F. H. Hatch — Tlte Iron Ore Siipplies of the World. 513 



and Leith estimate the potential reserves at 7,500 million tons 

 of ore ; while Mineral Industry (1918) credits Brazil with 

 5,000 million tons of 63 per cent grade. With regard to the 

 phosphorus content it must be borne in mind that while the quantity 

 of Bessemer ore is very great, in all probability exploration will 

 show that a proportion of the ore is above the Bessemer limit. 



Cuba. 



The Stockholm estimate for Cuba was 1,903 million tons. More 

 recent estimates agree in placing the reserves at from 2,500 to 

 3,000 million tons of crude ore (36 per cent iron) for the lateritic 

 blanket deposits of the north coast. There are three distinct ore- 

 fields, namely, those of the districts of Mayari, Moa, and Levisa, 

 of which Mayari is the only one worked at present. The soft, 

 clayey ore is removed by mechanical excavators to an average 

 depth of 19 feet, and there is no overburden. Since it contains 

 from 20 to 30 per cent of moisture, and about 13 per cent of combined 

 water, it is calcined in nodulizing kilns before being shipped to 

 Sparrows Point and Steelton, in the United States, losing thereby 

 one-third of its weight. According to Weld, the nodulized ore 

 averages 55 per cent iron, 4'50 per cent silica, 13 per cent alumina, 

 1 per cent nickel, and 2 per cent chromium ; phosphorus is below 

 the Bessemer limit, and sulphur is negligible. Mixed with other 

 iron, the |)ig produced from these ores is used for making chilled 

 castings ; but the bulk of it goes to make steel for rails, truck-bolts, 

 and all sorts of motor-car parts. The steel is stated to contain from 

 ltol'5 per cent of nickel, and fromO"2toO'7 per cent of chromium, 

 with sulphur and phosphorus below 0"04 per cent. 



Nev/foundland. 



No exact estimate of the iron resources of Newfoundland is possible, 

 since, with the exception of a small area where the ore beds outcrop 

 on Bell Island, the whole of this field is under Conception Bay. The 

 ore is a dense bedded haematite, averaging over 50 per cent iron, 

 0"8 per cent phosphorus, and about 10 per cent silica, and therefore 

 suited for the basic process. It occurs in three workable beds of an 

 aggregate thickness of 30 feet, in a trough of Ordovician rocks, which, 

 dipping at a low angle from the outcrop on Bell Island, passes under 

 the sea. 



The Wabana mines on Bell Island are operated by the Nova 

 Scotia Iron and Coal Co. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Co., the 

 former company working the upper beds and the latter company the 

 lower bed. The combined output averages about 700,000 tons per 

 annum. The Nova Scotia Co. has recently completed two inclined 

 shafts, by means of which 12,000 tons a day is being raised from 

 workings 2 miles to the dip under the sea. The whole enterprise 

 has recently been merged in the Empire Steel Corporation, in which 

 both British and Canadian capital participate. 



VOL. LVir. — NO. XI. 33 



