98 ARCHER BROWN 



were too expensive to mine profitably in competition with 

 the cheaply won deposits in the Lake Superior districts or 

 in the southern states. Even the first miners on the Me- 

 sabi, the richest of all the upper lake ranges, abandoned their 

 machinery and gave back their lands to the state because 

 the ores were too low in iron to stand long shipment. These 

 pioneers were too far south and west. 



There are practically but two processes of making steel 

 in the United States — the Bessemer and the basic open hearth. 

 The former is based on the low phosphorus ores of the Lake 

 Superior districts, and until the past five years, it had the 

 right of way. More recently, however, the basic process 

 has assumed importance, and its growth has been far more 

 rapid than that of its older rival. Indeed, it may almost be 

 said that Bessemer steel making reached its climax several 

 years ago, and that the recent wonderful growth in steel 

 making has all been in the basic form. This process has the 

 advantage of using the higher phosphorus ores that are found 

 in many states. The standard specification of basic pig is 

 phosphorus 1 per cent or under; silicon 1 per cent or under; 

 and sulphur 0.05 or under, manganese between 0.05 and 2 

 per cent, the higher preferred. 



The supply of low phosphorus ores for making Bessemer 

 steel was apparently nearer its limitations ten years ago than 

 it is to-day. The so-called old range ores were being mined 

 out at a rate that caused apprehension, and new discoveries 

 were few. The opening of the Mesabi district in Minnesota 

 however, in the decade from 1890 to 1900, changed the situa- 

 tion. The Mesabi ores, usually running rich in metallic 

 iron and very low in phosphorus, proved of almost unlimited 

 extent as exploration work went on. Lying near the surface, 

 in great beds from which the earth was easily stripped off, 

 open mining with steam shovels was possible, bringing cost 

 to the lowest point ever reached in the world. Hundreds 

 of thousands of tons have been put on cars at 25 to 30 cents 

 a ton. In Alabama, where the next cheapest mining is done 

 on a large scale, the average cost of putting the red ores on 

 cars is probably 60 cents a ton. But the Alabama ore car- 

 ries less than 40 per cent iron, against the Mesabi 60 to 65 



