphorus. and nearly half OF it con-
! tanned over 65 per cent of metallic iron,
and less than 6-1000ths of per cent of
/; phosphorus.
! Remarkable Showing.
/ As remarked by Prof. Winehell, the
state geologist. such showing can
! probably be made by no other mining
| region in the world. The theoretical
| ner cent of metallic iron in pure hema-
lite is 20, thus leaving less than per
! cent to be accounted for as impurities.
The impurities are mainly quartz or
/ silica. Sulphur is rarely found In
| quantities sufficient to be determined.
The amount of phosphorus is the all
important thing, and in order to be sure
of this the ore is analyZed three times
once at the mine, once atthe lake shore,
and once at the blast furnace before it
is Smelted.
In series of tests embodied in Bull
letin No. of the state geologiSt on the
iron ores of Minnesota, it is stated that
in a shipment OF eleven cars between
June 5 and June IS, 1889. the assays
showed an average of over 65 per cent
of metallic iron, with less than 6-1000ths
of l per cent of phosphorus. In another
caSa the assavs ran from &c and 7I-100 to
6T and 9j-10J of metallic iron; phos-
nhorus below the amount already
named. In many cases large bodies of
this ore assay as high as 6S and even 60
per cent, or within small fraction
thereof, while tine amount of phosphorus
is so small as to place it easily within
what IS known as the BesSemer limit.
That is to say, the ores are so free from
nho,phoruS and so rich in iron that they