The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-10
ADDS MANY YEARS
TO RANGES LIFE
CANISTEO MINES WILL FURNISH
AN ENORMOUS TONNAGE.
Steel Corporation Is Making Exte: i've
Preparations for Opening Western
Mesaba Lands and Treating Ores on
Practical Basis-New Railroad Re-
garded a Certainty.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal. s.s.
Duluth. MIMI, March 10.-With the purchase
of the Canisteo mines in township SO. range
2l, by the United States Steel corporation I'M
der agreement to mine not less than l,Ooo,ooo
tons year therefrom and with the other large
holdings being acquired by the same company IN
that part OF the Mesaba range, the Steel cor
poration will have to build railway there
That this is coming at once and is even now
under consideration is generally understood.
The Steel corporation is making preparations
for opening its Canisteo lands and Is going
ahead this year on large scale. 1t has brought
to Duluth Of Its leading young engineers
from an older district, and it Is probable that
he will in time have charge of the Canisteo
operations. The coming season much time and
money will be spent in experiments with wash
ing and concentrating the ores OF the western
Mesaba and bringing them up to a merchant
able grade which the corporation figures as 81
per cent. 1t has been demonstrated already
that this concentration can be done, and at very
small expense, but the buyer of the lands
is not satisfied that the best and most economi-
cal method has been found, and as the handling
Of this ore will be on an enormous scale. 1t
is determined that the very best way snail be
found before any definite move is undertaken.
All the Canisteo mining Will probably be
underground and the elevation of the country
is such as to indicate that there will be much
more expensive mining and pumping than If
the Developments were similar to the bulk of
Mesaba operations. When it Is realized that
in addition to this added cost there IS the ex-
Of raw ore tc get a ton Of concentrates or
shipping ore, the fact that ore is worth money
is shown It is estimated that in many cases
it will take two tons of raw ore to bring up
one ton Of product, tho there Is goodly pro-
portion Of the western Mesaba ores that can
be shipped as they mined, and without
concentration.
The methods of concentration to be employed
are simply washing the ore and passing 1t thru
revolving barrel screens, and possibly thru jigs
also The revolving screens will be fitted with
graduated mesh, aid experiments will be made
to determine the proper sizes. 1t will be I'M
possible not to lose some ore by this process,
but the western Mesaba ores are largely hard
ores that contain sand. The sand may or may
not carry considerable percentage of iron;
often they do not, and in that case the loss
of iron is little. Phosphorus is said to be higher
in the washed ores than in the raw material,
but the ore liz a clean dry, hard gravel ore
that is excellent In the furnace and can be
shipped advantageously. -.
| No estimate can be made of the tonnage to
| be added to the Mesaba range by the addition
! of these western ores, but it will be enormous,
adding years to the life Of the range and to
| the reserves of the Steel corporation and the
Hill interests. In this point Of view the pur.
chase of the Canisteo lands and the preparations
| of the Steel corporation for bringing these ores
into use are among the most important affairs
connected with iron ore mining In many years