The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-23
THE MAGNIFICENT IRON
 RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH

pdSlS anu StGOHudillA bS lut iboullo pA deep drilling-that the ores do con tinue in depth. In New York, for ex- ample, the Clinton ores have been found in borings fifty miles or more back from the outcrop, while in Ala bama the borings near Battelle, Fort Payne, and in the Birmingham district give equally encouraging results. The discoveries made by drilling near Gate City, noted in the last issue of the Manufacturers Record, is case in point.
 2. The brown hematites of the Great Valley Extending from Vermont to central Alabama we find great lime stone valley. nanl<ed on its eastern side by the crystalline rocks of the Green mountains. the Husson highlands and the Blue Ridge. and bordered on the west. throughout mist of it's extent by the coal fields Tn the south this valley Is known, In different districts. as the Shenandoah Valley. the Valley of East Tennessee, the Coosa Valley. All along this valley from Vermont to Alabama we find deposits of brown hematite. and we note that these deposits become both more numerous and more eXten- sive as we go southward. There are excellent geologic reasons both for the occurrence of brown ore in Great Valley and for it's increasing impor- tance in the southern part of the valley but at present we are concerned rather with the facts than with their causes.
 Deposits of brown hematite are usually very irregular in form, veria- ble in grade and uncertain in quantt- tv. Their valuation in advance of ac- tual mining is one of the most delicate problems likely to be encountered by an engineer and the application of had and fast rules by so-called "prac- tical miners" has led to many serious mistakes in both prospecting and in actual operation. The difficulty arises from the great differences which exist between the ore deposits even of close ly adjacent districts. and for the avoid ance of mistakes we must look to care ful geologic students followed by ln- telligent exploration.
 The grade of brown ores IS deliV- cred to the furnace, depends rather on the care with which they have been mined and washed than on original differences in the composition of the ore itself. It is probable that the bulk of the brown ore handled in the south will range after washing, between 4O and 50 per cent in metallic iron. Really thorough preparation could in many cases bring brown ores up to 52 per cent or more which now are being shipped as 40 to 45 per cent ores The
  with usually, but not always, consid- erable percentages of alumina In the Alabama iron districts the demand Tor brown ores is now far in excess or the supply, for constantly increasing ton mage is required for admiXture With the limey red ores. This situation adds very greatly to the importance or the gray ores of Talladega county Tor a mixture with the limey red ores, since q mixture can taKb tho place of brown ores, and experts who have examined the gray ore dls- trict thoroughly report that the quan tity Is sufficient to meet all possible needs of the future.
 8. The magnetltes and hematies or the Blue Ridge. In the area of crystalline and semi-crytalline rocks-granites, genis- ses, slates and quartzites-whieh make up the mountainous country to the east or the Great Valley, deposits of magnetic and specular hematite occur at many To- calIties. These deposits are as yet prac- tically unWorked, and their importance IS of the future rather than the past. Ihelf distribution Is more irregular than that ol either the red or brown hematites, the ex- pense of examining and opening them IS larger and there is greater opportunity for making serious errors of Judgment as to the value of any given deposit. But when all this is admitted few iron fields would seem to offer greater opportunities for lntellgently- directed capital.
 As to known distribution, it may be said that the magnetic deposits are most ex- tensive in North Carolina. important In Virginia, of little known importance In Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. and known to be entirely lack ing in West Virginia, Tennessee and Ken tuclxy The deposits of specular hemarte are differently located, for the principal development of this type at present IS m the well-known "gray-ore district Of Tai ladega county, Alabama, while similar ores are known to occur in adjoining coun- ties in Alabam and Georgia.
 The ores of thls group are often natur- ally of high grade, ranging from 5U To 50 per cent and over in metallic iron. Even when naturally lower in iron. they are susceptible to every satisfactory con centration owing to their physical charilc- teristics There is little doubt that in t13 near future attempts will be made to mine ores of this type ou large scale and to treat them by magnetic concentra- ton when necessary. At present. how ever, the only active mines are those or the Pittsburg district of Virginia, the Cranberry mines of North Carolina and the Talladega county mines of Alabama
 Ease of Assembly.
 From the preceding descriptions of the be seen that from the Potomac to central be sen that from the Potoma to central Alabama four range or belts stretch, closely parallel, the westernmost and broadest of these belts cHntaining the fuel lsupply of the south, while the thlee tasterly ranges carry, in turn, the Clinton red hematites, the brown ores and fIXlng rocks of the valley. and the magnetic and snecular ores of the Blue Ridge and It's extensions
 From this peculiar geographic arrange ment of the raw materials 1t is obvious that every east and west railroad rom Virginia to central Alabama will cut across all the sources of material supply. and will find on it's own line coal three kinds of iron ore and an ambundance of nuxing material. This is true of ;he Chesapeake x Ohio. inc Norfolk x West ern. the Deepwater- -1idewater and the At lanta, Birmingham x Atlantic railways, all of which cut across the entire series of deposits.
 If the belts of raw material were every where exactly parallel and everywhere equally rich, there would be no particutar advantages as to location along their out crops In that case a new furnace might as well be located at one point as at an- other But the ranges are not exactly parallel. and the ores are not everywhere equally good It is this fact syhich gives peculiar natural importance to points like Brmingham Gadsden and Chatta- nooga.
 It is the ease and cheapness of assem- bly of the various raw materials that gives the southern iron industry it's pe- culiar advantage over the iron trade of any oi her na art of the United States Pitts