GRAY   IRON    ORES    OF    TALLADEGA    COUNTY,  ALA.  183 
The  fuel  supply  is  not  a  troublesome  question,  for  coal  may  be 
tained  from  the  Birmingham  district  at  a  distance  of  not  over  50 
les  from  any  point  in  the  field.  This  coal  is  of  good  quality  and  is 
tensively  used  throughout  the  whole  Birmingham  district.  Its 
Iphur  content  is  about  1  per  cent. 
With  such  a  siliceous  ore  the  cost  for  flux  and  fuel  will  be  high, 
(1  it  would  therefore  seem  expedient,  where  possible,  to  use  the 
|  in  combination  with  other  ores  which  need  a  siliceous  mixture. 
Alabama,  at  the  Clinton  horizon,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  red  iron 
3  which  is  so  rich  in  lime  that  it  is  more  than  self-fluxing.  In  the 
iched  zone,  above  water  level,  much  of  the  lime  has  been  removed 
im  the  red  ores.  Below  water  level,  however,  the  lime  content 
comes  so  high  that  it  is  necessary  to  add  siliceous  ore  to  counteract 
3  excess  lime.  At  the  present  time  tjie  brown  ores  or  limonites 
th  high  silica  afford  a  good  mixture.  In  the  future,  however,  the 
pply  of  brown  ore  will  probably  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  the 
mand,  and  in  that  case  other  siliceous  ores  will  become  more 
sirable  than  they  are  at  the  present  time.  The  reduction  of  the 
3  that  is  more  than  self-fluxing  requires  practically  the  same 
lount  of  fuel,  etc.,  as  that  of  the  ore  that  is  just  self-fluxing.  It  is 
erefore  desirable  that  the  mixture  should  be  nearly  self-fluxing, 
each  ton  of  more  than  self-fluxing  mixture  requires  the  addition 
a  quarter  of  a  ton  of  siliceous  ore  to  make  it  just  self-fluxing,  it 
evident  that  the  iron  of  the  siliceous  ore  can  be  won  for  practically 
e  same  price  as  the  iron  of  the  limy  ore  alone.  It  would  therefore 
3m  advantageous,  where  the  iron  content  of  the  siliceous  ores  runs 
out  50  per  cent  metallic  iron,  to  ship  this  to  some  of  the  furnaces 
lelting  limy  ores  and  there  to  use  the  proper  mixture  of  the  two. 
Not  very  much  of  the  gray  ore  has  yet  been  used  in  furnaces,  so 
e  reports  regarding  its  behavior  in  the  furnace  are  not  based  on 
ig  experience.  The  earlier  reports,  however,  stated  that  the  gray 
e  produced  an  iron  that  was  too  brittle  to  bear  its  own  weight. 
le  chemical  composition  of  the  ore,  however,  does  not  indicate 
at  this  should  be  the  case.     Reports  of  later  furnace  tests  seem  to 
much  more  satisfactory.  Thus  on  a  furnace  run  of  200  to  250 
ns  of  gray  ore  by  the  Vanderbilt  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  the 
port  was  that  ".the  ore  worked  well  in  the  furnace,  but  contains  a 
tie  too  much  magnesia  for  a  satisfactory  charcoal  iron." 
In  regard  to  marketing  the  product,  the  main  thing  to  consider  is 
e  proximity  to  railroads.  This  is  not  at  all  a  serious  question 
ire,  for  no  point  in  the  entire  field  is  more  than  4  miles  from  a  rail- 
ad,  and  as  this  distance  is  almost  entirely  through  open,  slightly 
lling  country,  spurs  could  be  run  to  a  mine  or  smelter  at  slight 
:pense.  Furthermore,  three  railroads  cross  Talladega  County,  so 
at  competition  ought  to  keep  the  freight  rates  reasonable. 
