Show THE MON RESOURCES OF UTAH boje L BY E JONE JONES JONESE S E M vw vw there is such a difference in the various deposits of iron ore in the united states that people familiar with only one locality are of often t much disappointed or surprised at the occurrence of iron in other localities this is particularly so with those who are familiar with the deposits of the michigan and minnesota regions there they measure the greatness of iron properties by acres because the ore bodies are superficial lying practically on top of the ground here such a method of estimating iron would seem ridiculous as ridiculous as it would be to estimate the value of a gold or silver mine by the acres included in the claims eastern people never seem to comprehend that it is only the top of a vein that counts since the law allows a man to follow his vein to china if he can vo go that far it is very seldom that more than I 1 per cent of the ground that a company owns has any value in it for mining purposes in the west this is true of our iron deposits for we have no flat deposits like those of michigan there is no bog iron ore in utah our iron deposits follow the same laws of occurrence as do our silver gold and lead deposits both chemically and mechanically they never lie flat but pitch at varying angles into the ground and run down no one knows how far as vein filling though their value for the production of iron will rest entirely above the water level they all occur as gossan capping deposits of lead or copper and are oxides of varying composition carrying no titanic acid except a mere trace in only one claim the dan jones of the iron city region and carrying from 01 to 4 per cent of phosphorus and from nothing to 3 per cent or more of manganese our veins are all opened but slightly because of the great amount of ore on the surface there are about tons in sight in the various deposits in utah three fourths of this is found in the iron city region of southern utah about thirty miles from the railroad there are other valuable deposits all over utah and of varying size most of the ores are magnet ites and though there is one good deposit of iron and several good bodies of ochre achre our iron deposits are not recent discoveries they were found long before a pick was struck in the ground in search of silver lead or gold As long ago as 1852 twelve years before the discovery of paying silver mines in utah they were not only known but a furnace was waa erected and good iron actually made at cedar city and used for castings in 1868 the union iron co began work at pinto utah in 1874 the great western iron co built a furnace using charcoal and kept it in blast from 1874 to 1876 it was a 5 ton furnace some of this iron is still in use in utah this was pronounced superior to the best eastern iron at the time no iron deposits are valuable without railroads and none can can operate long with railroad nation against them and so these works have never been able to operate to advantage now however there is a chan change 9 e as the railroads are favorable to them the deposits of iron city and vicinity lie in a rolling and low region which is nowhere over 1800 feet above the lowest level around milford and the escalante desert they occur as isolated reefs or knobs called blowouts blow outs some of which stand up feet above the surrounding country and are solid iron ore one of them containing tons of ore they occur in granite porphyry or lime according to the region in which they lie some of these deposits have been slightly opened by tunnels and superficial surface workings but there has been but little development work on them because it was not needed the ores are mostly magnet ites though there is some limonite and considerable hematite the phosphorus occurs mostly as apatite in scattered crystals there is practically no manganese in these ores most of the ores ore s are fine bessemer st steel eel ores this region is covered with a dense growth of and cedars there is an unlimited amount of coal twenty five in miles i ae s away near and cedar city though this coal will not coke and carries some sulphur A few miles away there is a semi anthracite coal which has not yet been sufficiently developed to determine determine its extent or value there is a field for natural gas near by which might be valuable as fuel other utah deposits will be given by number there is a fine body of iron in western utah which I 1 will call no 1 which is a bessemer ore development limited another no 15 carries from per cent manganese and 3 per cent iron to 43 per cent iron and no manganese quite a body of ore is exposed on the surface southern utah no 2 is 1 a limonite going too high in phosphorus no 3 is a marnet magnetite going still higher in phosphorus no 4 is a limonite going too low in iron no 5 is a fine ore going high in iron and low in phosphorus all the above have considerable ore in sight and are but a few miles from a railroad central utah deposits are briefly as fol laws no 6 is a fair bessemer ore no 7 is the same but a little too high in phosphorus no 8 is too high in phosphorus no 9 fair no 10 a little too low in iron taking all these together they make a fair bessemer ore they are not over three miles from a railroad have acres of ground and about feet of openings and about half a million tons of ore in sight no 11 is about a mile and a half from a railroad and has about tons of ore in sight it is high grade but carries too much phosphorus northern utah no 12 goeston goes too low in iron no 13 is a iron ore itis it is notkar not far from a railto railroad ad and has considerable ore in sight no 14 is eleven miles from railroads railroad it is a fine bessemer t i ore and thought though the da de posit is large there ther el is s no great amount of iron iron exposed yet |