The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-06

chrome iron are also found. Magnetic
 is the richest of all the iron ores, some
 times containing a little over seventy
 two per cent of available metallic iron,
 though it is not often found reaching
 this very high percentage, These ores
 are largely distributed throughout New South Wales. The results of a number of analyses made from deposits at
 Browns Creek, in the county of Bat
 hurst, and at WalleraWang, where
 veins were opened out a few years
 ago, show that the samples of ore yield
 cd from 40S9 to 56.S5 per cent. of me
 tallic iron. At Wallerawang, a variety
 of garnet, containing large percent age of metal occurs in conjunction
 with the ore in the veins, which is de- scribed as extremely well adapted for reduction in the blast furnace
 Brown hematite or goethite occurs in
 very extensive deposits in the Blue
 Mountain ranges, the principal centers
 so far explored being situated at Mitta-
 song, Picton, Berrima, Lithgow Valley,
 Wallerawang, in the Rylstone and
 Mudgee Stephens The result of @
 number of analyses of this kind of ore
 btIOISo llldl IL l6 NelS iICll III iiiNNoi'i~
 iron, containing a proportion of 4269 to
 GAS per cent. and in the majority of
 cases over flfty-tive per cent. of metal.
 A sample of hematic from the Maitland
 district contained 60.S3 per cent. of me
 tallic iron. sample of brown hema-
 tite, from Mount Pleasant, near Vol
 longang, analysed during 1891, gave 54.2S per cent. of iron. The value of
 these deposits is enhanced by their al- most invariable occurrence in proXimi- ty to limestone and coal-beds. It is for tunate, also, that the main lines of rail- way pass through the regions where the deposits are most easily worked. The iron ore deposits of Seaham and Clar- ence Town, in the Williams river dis trict received some attention during 1898. These deposits were locally sup posed to contain considerable quanti- | ties of titanium. producing a most ob- 1 jectionable acid from a smelting point |, of view. With the object of testing the | ore, samples were taken as far as pos sible apart from one another, and on | being assayed separately, the results l gave from forty-tWo to forty-nine per | cent. of metallic iron, and yielded no | appreclable quantity of titanic acid. In a report dated January, 1891, by the | late MT. C. s. Wilkinson, New South | Wales government geologist, it was stated that the iron deposits in the dis tricts of Nit tagong, Wallerawang, and Rylstone contained in sight 12,944,000 | tons of ore, estimated to yield 5S53,000 | tons of metallic iron; but such esti- mates as these are naturally the rough- est of approximations. These districts are most favorably situated for the es- tablishment of smelting works. Some years ago public attention in England was drawn to the possibility of manu- featuring iron within the state, and a mining expert was sent out from that to inspect the iron, lime and coal deposits. and to report upon the probable cost of establishing the in- dustry in the state, but the visit was without result. In 1898 it seemed as if the project for establishing works for the manufacture of iron would take practical shape. and negotiations for the promotion of a company in England were well under weigh when they were interrupted by the death of the prime mover No definite action has yet been taken, although the question Is receiv- Ing the serious attention of capitalists. It is still hoped, hemarSs MT, Coghlan, that some practical result will follow: put, in any case, the foundation of the industry is q mere matter of time, for he natural facilities of New South Wales for the manufacture of iron are John Plummer's Austra- ian Correspondence.