8 
BULLETIN 1226, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
POTASH IN BLAST-FURNACE RAW MATERIALS AND SLAGS. 
The systematic collection of the iron ore, fuel, and flux samples 
was made through the cooperation of Frederick Crabtree, of the 
Bureau of Mines. Each sample was analyzed for potash by at least- 
two chemists with the results given in Tables 2 to 10. 
The figures for ore production in column 3 of Table 2 were derived 
from statistics of the Lake Superior Iron Ore Association and used for 
obtaining weighted averages. Those of Tables 4, 5, and 7 are the 
average annual productions or importations for the years 1913 to 1920 
obtained from statistics of the United States Geological Survey. 5 
The potash content of the ores is shown to range from a minimum of 
0.04 per cent for some Lake Superior ores to over 2 per cent for certain 
foreign manganese ores. Samples from the Menominee and Mar- 
quette ranges contained between two and three times as much potash 
as those from the Mesabi Range. The potash content in the ores 
from the same range agreed so closely that no material difference was 
found between the mean and weighted averages for any range. This 
close agreement prevailed both for Bessemer and non-Bessemer 
ores. 
Southern iron ores and manganese ores are usually richer in potash 
than the Lake Superior ores. 
Mention may be made of the gray hematites of eastern and north- 
eastern Alabama, large workable ore bodies of which exist in Talladega 
County. These ores have been used for considerable periods of time 
at three furnaces — Gadsden, Xronaton, and Shelby. Four samples of 
these ores were found to contain 1.79, 1.87, 1.91, and 2.66 per cent 
K 2 0. respectively. The first of these samples was obtained from the 
Shelby Iron Ore Co. and the other three forwarded by E. F. Burchard, 
of the United States Geological Survey. The analyses of slags are 
given in Table 11. 
Table 2. — Potash in ores of the major Lalce Superior ranges. 
MESABI RANGE. 
Ore. 
Kind. 
Annual 
production. 
Potash 
(K 2 0). 
Non-Bessemer 
Gross tons. 
57, 000 
157,000 
55, 000 
992, 000 
123, 000 
87,000 
43, 000 
208,000 
74, 000 
28, 000 
27,000 
95, 000 
2S, 000 
6, 109; 000 
1,500,000 
93, 000 
2,249,000 
1,020,0(10 
21,000 
156,000 
1. 000 
10,000 
Per cent. 
0.12 
Albany 
do 
.07 
Bangor 
do 
.11 
do 
.09 
do 
.10 
do 
.12 
Brunt 
do 
.07 
do 
.07 
do 
.08 
do 
.10 
Dover 
do 
.13 
Grade X 
do 
.07 
Grant 
do 
.07 
do 
.11 
do 
.09 
do 
.06 
Group 7 
do 
.05 
.do... 
.12 
Harold 
..do... 
.08 
do 
.09 
Hudson No. 2 
do 
.09 
Terome 
do 
.07 
5 Burchard, E. F., et al. Mineral Resources of the United States. United States Geological Survey, 
Dept. of the Interior, 1913-1920. 
