REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 29 
the Range on the south side. The ore is laminated like the slate and appa¬ 
rently has had the same origin; for as we ascend from the quartz-rock, the 
slate becomes more and more ferruginous until it passes into pure iron ore. 
This change is so gradual that it is often difficult to determine where the 
slate ceases and the ore begins, or how much should be classed as iron ore 
and how much as ferruginous slate. We noticed places where the ore had a 
thickness of sixty feet; at other places ten; and wherever we could get 
access to the rock at the proper place, the ore was found.” 
As to quality of the ore, Mr. Lapham thus remarks: 
“The magnetic ore of the Penokie Iron Range contains a notable and 
much varying proportion of silica in its composition, but is free from sul¬ 
phur and other deleterious qualities — corresponding in this respect with 
most of the iron ores of this remote geological epoch. It is in some locali¬ 
ties so highly magnetic that particles adhere to the hammer when struck, 
like iron filings to a magnet; and the compass needle as often pointed 
towards the east or west, as to the north; in one instance being entirely re¬ 
versed, the north end pointing to the south. At Penokec, where Bad River 
crosses the Range, the ore exists in such abundance that it may be obtained 
from the face of the hill, much as stone are taken from an ordinary stone 
quarry. Large masses that have fallen from the cliffs, now lie loose upon 
the surface, and will supply a furnace for many years, before it will be nec¬ 
essary to resort to the original bed.” 
But few specimens have been analyzed. It is the conviction 
of all geologists who have visited this Range, however, that the 
ore, though rather silicious for easy working, nevertheless com¬ 
pares favorably with the valuable magnetic ore in northern New 
York, or even with the magnetic ore from from which the 
famous Swedish Iron is made. 
According to Dr. Owen, the ores found in different localities 
are rich in iron, yielding fifty to sixty per cent, of metal. The 
distance of these beds from the nearest harbor—some eighteen 
or twenty miles—is an embarrassment in the way of their pres¬ 
ent working, but the improvement of one or two natural har¬ 
bors, and the construction of railroads — both practicable 
without enormous expense — will open them to the commercial 
world. On the subject of their availability, Messrs. Foster & 
Whitney in their report on this district remark as follows: 
“The physical obstacles are not of such a character as to interpose a for¬ 
midable barrier to the successful working of these mines. Elevated from 
eight to twelve hundred feet above the lake, the ground affords a gradual 
and easy descent; the streams furnish an unlimited amount of water power 
