Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-10-30


feet. Commonly the depth is less than
100 feet. They lie in shallow, irregu-
lar basins, The widths of the deposit
seldom exceed a quarter Of a mile or
more. The ores are, for the most part,
slightly hydrated hematites. Only two
DEPOSITS on the range are known to
contain sulphur in injurious amounts.
The Mesabi ores range N texture from
large crystalline masses requiring
the use of a crusher, as at Biwabik.
to fine. soft dirt whi,h runs like sand
between the fingers. The looseness of
the ore as it lies in the deposit is
shown by the fact that in computing
the tonnage of Mesabi ores, from liz
to Is cubic feet a~e allowed per long
ton, whereas in the har, ore deposits
of other ranges the common figures
are s to 9 cubic feet Ter long ton.
Because of the bedded and jointed
structure of the ore deposits, water is
able to pass through them Neely.
The ore deposits are at present in part
above water level and in part below it.
good instance of this appears at
Virginia, where the Columbia mine on
low ground receives a vast quantity of
water, while the mines on the higher
ground adjacent are comparatively
dry.
Because of the soft character of the
Mesabi ores and of their occurrence in
shallow deposits, much ore is loaded
directly by steam shovels on railway
cars n open cuts. The Mesabi iron
ores are transferred to Lake Superior
by rail, and thence by the lakes to the
terminal lake ports. In density of
traffic and in freight earnings per mile
of track, there are but half dozen
roads in the United States which COM
pare with the three railroads carrying
the ore from the Mesabi mines to Lake
Superior, fact brought out In the
famous "ore-rate" case, in which the
state OF Minnesota made an unsuccess-
full attempt to have the rate on freight
reduced. The rate from the Mesabi
range to Lake Superior is uniformly
so ceats per ton.
In 1891 the district had not been
opened up. In 1895 the Mesabi dis
trict became the greatest producer i'm
the Lake Superior region, passing in
that year the Marquette district, which
since 1854 has held first place. In
1901 the total production of the Mesabi
district was "A per cent. of that of
the Lake Superior region and two
and one-half times as much as it's
nearest competitor, the Menominee,
which, in 1901, for the first time sur
passed the Marquette district in pro-
duction. Largely on account of the
Mesabi production, the state of Mime
sofa in 1901 passed the state of Michi-
gan as the largest iron producer in
the United States. In total shipments
the Mesabi district is still behind the
Marquette district. At the close of
1901, the Mesabi district had shipped
a total of 40,404,967 long tons, and the
Marquette district, open since. 1854.
had shipped 62,S47,473 tons. At the
present rate of production the Mesabi
total will pass that of the Marquette
district in about four years. The total
amount of high grade-ore-that Is, con-
tanning above perhaps So or SO per cent.
of metallic iron-at present in sight
on the Mesabi range has been estI-
mated at 4O0,0OO.000 to 6O0,OO0,OO0
| tons. The commonly accepted figure
is 500,000,000 tons. OF this 20 or %
per cent. is Bessemer ore. The aggre-
gate amount of high grade ore In
sight up to 1902 on all the old ranges
of the Lake Superior region has been
thought not greatly to exceed $50 ,000,-
600 tons. Even If the estimates for
the Mesabi range and the old ranges
are considerably away from the truth,
it is apparent that the Mesabi holds q
commanding position in the region
in its reserve tonnage. In 1901 the
United States Steel corporation sold
Y per cent of the total Mesabi pro-
duction IL would appear that the
Eastern railway of Minnesota Great
Northern) stands well up among the
leading iron ore interests, and If the
iron ore deposits not yet opened for
mining were taken into account, the
Eastern railway would probably stand
second only to the United States Steel
corporation.
When Mesaoi iron ores first came
on the marl:ct 1t was not found prac-
ticabIe to use more than 80 per cent.
OF them in furnace charges for the
reason that, because of their soft
character, they packed In the furnace.
Since that time the percentage used in
the furnaces has steadily increased,
until at the present time the average
furnace mixture contains As per cent
OF Mesabi iron ore and So per cent
Of the old range ores. Certain of the
coarser Mesabi ores can be used to
make up rs to IS per cent. of the fur
mace charge.
Sample st. Louis Young Man.