108 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA. 



portion to carry good ore. Possibly this is the case in these 

 deposits also. 



Following these descriptions of the quality, position, and 

 location of the limonite deposits of Murphree's Valley, we 

 pass to a brief examination, and estimate of the quanity of 

 this ore which this valley contains. This is necessary to 

 give the reader some practical and definite idea of the mag- 

 nitude, importance, and value of these ores, and the space 

 they must fill in the future industrial development of the 



State. 



* 



ESTIMATES OF THE QUANTITY OF LIMONITE ORES IN MUR- 

 PHREE'S VALLEY. 



To estimate the quantity of ore in any deposit requires a 

 knowledge of the thickness, and extent of the ore body ; 

 and of the proportion the ore bears to the waste materials 

 which make up the bulk of the deposit. When these data 

 are obtained, an estimate of the approximate quantity of ore 

 in the body is a mere matter of calculation. We have not as 

 yet the necessary data on any of the limonite deposits of the 

 valley except on that great body of ore known as the Cham- 

 pion Mines deposit, including the adjacent Sub-Carbonifer- 

 ous ore. 



The length of this deposit, in sight, is one and a half 

 miles, or 2640 yards. Its breadth will average a quarter mile 

 or 440 yards. Its depth 150 feet, or 50 yards 58,080,000 

 cubic yards. On an average it requires about or nearly 

 three cubic yards of the body to yield a ton of clean washed 

 ore. This ratio gives 19,360,000 tons of ore as the mineral 

 contents of the lower Silurian deposit alone. To this must 

 be added about one-fifth for the ore contained in the adja- 

 cent Sub-Carboniferous deposit, making by estimate the 

 whole amount of ore at this place 23,232,000 tons. 



The latest statistics puts the whole number of Iron Fur- 

 naces in the United States at 6*7, and their annual con- 

 sumption of ore at 9,000,000 tons. At that rate of consump- 

 tion there is enough ore at this place alone to supply all the 



