The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1905-08-18
TO INSTALL ElEcIRlC sP0,aEIl.| q
Big Mines Of the Mesaba viii, Be
j: Operated BY Electricity.

+ According to an articleaby James,
[Gayley, of the Steel corporation, =
the last issue of the Electrical
World and Engineer the mines st.
Ethis region will soon be operated
10y electricity He+ssays: There ia
Likely to be rapid development
[in the. Northern Minnesota iron
ore region from. this time. on in
electrical power. On the. Mesa ba
range there are from sixty TO sixty-
five shafts, in operation, hosting
ore and pumping water; and there
are still more steam shoVels mining
ore from open pit mines, from stock
piles and stripping off earth over
burden. All of these are. within.
fifty-fve to sixty miles from the
source of large power at Duluth,
which can be easily and. readily
carried to them by: wires. The re-
cent great improvement: efficiency
of electrical machinery and appli-
cation and in long distance trans
mission makes it possible. it is be-
lieved, to substitute this power for
steam at vast saving in operating
costs.
Electrical underground haulage
systems are now going in at several
mines at this time. This is no new
experiment for that system has
been in use on the Menomonee and
Vermiliop ranges and in the Michi-
gan copper country, for some time,
and has proved it's worth. But this
system is on.the eve of wide ex-
tension. Long electrical haulage
is under installation at this time on
some of the Oliver Iron Mining
company's properties on the Mesaba
range, and is to be adopted at once
at it's and other mines on the
Menomonie and Marquette ranges.
Hosting ore and pumping water
by electricity are not yet adopted
methods for the big mining regions
of the Northwest. 1t must be re-
membered in this connection that
what may have been tried and
found successful for these Lake Su-
perior regions, for on the lake we
do things in big way and what
might be considered a success on
large scale would be with us but
mere experiment in small way,
a mere individual unit operation,
as it were, that would not give us a
data on which we could judge gen.
eral results. But the plans. for a
large electrical hoist are now under
consideration for Mesaba range
plants, and may be adopted any
day. 1t certainly will if the claims
for saving and increased efficiency
are substantiated.
1t may be doubtful if steam
shoyels. could be : operated z.by.
e1ectricity; they are moving ma
chimes, and require power in a
peculiar way. But the Oliver Iron
Mining company is now taking up
the question, and in a few days may
close contracts for dynamos and
other electrical appliances TO be:in-
stalled at one or two of it's. many
shovels as test plants. There is no
question of the enormous saving
to be gained from these plants. if
the results are anything like what:
has been figured out by the en-
gineers.
The actual beginning of: the de-
velopment of water power on a
large scale at Duluth by the Great
Northern Power company will fur.
nish at low cost the energy neces-
sary for all this new work, and the
elimination of coal fuel we hope to
secure. The works of this company
are going III at rapid rate, and
should be ready to furnish power
ina year. There is from $1,000 to
10000 horse power in mines on the
Mesaba and Virmilion ranges and
more than that amount in the loco.
motives of the three roads bringing
ore from these mines to the head of
Lake Superior. If the time, ever
comes when this great energy can
be generated by the rapids of the
ST., Louis river, rather than by the
burning of coal it will be something
worth talking about. "a.
Mrs. S. A. Hendricks. came down
from her homestead near Camp No.
50 Wednesday,. She will remain ur1.
til Saturday and is a. guest at the
home of Mr.. and Mrs. A. Bickford
while in the city. 49,