| Show IRON ORES IN UTAH don maguire in mines and minerals don maguire in mines and minerals the establishment of steel manufacture at pueblo colo was the first step toward entering the great western field and the comparative success of that effort for a period of almost 20 years has caused many of our iron and steel manufacturers of the older states to look into the fields still far ther west than colorado with results that it is now known that iron ore exists in com mercial and valuable quantities in utah montana nevada california arizona wyoming new mexico idaho oregon and washington in each of which the writer has examined mines of iron which in the older states beyond the mississippi and in europe would be looked upon as of immense value but which as yet are of small value to the regions they are situated in unless i it be where they have been used as fluxes for the ores of more valuable metals as copper and silver lead ores at present writing the state of the great west that promises soonest to enter the ring as an iron and steel producer on a large scale is utah in utah iron abounds as magnetic hematite hematite limonite pyrite and hog bog iron As in most countries the magnetic and occur in in vr 4 V 4 aa W IRON OUTCROPS UNDER COLUMBIA PEAK BOXELDER CO UTAH the rocks along the base of the wasatch range of mountains or in its spurs as in iron county coun ty beginning our examination in the northeast corner of the state covered by bear lake county cache county and morgan county we find iron occurring in the carboniferous boni ferous sandstones as a s a limonite ore from 45 to 60 per cent metallic iron west of the town of woodruff in bear lake county there are several measures of high grade iron ore in the sa sandstones nd stones abounding here herband and as we rise higher in the wasatch range of mountains iron occurs where that range flanks the east border of cache coun ty although the inhabitants of northeastern utah claim very extensive exten sice fields of iron ore no exhaustive exploration has yet been made in either of the above counties of utah but crossing from cache county into box elder county the northwest corner of the state we find iron quite abundant in the wasatch range of mountains and also in n the high range west of great salt lake in the latter the ores of iron are chiefly found in the carboniferous limestone where it occurs as limonite and also in the slates where it is found as a hematite around the base of pilot peak that rises up to a height of almost feet and which stands on the line of utah and nevada should the iron industry ever reach great magnitude the ores of pilot peak newfoundland and lake side would largely contribute to the demand the ores are low in phosphorus sulphur and silica in that part of the wasatch range of mountains that divides box elder from cache county and weber from morgan county we find the most extensive bodies of superior bu high grade iron existing in northern utah of this field we first touch upon that part lying in eastern box elder county and almost wholly anthe on he west watershed of the wasatch range this field begins in that part of the range extending south from box elder county where a number of iron ore deposits outcrop along the mountain side these are chiefly hematite of high grade and as we extend southward toward willard r peak a distance of six miles a number of well defined veins varying in width from three to twelve feet appear lying between the measures of slate that here rest on the cambrian quartzite and against which rest resi on the eastern or upper wall the thick and tar far reaching carboniferous limestone the chief vein appearing in that locality is an 18 foot vein of hematite that lies nearest to the quartzite and which for a distance of four miles retains this width A great upheaval with three extensive faul tings has left this vein and its smaller neighbor in a distorted position and where the faulting and erosion is greatest at the head of willard canon there is a basin in which the eroded iron has for ages settled forming extensive bodies of bog iron but sufficient work has never been done to prove its depth or width the outcrop at willard utah reaches westward down to the base of the mountain where its N bulk shows on the mountain side mr john barker a resident of willard many years ago mined about tons of this red ore the greater part of which yet lies at the foot of the mountain immediately northeast of willard these beds bed S of rock on willard mountain continue prominently in their course along the wasatch range until they reach what is known as the strawberry district in morgan county a distance of abolt abo ut 45 miles on the intermediate points between wil lard peak and strawberry district along the course of this great 1 iron ir on vein or lode we find three points where iron pre gre of purity occurs prominently after leaving willard the first of these is at eldorado dorado fil peak adjacent to the eldorado silver lead and copper mines the second lies in ogden canyon where in the indiana group of mines this same great vein of iron exhibits a considerable sid erable volume of limonite iron ore and the third point of strength is at cottonwood mountain about two miles north of the car banale gem mines and here there are shown three considerable veins of limonite where during