New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-14
A RARE MINING PRODUCT.
ORES OF TUNGSTEN FOUND IN CON
NECTICUT.
USED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN EXPERIMENTS
MITH ARMOR PIERCING PROJECTILEs.

Bridgeport. Conn. Oct. 10.-Rare minerals |
which are being mined at Long Hill, eight
miles north this city, being used by
the United States Government in a series of ex-
periments to find projectile that will pierce
the heaviest and hardest armor plate. The
products of this mine wolfram and scheelite, |
the two being found in combination so far
nowhere else in the world. They are, however,
found separately, scheelite being found in the
gold mines of NewZeaand, but it does not
equal either in quantity quality that which is
being mined Long Hill from the Shaga- |
nowaump Mountain. Wolfram is found in small
quantities in Utah Arizona and in the tin mines
of Cornwall, England. This combination makes
the value of the mine extremely great. VOL
fran and scheelfte are the ores of tungsten. At
the present time the products of the mine sell
from $4J0 to $500 ton, and the owners of this
mine control the worlds market for tungsten.
The American Tungsten Mining and Milling
Company was formed little over year ago
and has been working the mine since September,
and erecting plant. Among those interested in
the mine are Frederick c. Beach, Editor of 1.-The
Scientific American" who spends his summers
at Stratford, a suburb of this city; Sir Douglas
Fox, of London, we'll known authority on min
ing in Cornwall. England w. H. Hinsdale who
designed the unique plant, and who has been
identified with the manufacturing of steel for
years, and Professor AdOph CURT, of Bonn Uni
versity. Germany, the chief consulting engineer,
who has made several trips to this country for
the purpose of shaping the development of the
mine The resident chemist is Professor Herbert
Shilstone, late of Barbados, British West Indies,
and the resident engineer is Earl c. Bacon. Mr.
Shilstone IS of half dozen chemists in
Ahe world who have analyzed who know
practically anything about wolfram scheete
Some sixty years ago the discovery of the
combination of the minerals here was made, the
IAct appearing in a book published in 1891, by
Or. Z. L. Shepard. on the geology of Connect
yut. Scientific give the explanation for
ne deposit the fact that Shaganowaump Noun
ain was once a volcano. and that while the
eruption of the volcano was in progress the
chemical changes superinduced by the intense
aeat took place and left in layers about the hill
limestone as the first stratum. and underneath
he limestone the combination layer of wolfram
Ind schoete. While the volcano was in action
he tungstic acid acting the limestone pro-
duced scheeiite, and the iron produced
the wolfram.
At the present time the mining being done is
simply surface mining. Thus far the layer of
limestone, which is next the surface, is not so
thick as to prevent removing it and mining in
the open cut fashion. The strata of limestone
is about ten feet thick and will increase in
thickness the mining approaches the crater
of the volcano When the limestone grows too
thick TO cut through it Will be tunneled under.
The vein Of scheelite and wolfram which is
being worked is from twelve to fifteen feet
thick. and apparently of unlimited width. The
progress of the development of the mine is to
work toward the crater of the Volcano
When the crater is reached a vertical shaft
will be sunk for then the yield of wolfram and
scheeite is expected to be much larger. The
spot from which the is being taken is
about half mile from the plant where il is
crushed. The building is the side of the
hill, six stories high
The ore is practically puverzed and then
passes through Hooper separatOrs, and the valu-
able is taken out of the tailings.
The American Tungsten Mining and Milling
Company does not separate the wolfram from
the scheelite 1t is shipped 10 buyers it
comes from the s@parators. But the two be
readily separated 10y the Of the magnet as
does not.
The Krupp Steel Works. of Germany, have
taken nearly al Of the output thus far
month ago however. large consignment was
sent to experiment station of the United
States Government. and recently ii was demon
strated that Il projectile with tungsten Jacket
made from wolfram and scheeIte would pene-
trate the hardest kind Of harveyized nickel steel
aTmor.
ID ,