The Ely miner., 1919-08-22
0LlvERls BUSY
il ON THIS RANGE
PIONEER ORE BODY AT WIDE
POINT IN THE ELY s
TROUGH.

PIONEER ORE BODY AT WIDE
POINT IN THE ELY s
TROUGH.
The Oliver Iron Mining Co. is ac-
tive on the Vermilion range, where
it operates three large properties.
Its largest mine is the Pioneer at Ely,
Mimi, one Of the greatest under
ground properties In the entire Lake
Superior district. The Pioneer has
a very consistent record for produc-
tion and this season passes the H.
100000 ton mark as total output.
1t is now working about 800 men un-
|derground and producing at the rate
of over 10000 tons monthly. y."s2
The Pioneer ore body lies in the
widest portion of the Ely trough and
has two shafts. "a" shaft is a ver-
tica1 four compartment shaft "a by
9 feet 6 inches outside, and Is in the
north footwa1l, all in green rock. It
lis down 1465 feet, to the 10th level.
@B" shaft is in the green rock on the
south foot wall and is 20 degree
incline. It has steel sets and was
very recently concrete-lined, making
1T one of the finest shafts in the iron
country. 1t is down to the 14th level
and connects with "a" shaft on the
18th, 18th and 14th levels. The Pho
,neer main ore body is approximately
400 feet wide and lies half way be-
tween A" and 'sB" shafts. The hoist
ng is done in 6-ton skips Both Shafts
have auxiliary pockets, which greatly
facilitate the speed of hosting.
These auxiliaries are some splendid
installations and the design could
well be duplicated in other proper
ties. '.s SEQ
The Pioneer ore body extends over
parts of two forties and the ore is
now being mined on different subs
all the way from the 18th to above
the 9Th level. Most Of the hosting
is done from the 18th, with some of
the product coming from the 18th
level. The Pioneer is of very good
quality, with a high iron, low mois-
ture, and low silica, and practically
all of it is Bessemer grade. There
is small tonnage of high phosphor-
us ore lying in separate ore body
to the south; this is being mined and
is hoisted and stockpiled at "B"
shaft. This g.ade Of nom Besserer
$ called the Frontier grade, and con-
stitutes very small percentage of
the mine. The bulk of the Pioneer
grade is hoisted and shipped from "A
shaft. The stockpile here was
good sized one at the beginning of
the season, but the company has
been making heavy inroads on it late
ly, and it will be cleaned up before
the end of the year. The Pioneer
ought to be on the shipping list with,
well over 100000 tons for 1919. This
mine has very long life and is likely
to be the leading underground mine
OF Minnesota for many years to
come.
The Oliver Iron Mining Co.. also
has the Sibley mine at Ely, which is
located in the SWA Of NWA and
|NWA of SWA of Sec. 26, and Lot 1
in Section 27, 63-12. The Sibley is
working approximately $50 men un-
derground and mining ore from the
9th and 9Th levels. It's stockpile is
being loaded out. The new Sibley
shaft is an incline with steel sets and
is very fine one. The Sibley 5th
level ore body probably contains the
highest grade ore In the Lake Su-
perior district, all of Bessemer quail
ity. This mine furnishes the high
grade ore used in standardizing the
permanganate solutions for the va
rious iron ore laboratories Of the
country-for this purpose a 500
pound lot of Sibley ore running $3.50
per cent to $500 per cent Is picked.
The third property operated by the
Oliver on tn Vermilion range is the
Soudan at Tower. This mine is the
oldest in the state, and has shipped
steadily since 1884. Shipments were
at one time very heavy from here, but
are now running around 15O, 900 tons
annually. The mine is owned in fee
by the Oliver. The Soudan works
about 200 men underground at pres
ent, and is shipping out its stockpile.
The ore is hoisted through No. 8
shaft, a 78 degree and 80 minute in
cline, which is down 1866 feet to the
18th level. On this level the No. 8
vein has been struck, and drifting is
n progress to encounter the Montana
and North veins. The development
work of sinking the shaft and drifting
in rock is very slow and costly as the
rock is very hard. The. ore, too, is
very hard and the back Stopping and
filling method of mining is employed.
The ore above the 18th and 18th
evel is being mined at present. The
Soudan ore is Of nom Bessemer grade,
but of high quality, with almost NO
a