336 



IRON. 



An ore of this mineral, under the form of kidney ironstone, exists, 

 chiefly in the counties of Brancli and Hillsdale. It is sufficiently ex- 

 tensive to be of much value, and will give an average yield of about 30 

 per cent, of metal. This ore is embraced in the clay formation, de- 

 scribed on page 131 of this report, and a more extended notice will be' 

 found in the Geological Report of 1840, pages 25 and 86. 



Iron, under the form of bog ores, is found in various parts of the 

 State. The most extensive deposits, and those alone which it may be 

 safe to assert will yield a rich profit, are at the county seat of Kalama- 

 zoo Co., near Concord, in Jackson Co., in the county of Oakland, and 

 perhaps Wayne. No furnaces, for the reduction of these ores, have 

 yet been erected. It is shown, by the late census, that there are 15 

 furnaces in the State, for the casting of pig iron , requiring 614 tons, 

 and the whole amount of iron imported, under various forms, is much 

 greater. The cost of this importation, which in so heavy an article as 

 iron, is very considerable, might, and ought to be saved to the State, 

 by a domestic manufacture from our own material. For more detailed 

 observations, and an account of the localities at which this ore occurs, 

 see Geological Report of 1840, pages 28, 60 and 100. 



Bituminous coal will be found in abundance for all the wants of the 

 State. The only locality where mining operations have been com- 

 menced, is at Corunna, Shiawassee county, where this mineral has been 

 already used to considerable extent, and, though in the midst of 4 

 heavily timbered country, is for many purposes, preferred to wood or 

 other combustible. Other points also, eligibly situated for the mining 

 of coal, have been made known in Ingham, Eaton and Jackson coun- 

 ties, and it may be fairly iufei-red, from the facts already determined of 

 the range of coal bearing rocks, that out-crops of the coal beds will be 

 found at numerous other points than those now known in these coun- 

 ties, and that coal will also be discovered in several counties where it is 

 not now known 10 exists as through parts of Kent, Ionia, and Genesee 

 counties. (See further statements under pages 126 and 127 of present 

 report.) 



SALT. 



There no longer exists any doubt that this mineral may be 

 obtained at a cheap rate and in any required quantity, for supplying the 



