A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



TABLE No. XI 

 Tonnage of haematite exported from Whitehaven harbour during the four decades ending 1900. 



Small cargoes of Spanish ore from the ex- 

 tensive deposits in the Bilbao district were 

 first imported early in the 'seventies,' but the 

 increase in this traffic of late years has been 

 so large that Spain has now become a formid- 

 able rival in supplying the haematite require- 

 ments of Cumberland. Table No. XII. 

 shows the importation of Spanish ore to 

 Whitehaven harbour during the last two de- 

 cades, that for the first decade being approxi- 

 mately 70,154 tons, and for the second, 

 242,511 tons; the imported ore for the last 

 five years representing 86-49 P er cent f tne 

 total tonnage for the last decade. These 

 quantities, however, also include the Irish ore 

 supplied from the county of Antrim. 



Large rmportations of Spanish ore have 

 also taken place to the other important ports 

 on the west coast of Cumberland, particularly 

 to Workington and Maryport, but the above 

 figures from Whitehaven harbour, kindly sup- 

 plied by the authorities there, clearly indicate 

 the advancement made in this direction. In 

 view of the foregoing facts, much interest 

 centres in the favourable developments now in 

 progress in the southern parts of the White- 

 haven district. 



A short description of the usual methods 

 adopted for the working of haematite deposits 

 in Cumberland will not be out of place in 

 this article, and the author has obtained the 

 permission of the Council of ' The Institution 



of Mining Engineers ' to give extracts from 

 his own paper on the ' Working of Haema- 

 tite in the Whitehaven District,' read before 

 the North of England Institute of Mining and 

 Mechanical Engineers at their annual meeting 

 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 4 August 1894. 



TABLE No. XII 



402 



