SO-CALLED  "IRON  ORE"  NEAR  PORTLAND,  OREO 
By  J.  S.  Diller. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Miners'  Congress  in  Portland,  Oreg.,  last 
August,  Mr.  W.  A.  Roberts,  of  that  city,  exhibited  a  series  of  speci- 
mens labeled  as  follows : 
Crystallized  ferrous  carbonate.  Twenty-five  miles  from  Portland.  Accessi- 
ble by  rail  and  water ;  6,000,000  cubic  yards  in  sigbt.  Average  composition  of 
some  25  samples  of  tbis  spatboid  ore : 
Fe    . 39.50 
A1203 15.  00 
SiO,  35.  50 
CaO 7.00 
MgO 3.00 
Sulpb .  03 
Mn .19 
According  to  Mr.  Roberts,  the  analysts  were  Miss  L.  V.  Hamp- 
ton and  Mr.  J.  H.  Fisk. 
As  a  part  of  the  exhibit  Mr.  Roberts  showed  a  piece  of  fresh  iron 
which  he  said  was  obtained  from  the  "  iron  ore  "  by  smelting  the 
ore  in  a  small  furnace  with  basalt,  such  as  occurs  abundantly  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  ore.  He  stated  that  when  the  "  ore  "  was  fused  alone 
the  iron  would  not  separate  out,  but  when  some  basalt  was  added  the 
molten  iron  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  furnace  and  was  drawn  off. 
The  exhibit  attracted  much  attention,  and  it  was  evidently  a  mat- 
ter of  so  great  importance,  if  the  label  and  the  statements  of  Mr. 
Roberts  were  wholly  correct,  as  to  deserve  immediate  investiga- 
tion and  report. 
The  specimens  of  "  ore  "  exhibited  varied  somewhat,  but  all  con- 
tained a  brownish  glassy  substance  whose  nature  was  not  evident 
in  the  samples  shown.  One  specimen  was  composed  wholly  of  the 
dull-brownish  glass  and  looked  like  some  forms  of  obsidian;  others 
contained  small  indefinite  pebbles,  as  if  fragmental. 
From  the  first,  however,  it  was  apparent  that  there  Avas  a  mis- 
take in  the  stated  chemical  composition.  The  summation  of  the 
analysis  gives  over  100  per  cent,  leaving  no  place  for  oxygen  com- 
bined with  the  iron  or  for  manganese.     The   absence  of   carbonic 
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