100 



The Low Furness Haematite Ore District is comprised within a 

 very limited area, and is of a very irregular shape, as may be seen 

 roughly delineated on the map to illustrate this paper.* 



In some cases the ore is merely covered by a few feet of drift ; 

 in others it is found in the solid limestone rock. In some places 

 the limestone rock surrounding the ore is perfectly free from any 

 stain of iron; in others there are thousands of yards of rock without 

 any appreciable quantity of ore, and yet every crevice and seam of 

 this rock is stained with the red of hematite. 



The most ancient mine in Furness is Whitriggs. Here ore was 

 quarried near the surface, and smelted into iron in charcoal fires, 

 or Biscayan Bloomeries (similar to the method used in Spain,) 

 many years prior to the Reformation. The earliest mine, however, 

 that in modern times has been profitably worked in Furness, is 

 Lindale Moor, belonging to Messrs. Harrison, Ainslie and Co., 

 whose predecessors have worked this mine for a very long period. 

 In this mine the ore lies on the N.W. in close proximity to slate 

 rocks, and there is a solid mass of ore, with nothing but drift as a 

 cover, which extends in places from thirty to forty, fifty, and even 

 a hundred yards wide, and is some seven or eight hundred yards 

 in length. This mass of ore was found for many fathoms in depth, 

 when it was apparently cut out by a bed of rock, and it was 

 supposed that the life of this mine was ended. But further investi- 

 gation in depth proved that this bottom of limestone was of no 

 great thickness, and ore was again found beneath it. As time 

 progressed, and improvements were made in the mode of working, 

 this large mass of ore was developed to the south, and at the 

 present time the mine, still producing an enormous quantity of ore, 

 is about a mile in length. But over its whole length and breadth 

 there is nothing to show any regularity of formation, or anything 

 to indicate any system by which further ore should be discovered. 

 In fact in this mine, as in all other mines in Furness, the discovery 

 of ore seems to be a mere matter of chance. It frequently appears 

 where least expected ; and where most expected, is not found. 



[* See also the Geological Survey Maps 98NW. and SW., 99SE., 91NW., 

 ^nd the Memoir thereon, Ed.] 



