The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-12-15
.ININGNOTES

wien The wonderful deposits or
iron ore on what is now known as the
Mesaba range were discovered, and
the stories were told of the great
quantities of ore that could be mined
with steam shoyels at cost that de-
fied competition by the mines of the
older ranges, the whole iron mining
industry of Lake Superior was seized
with the idea that the practically in
exhaustible supplies of the Mesaba
would prove serious injury to their
interests says the Duluth Herald.
Then the mine owners of the older
ranges took courage and ridiculed the
claims of the Mesaba people, claiming
that the guesses regarding the extent
of the deposits were wild and that the
steam shovel system of mining could
not be continued long But the So
called wild guesses have been shown
to have been really conservative, and
steam shovel mining has not ceased
yet today finds the iron ore industry
throughout the Lake Superior region
in prosperous condition. Horace V.
Winchell, who has a very extensive
knowledge of the prospects on the Me-
saba, said lately in an interview:
"There is no less than $3.50, 900. 900
invested in the iron mining industry
in the Lake Superior district. When
the Mesaba range was first discovered
miners and merchants of other dis
tricts comforted themselves with the
vain hope that it was pockety, that
its shallow mines would soon be ex-
hausted, that its ores could be used
only in small quantities in average
mixtures, and so on. But the facts
are these: There is more ore in sight
today, three or four times over, than
the whole Lake Superior region has
| produced in fifty years. Its deposits
are deeper, larger, wider and better
than those of any other range For
some years past more of its ore has
been used than from that of any of
/ the older ranges, and the disparity
seems to become greater year by year,
4 Active exploration there dates back
but four seasons, and yet there is in
sight today nearly 400, 100000 tons of
ore, better in quality than the average
used in the United States, and per-
haps 200. 000,e 600 tons that will average
90 per cent of iron, .06 per cent of
phosphorus and 10 per cent of mois-
ture, and the end is not yet. l do not
consider it by any means wild pre-
dictionthat the Mesaba range alone
will produce 500, 100000 tons of iron
ore before it is abandoned.
The Iron Trade Review reports
an Investigator who recently address
ed letters of inquiry to the mining
companies on the Mesaba range got
answers with estimates based on act
uai working and careful exploration.
These gave total of 400, 100000 tons
ahead, on the known properties. 1t
is not surprising in view of the new
plane to which the iron industry has
| risen, that values of the Mesaba mines
have undergone radical readjust-
ment in the past year. With ship
ments in the neighborhood of 6,000,-
600 tons this year, preparations are
making for more than a 1000, 0OO-ton
output next year, or more than all
the ranges sent down in a year so re-
Gently as 1893. The Review says:
THE question of the satisfactory
handling of larger percentages of the
Mesaba ores is still to be worked out.
Mr.. Thomas is running the West Du-
luth blast furnace with Mesaba ores
alone, and has experienced no difficult
ty. having adjusted his furnace so as
to handle the Mesaba ore without any
mixture of ore from other ranges. If
this can be done at the West Duluth
furnaces, it can be done at every
other furnace,
Attention is also drawn by the
Cleveland paper to the fact that on
the Gogebic range the past season has
demonstrated that some properties
cannot longer respond to increased de-
mand with increased output. New
mines may be found to take the place
of the familiar ones that have seen
their best days, but the discovery of
such successors is yet to be announc-
ed. .'In general says the Review.
1.-THE trend of events is toward an in
creasing dependence upon the Mesaba
range for the supply of high-grade
Bessemer ores. From the present
standpoint it is seen that the new
Minnesota supply came out year too
soon. Today the announcement of
store so inconceivably large-an
announcement that once brought
panic and paralysis to the iron min
ing industry of Lake Superior-is the
great steadying and fortifying fact be-
hind the claims for American suprem-
acy in steel"
j The Mahoning Ore Company. which
/ fe xx,o11 lypn~p in paptharn Minnarato