IRON  ORES  OF  BATH  COUNTY,  KY. 
181 
areas  occur  where  the  land  is  sufficiently  flat  and  the  iron  near  enough  to  the  surface  to 
[permit  mining  by  stripping  the  overlying  shales  and  shaly  sandstone.  This  ore  is  a  hema- 
tite of  oolitic  structure,  the  particles  composing  it  being  quite  small  and  lenticular  or  flattened 
Sin  shape.  It  does  not  anywhere  appear  to  be  a  "fossil  ore/'  the  few  fossils  occurring  in  it 
[being  generally  minute  forms.  A  chemical  analysis  of  the  specimens  of  the  Clinton  ores 
jmade  by  Doctor  Peters's  «  showed  the  following  results: 
Analyses  of  Clinton  iron  ores,  Kentucky. 
Iron  peroxide 
Alumina 
Lime  carbonate 
Magnesia  carbonate 
Phosphoric  acid  (P2O5) 
Silica 
Moisture  expelled  at  212°  F 
Undetermined  carbonic  acid,  water,  organic  matter,  etc 
Percentage  of  iron ^ 
1. 
2. 
47.  G30 
51.  430 
5.  4G8 
5. 132 
10.  560 
13. 080 
9.974 
9.444 
1.202 
1. 138 
7.160 
7.800 
1.143 
.693 
10.  865 
11.283 
100. 000 
100. 000 
33.  341 
36. 001 
58.  570 
3.  720 
15.160 
4.528 
1.010 
6.  960 
1.007 
8.444 
100. 000 
40.  999 
The  iron  which  this  ore  produces  is  described  as  a  "soft  fluid  foundry  iron,  somewhat 
cold  short." 
Development. — The  Bath  County  ores  are  of  some  historic  as  well  as  economic  interest. 
As  early  as  1791  an  iron  furnace  was  in  operation  on  Slate  Creek,  2  miles  south  of  Owings- 
ville.  Here  charcoal  iron  was  produced  for  nearly  half  a  century  and  shipped  down  Licking 
River  to  various  trade  centers  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  long  before  railways  had  become 
factors  in  the  commerce  of  the  Central  West.  The  iron  produced  here,  owing  to  the  high 
percentage  of  phosphorus  in  the  ore,  was  a  hard  but  not  very  tenacious  metal.  Cannon 
balls  which  were  made  from  Bath  County  iron  for  the  war  of  1812  may  still  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  curio  collections  of  Owingsville.  On  the  expiration  of  a  lease  this  furnace  went  out  of 
blast  and  was  never  reopened.  The  old  furnace  is  still  standing — a  monument  to  the  part 
played  by  Kentucky  in  the  early  development  of  the  iron  industry. 
At  a  later  period  the  Preston  ore  banks,  which  supplied  this  furnace,  were  reopened  by  the 
Slate  Creek  Iron  Compairy ,  which  shipped  the  ore  for  smelting  until  the  supply  was  exhausted. 
In  1838  a  furnace  was  erected  on  Caney  Creek.  Iron  was  made  here  from  the  Lower  Car- 
boniferous ores  for  some  years,  charcoal  being  used  as  a  fuel.  The  venture  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  a  profitable  one,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  utilize  these  ores  in  recent 
years. 
At  the  time  of  the  survey  of  this  county  by  the  Kentucky  Geological  Survey  in  1885  the 
Clinton  ores  had  not  been  developed.  These  ores  have  since  been  extensively  mined  and 
are  at  present  the  only  ores  worked  in  Bath  County.  The  Rose  Run  Iron  Company  is 
engaged  in  mining  them.  The  mines  are  located  about  3|  miles  east  of  Owingsville,  and 
are  connected  by  switch  with  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railway  at  Olympia.  The  ore  is 
stripped,  a  part  of  the  stripping  being  done  by  a  steam  shovel.  Formerly  the  ore  was 
smelted  at  the  mine,  at  present  it  is  shipped  for  reduction.  The  ores  are  transferred  from 
the  mine  breast  to  the  tipple  by  a  small  locomotive  and  cars.  Fifty  men  are  employed,  and 
an  average  of  about  125  tons  of  ore  per  day  are  produced.  The  ore  is  used  for  pig  iron,  and 
is  shipped  to  various  points  for  reduction.  Some  of  the  furnaces  which  are  using  it  or  have 
used  it  are  located  at  Ashland,  Ky.;  Ironton,  Ohio;  Lowmoor,  Va.,  and  Big  Stone  Gap,  Va 
a  Report  on  Bath  and  Fleming  counties,  Kentucky  Geol.  Survey,  1884,  p.  19. 
