The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18
Iron Orc Mined Thirty Nenrs.

For the past thirty years ore has
| been mined in Tuscaloosa county and
| each year has noted an increasing pro-
| duction. The deposits of this valuable
mineral are extensive and great areas
| of 1t have not yet been touched but are
| waiting for the hand of man to bring
| ii to the surface to be used in great
manufacturing plants which will In the
| future line the Warrior river. 1t is
| impossible to estimate the potential
value of the iron ore deposits that lie
| in Tuscaloosa county, but suffice 10
say immense quantities have already
been mined which have supplied the
great furnaces at Bessemer and Bir-
mingham and the large furnace of the
Central Iron company at Holt in this
county, and there yet remains hun
dreds of times more ore In the earth
than has yet been taken out.
Coal for Many Years.
Tuscaloosa county contains beds of
coal the extent and the estimated value
of which Is beyond computation. III
this county, there Is found as many as
six different groups of coal beds one
underlying the other, namely tho
Brook wood, Gwinn, Cobb, Pratt, Mary
Lee and Black Creek
These beds of coal form what Is
known as the Warrior Coal Basin,
counties of Tuscaloosa, jefferson,
Walker ana Fayette OF this state. But
of this great coal basin Tuscaloosa
county Is the only one in which all six
groups of the coal fields are To be
lound, the Brookwood beds being en-
trely in Tuscaloosa county and also
the greater portion of the Gwinn group.
IN Tuscaloosa county, the top seams
of coal belong to the Brookwood group,
and IN order under this group, are
the Gwinn, the Cobb, the Pratt, the
Mary Lee and the Black Creek. AT
present only the Brookwood group has
been worked to any extent, although
In some portions Of the county the
Gwinn group has been touched, but 1t
has been proved that all these groups
underlie the surface by borings that
have been made in several places.
Iron and steel Possibilities.
DR.. Eugene A. Smith, state geologist,
gives the following account of the iron
ores In Tuscaloosa county,
Brown ore-In the red clays OF the
limestone formations of the valleys In
the vicinity OF Tannehill and Wood
stock, there are extensive deposits of
this most valuable ore. The largest
banks in this part of the state are at
Goethite and vicinity, where there are
several logwashers and a number OF
mines. The deposit extends across the
county line into Bibb county. The
quality of the ore may be inferred from
the fact that for thirty years or more
it has been mined here on constantly
increasing scale to supply the furnaces
of Bessemer and Birmingham, and the
recently erected furnace OF the Central
Iron company near Tuscaloosa.
"Iied ore-The Western Red Noun
tain, as it Is called, OF the lower part
of Roups valley, lies in Tuscaloosa
county, and while 1t is partly broken
by faults and engulfed therein. yet In
the nelghborhood OF Vance and
Clements station the ore bed shows In
two benches. the upper two feet thick,
The lower with seven and one-half feet
of ore of good commercial quality, as
| may be seen from the following
analysis of an average sample.
Analysis OF Red Ore, Tuscaloosa
County, Near Clements station.
| Metallic iron ........... SO per cent
! Silica . ..16.71 per cent
| Alumina ........... 643 per cent
| Phosphorus .o'2 per cent
+, The average composition of the brown
ore of the state, stock house delivery
| is as follows:
Metallic iron ................... 81. 00
! Phosphorus ........ ..............040 10
| Sulphur ..... ..'............ 10
brown Ore.
| Microscopic water 90