The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-11-22
SOUTHWEST vlRGIAIA's ORES.
Mr.. E. G. Pechin Presents a
Conclusive Article
In the November Iron Beit-The Orc Sup-
plies Adequate to Keep Quo Furnaces
In Blast and Develop Our Iron and
steel Industries for Many Years TO
Come.

The following interesting article from
the pen of Mr. E. C. Pechin will apnear
in the Iron Belt of November %.
ut is an open secret that great deal
Oh talk has been going the rounds to tho
erect that the various new furnaces
Quilt during the last two years, or now
approaching completion, had found, and
would find, difficulty in getting ore sup
plies for them to blow in and run CON
tlnuously. That there has boon cause
LOT such rumor is beyond question.
mo writer has emphatcally stated
elsewhere that it was one thing to build
aturnace, and an entirely different thing
10 open In hurry mines to keep 1t going.
There has boon in the near past an alb
normal activity in furnace building
which with the collapse Of boom towns
mas happily ceased. Instead of opening
inc mines iirstand building tho furnaces
afterwards, tho cart has been put before
the horse with the usual result.
ut has been thought advisable
10 put before ths reading public the
exact situation, and then each one can
form Judgment for himself.
There are eleven completed coke
furnaces on the line of the Norfolk and
Western, viz: Bristol. Max Meadows,
Pulaski. lvanhoe, Graham, Salem, Roa-
noke, two Grocer, Buena Vista and
shenandoah. Tho Dora, at Pulaski,
and Radford' Crane, at Radford, are
nearing completion. The two old fur
naces Mt Lynchburg are purposely left
out; at best they have run fitfully, and
thoro is no near prospect of their re-
sumption.
six furnaces, Bristol, Pulaski,
Salem, No. Grocer, Ivanhoe and Buena
Vista are in blast; No. Grocer lust out
for repairs. Roanoke, Max Meadows
ana Graham have been stocking up,
and each, at this writing, has from To-
600 to 10000 tons in stock. Roanoke is
expected to blow in shortly. This
furnace has blown in since this article
was written. Graham and Max Mead
ows probably after the holidays.
Now each Of the thirteen above named
furnaces are thoroughly modern, we'll
equipped, and capable of a largo out
put. 1t is safo to give each an average
yearly output Of 10000 tons, or, with all
in blast, yearly production of of 30O,-
600 tons.
The average yield of the ore mix
ture in this district has been about 10
TO Al per cent, but for safety call it 40
per cent. Each will, upon this basis,
require $4,000 tons of ore year, or a
total of 075,000 tons u year, or s., 900
tons month. Can existing mines
furnish this?
Tho following is carefully pre-.
pared list of the various mines in tho
district, their location and their pres
ent proved capacity. 1t will DO bes; to
group tho mines under the three head
lngs of Mountain, Limestone and
Gossan orcs. All are brown hydrated
ores.
The mountain ores. in tho slntes
everything the Potsdam sandstone, are
found in varying quantities in the foot
nils OF tho Blue Ridge from the Poto-
mac river to the Tennessee line, and
carry as mined from 40 to A. per cent.
iron, and as q rule,high manganese and
phosphorus.
The limestone ores, as their name in
dIcates, lie in and on the lower Silurian
limestone and are a, yet only mined
with one exception along the New river,
from Big Reed Island creek to Nv nhoe,.
distance of eighteen miles, and on the
Little Reed Island Creek about four
miles. These admirable ores run from
~ to so per cent. in iron and are low in
phosphorus and manganese. The Gossan
ore is IN Carroll county, and is worked
at two points-at Betty Baker, twenty
three miles from Pulaski, and at Cos
san, forty-flve miles from Pulaski. This
ore IS red short, carrying little copper,
low in phosphorus and Manganese, and
as rule with about 40 per cent. in iron.
Both these limestone and Gossan ores
are ON the North Carolina extension of
the Norfold and Western railroad. 1t
VIII be necessary to treat the supply for
Graham furnace by itself further along:
MOUNTAIN ORES.