Possibilites of Iron Manufacture in Canada. [Volume: 8, Issue: 5, 1889, pp. 290-298]

290

UNITED STATES ASSOCIATION OF

[VOL. 8,

Possibilities of Iron Manufacture in Canada.
BY JOHN BIRKINBINE, Philadelphia, Pa.
THE unsatisfactory results which have followed some of the attempts to produce and manufacture iron in the Dominion of
Canada, and the failure of capitalists to take advantage of the bonus
offered by parliament, have combined to encourage a degree of distrust in Canadian ventures which seems scarcely warranted by existing conditions.
In a paper presented by Mr. J. H. Bartlett, of Montreal, at the
Halifax meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers,
the various attempts to manufacture iron in Canada were reviewed,
and the possibility of achieving success strongly presented. Mr.
Bartlett justly claims that much of the discredit which has come
upon investments in the production or manufacture of iron in the
Dominion is due to the facility with which money was placed in socalled " improved processes," heralded as short cuts to metallurgical success. He also asserts that "the only attempt ever made to
manufacture coke pig-iron and refined bar-iron has proved the possibility of so doing."
The small output of Canadian pig-iron, which has been mostly
produced from bog-ores with charcoal as fuel, does not give promise
of extension, for although these ores are abundant, they are lean and
hydrated, requiring the mining of large quantities of ore and the
rapid denudation of convenient timber on account of the consumption of ore and charcoal per ton of product. The future of the
Canadian iron industry would appear to be dependent upon the
magnetic and red hematite ores more than upon the leaner bog-ores,
although the latter may form an important factor in mixtures. The
abundance of timber promises a supply of charcoal for an industry
of considerable dimensions, but wood is constantly appreciating in
value for other purposes, and although there is a large field for the
manufacture of iron with charcoal, the bulk of the iron produced
will most probably be smelted with mineral fuel. Coal is found in
the eastern provinces and also in the western section of the Dominion. There is no apparent supply of domestic mineral fuel
within 700 miles of Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion.