The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-04-05
IRON ORE TALK.

fear it may attract criticism from GER
tain quarters, says that one of the i'm
portant questions considered by the
leaders in the formation of the United
States Iron and Steel company was
ore supplies. This, he says, has &C.
cupied more attention and been given
graver and more serious consideration
than any other one subject. AS little
has been said in the dispatches from
the East concerning the ore feature,
the statement is interesting. 1t is
also suggestive of explanation of GER
tain moves on the iron mining and
transportation chess board in Mime
sofa of late. The iron ore man says:
sit is easy to build furnaces and
steel works, but to keep them in opera
tion, iron ore is required, and lots OF
it. The manipulators of the big iron
and steel consolidation have unlimit-
ed wealth and can accomplish any
thing except create ore deposits. The
men who control the ore deposits,
therefore, are the ones who control
the situation. Possibly that will ex-
plain in part the activity Of Lake
Superior Consolidated Iron Mines
stock, and the anxiety of the Eastern
Minnesota interests to acquire iron
ore properties. 1t may have been
noticed that the Eastern Minneaota
had never taken the same amount Of
interest in getting hold Of iron lands
that it has since the huge shadow Of
the combine cast itself over the field.
This road does not run onto the Mes
aba on account of the scenery, and ii
the combine captures all the mines
that seems likely to it will behoove
the Eastern to land as many indie
pendent properties as possible, for the
combine is not likely to ship ore over
the road of competing transporta-
tion line when it can use one of its
own.
'But what I started out to say
more especially is that the men who
raised the cry couple of years ago
that about twenty years will exhaust
the known ore deposits of the Lake
Superior region spoke better than
they knew. The boom in iron ore
and its products, which came soon
after that, stimulated exploration on
the ranges enormously. The results
have not been up to expectations,
though considerable ore has been dis
covered. If any proof were required
that the discoveries were not up to
the hope of the explorers it is found
in the homage which / am reliably
informed is done to ore by the pro-
motors of the new combine. The
biggest part of the new ore shown up
in the past two years is in land which
was known, or supposed to contain
it.
sit is well known fact that the
old ranges have seen their best days
and the output from them cannot be
materially increased under any Cir
cumStances. The burden of furnish
ing iron ore in the Lake Superior re-
gion must fall more and more heavily
upon ST. Louis county, Mimi, every
year in future. 1t is roughly estimat-
ed that there is O,OOO,O 900 tons of ore
known to exist in the Lake Superior
region. | have heard the same estl-
mate applied to the Mesaba range
alone, but it is too high. Some of the
properties are, according to reliable
formation, greatly over-estimated,
and others are under-estimated, Say,
if you will, that there are 500,000,000
tons of ore in the Lake Superior re-
gion available as fast as desired, and
we still face Il serious proposition.
Last season 10000, 900 tons were ship
ped from this region. The receipts at
Lake Erie docks have doubled in five
years. The receipts there in 1895
were, in round numbers, S,OOO,OOO
tons, aud in 1900 the receipts were
considerably in excess of $4,000, 600
tons. There was heavy increase for
those years in ore going to Lake
Michigan.
I'm the light of the past five years
it is well within the bounds of reason
to assume that the record of 1900 will
be doubled in at least ten years. Its
simple proposition to figure out
where the iron and steel companies
are at as regards Lake Superior ore
supplies. 1t is safe to say that the
next ten years will witness a with
drawal of at least half of the 500, OO0.-
600 tons, and then, proceeding on "a
basis of 10000, 900 tons a year, assum-
ing that the demand never exceeds
that, the year 1916 will find the Lake
Superior region we'll nigh exhausted
Of its ore reserves Of course i'm
mense deposits that are not now
dreamed of may be discovered in
Minnesota. Wisconsin or Michigan.
or in all Of these states, but fortune
awaits the man who can point them
out now. Until these additional ore
reserves are located they do not exist