36
Page 61
30
.1063
Page 62 HAEMATITE IRON ORE ft ly gaboard.) 1845 150 so
OTTOAI 201BETOYS summasi Page 62 of 662, i et 200.0 bhs (012) s. (Excluding bedded ironstone) ngowlod div (o)) noal 1o 161 Occurrences of haematite and other unbedded iron ores are known and have been worked for many years in West and South Cumberland, the Furness district of Lancashire, the Forest of Dean, and South Wales. The Cumberland and Furness districts have always been the most important! To-day operating mines are restricted to Cumberland, where three companies run six mines; and South Wales, where there is one company with one mine. The last large mine in Furness closed shortly before the War, and although small attempts were made to re-open mines in the Forest of Dean during the War, for all practical purposes this field has been abandoned for many years.is worındbolt is Bar Ragar inomonga ett mi modi consten 161 boro. 10 abu to vacillar CUMBERLAND AND FURNESS
FURNESS BRAUrt of que diss
zauri
reblve, Ingosk 162. When the industry was at the height of its activity during the later years of the last century, the annual output from the Cumberland-Furness fields was consistently over 2 million tons and in 1882 reached as much as 3.13 million tons. Since 1850 the mines there have produced about 150 million tons of high-grade iron ore, the metal content, on average, being from 50-55 per cent.
belimi ed of maiz ad un
IN
י
aulosi
2458
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163. Output in the last two decades has fluctuated with trade cycles, but in the main has steadily declined from the high levels of output during the last century. Figures for the last twenty years are given below
rol besal 18 trdi vas or sine od uno lo di insegna MAN SHAEMATITE IRON ORE
·
blue it gobhow wort zodim ert te wen al TABLE XIV ・・・ af bio beroda to viqque "disoy NORTH-WEST COAST PRODUCTIONgolob
zavrsedi boving tadi debgune alboge(tons)sy, 12 jonqolovsb still be onio
1927 bou vlw11,240,990 1934
1928
1929
1,172,4281935
U
...
1,391,756. 1936. 1,134,088 1937
193020rofi
far.in 813,199 1941 nolllim puro 642,782
1839,915 † 1942 so010 140e
879,9071943
A 'MA 551,697 1939
་ ་
85,6,905 1944
678,6601945
$79,466
524,814
407,246
JUNDURO
1931709,14331938 1932.png 1.551,6971
655,325 e 1946. 15. og 378,849 1933 632,894 | 1940 via ja pov 706,877v 1947) empol 364,545 164. The decline is clearly due to the progressive exhaustion of the known ore bodies and the failure of exploration to discover any new large deposits to replace those being worked. In recent years this has been accentuated by shortage of labour. The maximum output in the last century was achieved when the highly mineralised areas between Egremont and Lamplugh in West Cumberland, at Hodbarrow, South Cumberland, and at Lindal Moor and the Roanhead areas of Furness, were being developed. All these areas are now generally considered to be exhausted of substantial ore bodies and present pro- duction is obtained almost entirely from the concealed Carboniferous Lime- stone outcrop south of Egremont in West Cumberland, and from small deposits adjacent to the now nearly exhausted main ore body at Hodbarrow, near Millom.
165. The Companies are at present working on an arrangement with the Iron and Steel Board and the Ministry of Supply started during the War, whereby they are paid a subsidy on the selling price sufficient to cover costs plus a profit equal to that prevailing in 1938-39.
prevailing in 1938-39. In view of this artificial situation it is difficult to assess the true economic position of the industry. Only one company (United Steel) has managed to finance adequate explora- tion in recent years, but in this case favourable results of a prolonged boring campaign have led to an important new mine (Haile Moor) being established.
37
06
Character of the Ore Bodies
M Page 63 of 662 166. The ore is a true haematite, averaging from 42 per cent. to 62 per cent. Iron (Fe) with between 5 per cent. and 15 per cent. silica (SiO2) and 0.005 to 0.012%P. The low phosphorous content makes it specially suitable for haematite pig for use in foundries, and for steel-making in acid converters.
stone.
:
167. Geologically the area is associated with faults in the Carboniferous Limestone. The ore solutions have followed the faults and replaced parts of the limestone forming the walls of the faults to a varying and irregular degree. The ore deposits are of three main types, namely, vein-like bodies, horizontal extensions from the veins known as "flats" and, in Furness, large bodies known as "sops" occupying swallow holes in the Carboniferous Lime- These last-named are now worked out. Some of the larger flats, for instance those in the Egremont region and at Hodbarrow, and the Park Sop in Furness, have each yielded some 10, millions of tons of ore. Recent evidence obtained by the Geological Survey has enabled the conditions under which the ore deposits originated to be defined more precisely. Gener- ally speaking, their frequency and size is likely to decrease as the Carbonifer- ous Limestone in which they occur attains greater depth beneath the cover of younger rocks westwards from the Lake District hills towards the Irish Sea. For these and other reasons areas which may be worth while prospecting can be shown to be limited.*
Reserves
.
168. It will be clear from the mode of occurrence that the calculation of reserves in irregular ore bodies of the type now being worked is most difficult. In most of the mines now working it would be safe to say that at least ten years' supply of proved ore is in sight at the present rate of output. Further development and mining may well prove a much larger figure. Thus in one mine still in the development stage, prospects suggest that proved reserves of over one million tons at present in sight may be substantially added to as development proceeds. Taking the field as a whole, and bearing in mind the records of recent boreholes, we have come to the conclusion, after consultation with the Geological Survey and the mining companies, that some of the mines can be assured of at least fifteen years' life at the present rate of output, and that the tonnage of proved reserves at the individual mines varies between 14 and 34 million tons. In the opinion of the West Coast Hematite Iron Ore Proprietors' Association some of the mines have twenty years' life.
169. We have based our estimates of proved and probable reserves on à detailed consideration of the following mines:-
Name of Mine Florence Ullcoats
Beckermet
Haile Moor
Hodbarrow
Moorbank
Future Prospects
Operating Company
Millom & Askham Hema-
tite Iron Ore Co. Ltd.
United Steel Cos. Ltd.: Hodbarrow Mining Co.
Ltd.
1.
170. Only in the neighbourhood of the operating mines can it be said that there is a reasonable chance of finding new ore bodies. As stated earlier, the prospects of deposits being present diminishes as the cover of the newer rock over the Carboniferous Limestone increases towards the sea. In the Egre- mont region favourable areas are at present being bored by the United Steel
* See "Geology of the Gosforth District " (Mem. Geol. Survey), 1937, and “Geology of the Iron Ore Field of South Cumberland and Furness," Geological Survey Wartime Pamphlet No. 1a463 of 662