302 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



reserves, however, are on the northeastern coast or near it. Exten- 

 sive areas of serpentine have weathered in the tropical climate so as 

 to afford a heavy mantle of alteration products, which when freed 

 of absorbed water yield 48 per cent iron, with about 1 per cent 

 nickel and 1 to 2 per cent chromium. When freed of additional com- 

 bined water in calcining furnaces the ore reaches 56 per cent iron. 

 The Mayari tract, already actively mined, can yield 600 million tons 

 of excellent nickel-bearing Bessemer ore. The undeveloped Moa and 

 San Felipe (or Cubitas) districts can swell the reserves to 2,000 

 million tons. . Thus, as the output of the mines in the United States 

 falls lower and lower below present percentages, more and more can 

 the grade be kept at or near the above values by Cuban contributions 

 to furnaces near the Atlantic seaboard. The supply of Cuban ores 

 is sufficient to last several centuries, at any reasonable consumption 

 of conceivable importations. They are very conveniently situated 

 for low costs of mining and shipping. 



Sweden. — In recent years, the second contributer to American fur- 

 naces has been Sweden. The supplies have come from the great mag- 

 netite body at Kiruna, in Swedish Lapland. The ore reaches the sea 

 at Narvik in Norway, a port open all the year round, and distant from 

 the mines 100 miles by rail. A generally high phosphorus ore is now 

 mined, with a small proportion of rich Bessemer grade. The output 

 is sorted into different grades, possessing from 59 to 69 per cent iron, 

 with perhaps a general average of 65. Importations in 1912 into this 

 country were practically 334,000 tons. The output of the mines is 

 carefully regulated by the Swedish Government with the purpose of 

 conserving the supply for a long life. The United States can not an- 

 ticipate more than a moderate contribution from this source. 



Norway. — In Norway, not far from the sea and adapted to mag- 

 netic concentration, there are additional deposits which are possibili- 

 ties for the future. One enterprise is already active on the extreme 

 northeastern frontier of Norway, east of the North Cape. The Eu- 

 ropean furnaces have, however, absorbed the output hitherto. 



Newfou/ndland. — The third source of importations, in recent years, 

 has been Newfoundland. The shipments come from the red hema- 

 tite mines on Bell Island in Conception Bay. The ores are beds of 

 red hematite in Cambrian and Ordovician strata and are strongly 

 reminiscent of the Clinton ores. They supply a non-Bessemer ore of 

 60 per cent, or slightly less, in iron, and in their best years have ex- 

 ported over 200,000 tons to the United States. The reserves which 

 run beneath the sea are estimated by J. P. Howley at over 3,000 mil- 

 lions of tons. The ores are generally called the Wabana. With a 

 sea voyage of 1,100 to 1,500 miles, they can reach our principal ports 



