The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1904-05-13
HUNTERS ISLAND ORE DEPOSITS. /
Lon Merritt and Associates Will Thor
j ouohlv Exolore Their New find.

Leonidas Merritt, of Duluth, be-
lieves he has made the crowning
iron discovery of his life on Hunters
island, and that it is the most i'm
portant find since the Mesaba range
was located: Prof. Van Hise pro-
nounces the formation there to be q
continuation of the :Vermilion, and
Mr.. Merritt says this is undoubted-
ly true.
Mr.. Merritt was impressed with
the importance of his discovery last
fall. when he and his associates or
ganized the international Iron Min:
ing Company and secured 1900
acres on the formation on Hunters
island, 400 acres in fee and 1900
acres under option for lease. He
says that the winters work of shaft
sinking or tunneling on. the prop
erty has further encouraged him in
the belief that the discovery is of
great magnitude as to the extent of
the ore deposits, and great value as
to their quality.
The International Iron Mining
company, of which J. F. Mccarthy,
of the Duluth Board of Trade, is
president, and Lon Merritt general
manager, has now reached that
stage in its preliminary develop
ment where diamond drills are to
be put in and the deposits proven
as far as possible with them. The
ore thus far shown up is a blue
specular, of the Vermilion variety,
running 60 per cent and over in me-
tallic iron. 1t is thought by Mr.. Mer-
rift, from the formation, that the ore
on many of the claims will be of the
graduated, hard, red hematite va
riety, similar to that of the Pioneer
and Chandler mines at Ely. Ore
was struck in the first pit at a depth
of fortyseven feet, and it is thought
to be the main vein.
The property is situated within
fifteen miles of the Canadian North
ern road, 80 that the range is tribu.
tary to Lake Superior. A branch
road will be built into the property
as soon az the development work
has shown up the first mine. 1t is
learned that Mr.. Merritt has always
believed in the probable value of
the Vermilion formation to the
northeast of Ely, and was working
on that in connection with the early
explorations on the Mesaba when
this range suddenly developed such
prominence because of extensive
discoveries made. He then aban-
doned his prospecting on the north
eastern Vermillon and confined
himself exclusively to the Mesa ba,
resolving to renew his Search on
the former at later date.
The Importance of the discoveries
on Hunters island, if they prove as
great as the International Iron Min
ing company expects, cannot be
overestimated. The quality of the
ore makes them of special import
ance. The hard ores of the Lake
Superior region are pitifully small
in comparison to the extensive sup
plies of soft ores on the Mesa ba, and
furnace men would hail with pleas
llre the discovery of more hard ore
in this region. The furnace men
have been devising new methods
for number of years whereby they
could increase the percentage of
Mesaba ores in mixtures with the
hard ores for furnace use, for the
reason that the time would certain
ly come when the hard ores would
be exhausted and nothing but the
soft ores left in the lake region.
Hunters island now promises to
furnish new mines that will produce
the coveted ores that made the Yer
million range famous, and bring to
the hardy pioneer explorer of the
new section afortune in comparison
with which the sum received by
himself and associates from their
Mesaba range discoveries will be as
naught.