The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1892-01-22
And this BY another chemist of brown Eein-
attic. tdrcd at 3l2 deg. Farenhc!D xix miles

Sulphur "',''
Besides these there are also on railroads
running here another brown ore CARRYING from
II to 10 per cent of iron, and .0l9 OF phospho-
rus; man anifcrouS iron ores, and IN all prob
ability large deposits Of manganese; i black
lmonte with from 80 to 80 per cent OF iron
(wel suited for the pneumatic Basic proccSs);
a specular or red henatite (Bcs>cmei) with
S. to IS per cent Of iron, while Of the great
Cranberry magnetic ore Prof. Proctor, i'll lis
report, says:
"Extending northeast and southwest through
the western counties of North CarolUa are
large deposits of the purcst magnetic iron ores
known in this country save in the Lake Super
ior region. These ores. from Il number Of
samples averaged by myself and officers OF the
Tenth Census and others, ana we from - per
cent to GG per cent OF iron, and are, III Mitchell
and AShe counties. North Carolina. remarkably
free from phosphorous and sulphur Recent
developments along a line of thirty miles III eX-
tent prove the excessive nature of these depoS-
it's. The only point where these ores have as
yet been reached by a railway is at Cranberry
mine, in Mitchell county, North Carolina. Il few
years ago the great mass o. ore now uncovered
at this point was hid by a thick covering Of soil
and decomposcd gneiss, save only few Sur-
face pits from which small forge was sup
Piled with ore. Within the past few years the
face of the hill has been uncovered, revealing
All enormous mass of very pure magnetic 10 II
heigth of 800 feet above the railway track. The
engineer in charge at the mines assured ne
that from diamond drill tests and the uncoy
cred mass, lie had here piled up above the
railway track over 20,OO0,000 tons of ore to
be mined by simply quarrying III open cut; aud
Idoubt if an ore of like excellence can be deiiv-
cred on cars at less cost elsewhere in America.
furnace test was recently made Oh Virginia
coke and the run Of mine of Cranberry Ore and
pig produced containing 90 per cent Of phos
phorus; and from practical furnace tests and
the analyses of ore from many openings, il is
demonstrated that the entire district contains
in abundance an ore suited to the Manufacture
of Bessemer steel. This ore is nearer to coke
lat Big Stone Gap) than is any other Besseiner
steel ore known to me in America. From the
Dessemer ores of the lake region, the source Of
nearly all the steel now made in this country,
to the nearest coke is about 500 miles; from
the Besscmer ores of western North Carolina to
the coke at Big Stone Cap it is 100 miles, and
between these two extremes are to be had the
various ores above described. Beyond the
Blue Ridge in the Carolinas, arc large deposits
of high-grade ores. very great development
in the manufacture of iron and steel will follow
up the completion of the roads connecting the
cokipg Goals and ores, in the region under dis
cusSion.
"a Scotch iron manufacturer of large expe-
rience who spent some months in examining
the Goals and ores in the district extending from
southeastern Kentucky to western North Car
DINA, estimates the cost Of making a ton of pig
iron at Big Stone Gap mt 81 Sc; and thinks that
Ressemcr steel can be made Mt the same place
at as low cost as in England. This estimate