—Mexico has important deposits of iron ore in the States of Lower California, Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Oaxaca. The largest iron and steel making plant in Mexico is that of the Compañia de Aciero y Fierro de Monterey, State of Nuevo Leon, operated by Spanish capital. This plant produces between 50,000 and 100,000 tons of pig iron yearly. Ore is obtained from Coahuila, and coke from nearby coal fields. At Durango is a charcoal furnace, which has been idle for many years. It is owned by the Durango Iron & Steel Co. (American). Small iron-making operations exist in Hidalgo, Puebla, Vera Cruz and Oaxaca. The best known of the Mexican iron-ore deposits is that of Iron Mountain (Cerro de Mercado), near Durango City, a large body of magnetite. In Lower California there are important deposits of iron ore at several localities. They are owned by the International Development Co., an American firm with headquarters at Los Angeles, California. The deposits in Guerrero, Michoacan and Oaxaca are reported to be extensive.
South Africa.
—Various deposits of low-grade iron ore are found in South Africa. In Transvaal there is siliceous sedimentary hematite and magnetite in ferruginous schists of different ages, titaniferous magnetite associated with basic igneous rocks, and local clay-band ore; and in both Cape Colony and Transvaal there are lateritic surface ores. A 15-ton blast furnace has been built within the last year or two near Pretoria by the Pretoria Iron Mines Co., Ltd., for the purpose of manufacturing pig iron from local ores. This is the first attempt to establish an iron industry in South Africa.
Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
—In Australia and New Zealand are some important iron-ore deposits, but only a few are developed. Most of the iron ore mined in Australia has been used for flux in copper, lead, zinc, and other smelting plants; a small amount has been used in the two local iron and steel works—that of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co., at Newcastle, New South Wales, and that of the Eskbank Iron Works at Lithgow, about 75 miles west of Sydney, New South Wales. The former is the more important, having in operation at the present time two blast furnaces as well as steel furnaces, rail mill, and plate mill.
Among the important Australian iron-ore deposits are the hematite ores of Coombing Park, near Carcoar, and of Cadia, near Millthorpe, both in New South Wales, estimated to contain reserves of 42 million tons of ore; the hematite deposits of the Murchison district, about 400 miles northeast of Perth, western Australia, where one single deposit—that of Wilgi Mia—has been estimated to contain more than 25 million tons; the Iron Monarch manganiferous iron-ore deposit, estimated to contain 20 million tons of ore, and the neighboring Iron Knob hematite deposit of one million tons, both about 40 miles from Port Augusta, at the head of Spencer Bay, South Australia; and the hematite deposits of Mt. Leviathan, estimated at 10 million tons, located about 250 miles from Normanton, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland. Numerous smaller and less important ore bodies are found in all the provinces.
The Coombing Park ores have been used at the Eskbank Iron Works, 90,200 tons being produced in 1916. The ore averages about 55 per cent. iron. The Iron Monarch deposit is being developed by the Broken Hills Proprietary Co., and the ore is to be used in the furnaces at Newcastle.
An important iron-ore deposit, estimated to contain 23 million tons of minable ore, is reported to occur on Blythe River, in the northwestern part of Tasmania, about 6¹⁄₂ miles from the coast. There have been rumors recently of a possible exploitation of this deposit.
In New Zealand large deposits of limonite occur in the Nelson district, in the northern part of South Island. The principal group of deposits, known as Parapara, is estimated to contain about 64 million tons. Titaniferous magnetite sands, measurable in millions of tons, are reported to occur in the southwestern part of North Island near New Plymouth.