The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1904-04-07
PRODUCTION or IRON ORES.

INuniIN ~ 1A"N"f ItU
inbine. who has been collecting iron "a
.,.,;s,;e. Cor the United States Geoi-
oricsl Survey sitee 1889. whe Inc
sr., sv.,ematic effort in that diree- i
ton Was made. calls attention to the o
fac, that. in spite Of fluctuations m !,
IN. iron aud steel ;aass,sy there has I
been a general advance in the pro- '
iuetion Of iron ore. the output OF 1897 I
boiue less than 80 per cent Of that J
Of 1902. His report on the Produe-
ton Of Iron Ores in 1902 Is soon 70
he published as part Of the annual
volume Of Mineral Resources.
The quantity Of iron ore produced
in the United States in 1902 amount
ed to 35.554.l35 long tons, valued at
s6s 4i295O. an increase Of % per
cen, over the production Of 1901. and
Of lO3 per cent over that Of 1891.
! The iron ore produced in the year
1902 was obtained from mining op-
. ers,ions carried on in % States and
10 Territories. Minnesota, with To-
lis7.65O toni to her credit. heads the
list. Michigan, with ll,lS5,Sl'
tons. stands second. Alabama. with
or n ,onnage Of 3,57s.474, is the only
other state that passes the million
III ton mark.
>. Red hematite. brown hematite
magnetic. and carbonate figure i
the production. Red hcmatite Is b.
all far the most important class OF iro
produced ia this country. MINI.
'P ~sota's entire output consisted OF re
h.mati,e Ont o. the 25.554,l IL
~. tons produced all over the country
1902. o 1881 lac tons were red her
s., attic. In addition TO the iron o
mined, 65. 246 long tons % zinc res
duum were used A. iron ore IN 100
ilty A. Minnesota was the largest pa
for dueer in 1902. IL is natural to fl
s79 that the Mesabi range. the chief co
trbutor q. its iron fame. FAR OF
,-..aranked the other iron ranges OF
.o.llLake Superior region in point ct p
..alduetion. The Mesabi produced
,hile OsV,lls tons whereas W"
~ransc. which ranked second. !
dueed only 4.42l .25O tons. IL
n Is ,rob.lle that there has been N
: the active exploitation in the year /
in Minnesota than in any other ~
ision. and A number of mines have
this added 60 the producing list SON
re-. which will be important contrior
ia the future. a few Of the nov
'' fluctuations furnish ore of a 8
'0" which until the late abnormal
~, mand. wac deemed uudcrirsbl
~ there was formerly no available
ket for il.
No other country can equal
the United States in it, astounding
have ord Of large producers. Wheii
than not this is a distinction 70 be 60
ate of is = question. Tor the student
ais in eial conditions rather than the
n EAst isucian. The l%stter's figures
that lO.aT2,7S0 tons ofiron orc
from eight mines, and l6.2l
ing 'ne tons from IS mines. the shlppl'
madam er.tions Of all % which, with u
nd the e~eptions. are limited by elima,i
lain to dition. to about 200 days am
Of the Only I26 operators produced
cent Of the product for the CO
OF those. - operators produce
Wi 100. 600 tons each.
- This concentration Of the II
resources OF the country in the
Of = few persons is the most
can't thing in the report.
Significance can be realized
.a-going when one remembers how abs
on.. of our present unparelled prosp
}. .rgre- the result Of the development
- tons, iron ore ~resourees- N'non'
$40. AZ. mense iron deposits about l.
one and perior orr country never Nou
attained to the degree Of eva
that eharaeterizes it tods.
has good great ,ranseon,inentsl r~siiwa,
l%ations, ak. ;mnos,ible. a s,eel-frame
and good - ana builAiues. u ~vsrie,,
business giaeering. manufacturing. a
Die living machinery We live in
little for AS..nAit;. she master iron
fould no' Of the dsy who lead US.