38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



ore has been found in the old workings, mainly on the north side of 

 the Weldon shaft. Large quantities of concentrating ore, sufficient 

 to maintain operations for many years, also occur in that section. 

 There is still much ground awaiting exploration which should add 

 materially to the resources. The ore of concentrating grade has a 

 stoping thickness up to 20 or 25 feet, considerably greater than 

 that of the rich seams which alone were mined in the early opera- 

 tions. 



Under steady production the mine should nearly double its ship- 

 ment during the current year. Additions and improvements to the 

 plant, recently made or now being supplied, will give an increased 

 capacity as well as effect important economies. One of the new ad- 

 ditions is a 400-horsepower, two-cylinder compressor which will 

 allow the use of more than twice the number of drills now operated. 

 Power for the compressor as well as for the hoists and mill is sup- 

 plied by the Port Henry electric generating station of Witherbee, 

 Sherman & Co. ; no steam power is used. The equipment for hand- 

 ling the ore includes some labor-saving devices not usually found 

 in mines of this character. An electric locomotive is employed 

 underground for tramming the ore to the shaft, where the cars 

 dump automatically into a receiving bin. A gravity tram transports 

 the ore from the shaft to the mill and another lowers the concen- 

 trates to the railroad for shipment. 



The entire output of the mine is sent to the mill. After the first 

 crushing the product passes over a magnetic cobber which takes ^ 

 out about one-half of the magnetite in coarse form; it is then re- 

 crushed and goes to drum separators, and after a third crushing to 

 belt machines. The concentrates carry above 58 per cent iron 

 and about .35 per cent phosphorus. The mill is unpretentious, but 

 it has treated 800 tons a day and has a good record for costs. 



Salisbury. The Salisbury Steel & Iron Co. was active during a 

 part of the year and made shipments of high-grade concentrates 

 and cobbed ore to furnaces in New York and Pennsylvania. The 

 company has one of the rnost complete surface equipments for 

 handling and treating magnetite ores to be found in the State. 

 An interesting feature is the use of producer gas for power pur- 

 poses. The gas is made in the company's plant and supplies gas 

 engines of 750-horsepower which are connected with electric gen- 

 erators that furnish current for driving all machinery in the mining 

 and milling operations. An aerial tramway, 800 feet long, assem- 

 bles the ore from the different workings and delivers it to the mill. |?| 

 The process of milling and concentration is similar to that used 



^1 