the years between 1872 and 1880 a number of companies spent considerable money in striving to find silver lead ores in paying quantities in western box elder county there are extensive deposits of hematite running high in iron but on which there has been little work done to ascertain depth or quantity but which without doubt are destined within a few years to open up into iron mines of magnitude in juab county iron is found in considerable quantity near goshen also at homans ville and about silver city what is known as the dragon iron mine has for almost 30 years furnished iron ore for fluxes at the silver lead smelters shelters sm elters of cottonwood and sandy in salt lake county and this is yet the source of bf most of the th iron used as a flux in this country the iron of the dragon at tintic gintic is high grade in metallic iron and frequently runs over 60 per cent and were the manufacture of iron an industry in central utah it would afford a very large tonnage for an iron industry in grande county utah there are extensive beds of iron adjacent to the east banks of green river and at a point about eighteen miles southeast of green river station on the rio grande western railway associated socia ted with the iron ores of this part of utah there is also much black oxide of macanese mag anese being mined by the colorado fuel iron co of pueblo colo the iron of the green river region is hematite and occurs in sandstones that are the predominating formation of grande county utah the most extensive veins and beds so far opened in utah are those of iron county about fourteen miles west of cedar city near a small hamlet known as pinto and at the base of a low span of the wasatch range known as the pinto mountains here we find a basin in which the formation consists of the rocks associated with limestone and red sandstone and the iron found here consists of immense beds of magnetite and also much hematite at this point the ores of iron are bedded over an area of abo about ut 21 square miles and the quality of ore is very good being as high in iron as we ever find hematite and magnetite ores in any part of the world these mines are of easy approach although not yet situated upon any railway point and doubtless they will in time afford the chief source of greatest iron and steel markets As might be expected in the regions contiguous to the great central iron deposits of pinto utah and the same occurrence extends far into lincoln county nevada to the westward but as in most other parts of utah these iron mines west of pinto have had but little work done on them the iron mines at pinto have been worked upon quite extensively and skilled engineers have estimated the ore in sight although this is not the most extensive iron field existing in any state west of the rocky mountains it is without question the most extensive known to exist in utah it lies on the route of a railway now contracting much of the tonnage of the state of utah and the officials of which are interested in the manufacture of iron and steel in colorado and inasmuch as this same corporation now owns or controls the iron mines at pinto utah we may expect their capital to develop these fields within a short period as they have already done the fields of colorado iron for the past fifteen years in northern utah much of the iron field lies open to location and where not already taken little value is set upon it by those in possession and save where it serves as flux in the smelting smelling sm elting of copper and silver lead ores no use is made of it Is is however all an excellent ore for iron and steel manufacture as most of it is comparatively free from silica and it invariably lies adjacent to extensive fields of limestone suitable for fluxing flexing iron ores in many places we find these iron deposits wholly in the limestone limestone in the past attempts have been made to 0 produce iron from the ores of utah A con company r was formed in the sixties to reduce the ores of iron at pinto iron county the members of this company were all citizens of utah A furnace was built at considerable expense and the smelting smelling sm elting of iron from these mines was carried on awhile durin during which time articles of local utility were cast here such as andirons and irons smoothing irons stove furnishings etc but the demand was not great enough and the wagon haul to salt lake city too great to allow such iron productions to thrive charcoal was used as fuel and those who acted in the capacity of expert iron men to this company were deficient in the knowledge of iron production therefore as is most usually the case in early iron production this company failed and the mines of iron county lay dormant until the recent acquisition by the present owners at ogden an iron manufacturing plant was started in the year 1882 by cincinnati capitalists together with a few local men and the smelting smelling sm elting of iron ore was commenced under the most favorable prospects the iron produced being of a most superior quality but less than 3 months of time saw the works closed down every few years since that time inexperienced men having little it if any financial backing have talked of reopening the iron mines of utah but up lip to the present nothing has been done to beor the first company whose attempt was so full of promise |
