Clinton or Fossil Ores. 11 



Charcoal furnaces were built early in this century at Rossie, St. 

 Lawrence county, and at Sterlingville and Antwerp, in Jefferson 

 county, for smelting these ores. Of the older mines the Shirtliff 

 and Tate and Polly have been abandoned. Two new mines have 

 becomes producers, the Clark and Pike. The total production of 

 the district was 110,000 gross tons in 1888. 



IV -THE CLINTON OR FOSSIL ORES. 



The red hematite of the Clinton group bears several names; thus : 

 from its ao-oreo;ated grains it is termed "oolitic ore" or "lenticular 

 iron ore ;" from its fossiliferous character, it is widely known as " fossil 

 ore,'' and, from its place in the geological series, it is often called 

 " Clinton ore." It is remarkable for the thin, yet persistent beds 

 over wide areas, which lie between green shales and calcareous strata. 

 Following the outcrop, of the Clinton group, the ore has been found 

 in Herkimer, Oneida, Madison, Cayuga, Wayne and Monroe counties. 

 West of the Genesee river Prof. Hall reports that it was not seen.* 

 There are two beds, generally about twenty feet apart, according to 

 Vanuxem's report on the Clinton group, thin, averaging little more 

 than a foot, and distinguished by the more abundant oolitic particles 

 in the lower bed and by the larger grains and concretions in the 

 upper bed.f Very little mining has been done, excepting in the 

 towns of Clinton, Oneida county, and Ontario, in Wayne county. 

 The average thickness of the beds in these mines is 30 inches, and 

 one bed only is worked. They lie almost horizontal, dipping slightly 

 to the south ; and in the extraction of the ore a part of the over- 

 lying shales has to be removed and the roof supported by timbering. 



This ore consists of lenticular-shaped grains, closely aggregated in 

 a firm, solid mass, which has to be broken up by blasting and heavy 

 sledging. It is more friable and soft on the outcrop. It is brownish 

 red in color and soils like a paint. The percentage of metallic iron 

 varies less than in the magnetic iron ores and in the brown hema- 

 tites. The average is 44 to 48 per cent. The phosphorus is above 

 the Bessemer limit. It is well adapted for making foundry iron and 

 is used for that class of iron mainly. Local furnaces take nearly all 

 the output of the mines. The first lease for digging Clinton ore was 



*See Prof. Hall's report on "Survey of the Fourth Geological District," Albany, 

 1843, p. 61. 



t Vanuxem's report on "Survey of the Third Geological District," Albany, 1842, p. 83. 



