OCR Text |
Show IRON ORE RECORD Production of 1913 Exceeds By Large Tonnage the Record Figures Of 1910 The quontlty of Iron oro mined In the. United States In 1913 Is estimated by E. P. Burchard of tho United States Geological Survey to havo been between 58,000,000 and CO.000,000 long tons. Thlg estimate Is based on preliminary reports from 25 of the largest Iron mining companies which represent tho principal Iron producing produc-ing districts and whose combined out put lg about 81 per cent of tho total Iron ore mined In 1912 . The average Increases In output' shown by these 25 companies was 8 per cent over that for 1912, and If. this increase should bo maintained by oil tho Iron companies In tho United States tho total output of Iron oro for 1913 should reach 59,500,000 long tons. At any rate, It appeaVs hlmost certain that tho former high re rd of Iron oro mined, 57,014,090 long tons In 1910 has been surpassed In 1913. Tho reports received for 1913 showed considerable) variation In tho percentage percent-age of changes In output compared with 1912, tho mnxlmum rnngo being from !i decrease of 30 per tent to an Increase of 50 per cent. These apparently ap-parently wide variations wcro evident')' evi-dent')' duo to conditions affecting particular par-ticular companies rather than to general gen-eral or even local conditions of the Iron mining industry; moreover, they concerned, for tho most part, tho operations op-erations of companies whose production produc-tion Is not sufficiently great to affect largely tho grand total tonnage. In the Lake Superior district, where about 85 per cent of tho domestic Iron ere Is mined, the Increase In production produc-tion corresponded closely with that for the United States In general or nbout 8 per cent, thus Indicating n total production for that district of nbout 50,000,000 long tons, compared with 4G.3CS.87S tons In 1912. Tho year 1913 Is therefore a record year for production and shipments In this district, dis-trict, also. The preliminary figures indicate that tho shipments of Lake Superior oro bywater will exceed 19,000,000 long tons, which, together with-tho all rail shipments of more 'tlian' 800,000 ron3-mings the figures for total shipments of Lake- oro very close to the tonnage of ore mined tmd Indlca'es that not much change has occurred In tho stocks of oro at the mines In tho Lake district. These stocks amounted nt tho closo of 1912 to about 9,500,000 long ton3 of ore. In the Birmingham district, Alabama, Ala-bama, tho production of Irii ore In 1913 as Indicated by tho preliminary returns was about 10 per cent greater than that for 1012. In Tennesseo there was apparently n.sllght decrease mid in North Carolina n slight in-ctetiRO. in-ctetiRO. New Jersey and Now York both showed slight Increases, while Pennsylvania showed a slight decrease. de-crease. In tho Rocky Mountain district dis-trict of Wyoming. Colorado and Now Mexico there was n Blight decrease. Tho types of Iron ore produced com merclally consist of red and specular hematite, brown ore, magnetite and slderlte, or spathic ore. Hematite constitutes about 90 per cent of tho output. Only a very small fraction of 1 per cent of the output is slderlte, slder-lte, the production. of brown ore and magnetite together constituting nearly near-ly 10 per cent of the total. |