Historically Speaking: Iron ore mines: both success, failure
By KAREN KASPER
Ishpeming Historical
Society
For every successful, income producing iron mine in Ishpeming, there were at least two or three mines that made no money at all and in fact cost their investors money.
The reasons why they failed were as varied as the number of mines. For some, the ore was not high enough quality to ship, or the pocket was not big enough. investors ran out of money and sometimes the timing was just wrong. The Iron Center mine was one of the latter.
“For some time past the Iron Centre company has been searching for ore in the eastern part of the city upon lands owned in fee by Mr. ME Bigelow of New York. They sunk a shaft, ran drifts and cross cuts, did diamond drilling, and altogether expended a large amount of money. The point of attack was just east of the East New York mine. Finding nothing here of value after much that was done, they started in at a point just west of Union Park, and yesterday struck clean hematite in a testpit at depth of 30 feet from surface. They think the find will probe an important one, the formations being favorable, and the ore clean. (Iron Ore March 12, 1892)
“The exploration of the Iron Centre company, in which Messrs. Jas. Ames, CR Ely and PJ Lundquist, townsmen of Ishpeming, are concerned, and of which we made mention last week, gives promise of developing into something of value. They have timbered the shaft and have sunk in ore to a depth of about 10 feet.
The ore is clean and appears to be of excellent quality. The foot is a paint rock overlying soapstone, diorite in different stages of decomposition, this having a dip to the south. More can be told of it in a few days. Outside parties desire to secure the property and have made a proposition for purchase, but the owners have not as yet concluded the bargain, preferring to learn more of the value of the deposit before doing so.” (Iron Ore, March 19, 1892)
It was common for one set of investors to do the exploration, usually on leased land, and then sell the lease to someone else for mining. The trick was to sell at the right time in order to get the most money from the purchasers.
“At this prospect they have cut the vein with the shaft, and are sinking the latter vertically, now being in the footwall. They intend crosscutting to the deposit after greater depth has been gained, they think this better than following the ore along the foot. By the method now employed they will do away with timbering, they say. The ore is identical with that of the East New York some distance to the west, and the Iron Centre owners are confident they will develop a good deposit of ore at the point where they are now engaged.” (Iron Ore, March 26,1892)
“When a depth of 45 feet had been reached in the shaft a crosscut was started to the south and is now in 10 feet of ore. The work of development is be prosecuted actively and the showing of ore is encouraging. An option on the property just west has been secured by Mr. J. Parke Channing, of the East New York. The lands are owned in fee by the Cleveland Iron Mining company, and the west line is but 200 feet from where the Iron Centre company is exploring.” (Iron Ore, April 2, 1892)
It was also common for lands adjacent to an active mine or a good prospect to be leased in hope the ore body extended beyond the borders of the original lease. J. Parke Channing was the gentleman for whom the community of Channing was named.
“The drift at this mine is now in 20 feet and the ore has been struck. The ore is said to be a Bessemer quality carrying about 62 percent metallic iron. This new deposit is situated on the old ‘Brass Wire’ property and was one of the first to be explored for iron in Marquette County.
The Negaunee and Ishpeming Electric Railway runs across the north side of the property and passes the shaft about 100 feet to the north. (Engineering and Mining Journal. May 21, 1892)
Bessemer ores were highly desired by the blast furnaces to the south as they contained little phosphorus and were especially suited to making steel through the Bessemer process.
Despite the quality of the ore, the owners of the mine were unable to convince a railroad to extend track to the mine.
“They are doing but little at this property. They have a cargo of ore in a stockpile, but the railroad does not care to lay the necessary track to remove it this season and the mining company does not care to go on stocking it unless it can get rid of the accumulation. The company thinks it might be able to get a track to them so they could ship by railroad this winter.” (Iron Ore, August 20, 1892)
So why were the railroads hesitant to build a line into the mine?
“Advices from all the big iron centres, are of a very depressing tone. No ore is being sold. The stock of pig iron is larger than at any past time in the history of this country. The pig is being consumed but slowly.
And for the feeble demand it is said to be due in no small measure to the agitation of the free silver coinage question. Capital will not move until this important legislation has been disposed of. The men with money will make no investments until assured of the fate of the bill. They are almost unanimously agreed that free silver means a big shrinkage in values, and this, coupled with pending tariff measures, has brought on a business quiet. There have been good crops throughout the country that have brought good prices. Our export if breadstuffs has been larger than ever before, money is easy, too, as reported by the different commercial agencies, but it is not being used to consume iron.
We had hoped for a grand business year for ’92, but free silver monomaniacs and free traders are making that impossible; and all because of the silver producers and the politicians.” (Iron Ore, March 12, 1892)
The railroads simply did not want to expend the capital necessary to build a line into the mine or they may not have had sufficient money. Things got worse in 1893 as a general depression ground commerce to a halt and many of the local established mines shut down, letting their shafts water up.
This depression lasted until 1897. The Iron Center mine was eventually absorbed into the Mather A mine.