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Southeast of Marmora, Ontario |
Ontario Tourism Region : Ontario's Highlands
Driving Directions:
- From the 401, take exit 543 and follow Hwy 62 north to Hwy 14. Turn northwest to Stirling, and then straight on to Marmora, 22 km. north on Hwy 14. At the lights in Marmora, turn right and drive 1.5 km. to the Marmora Mine turnoff. Turn right to the site
Description From Owner:
- The magnetite ore body was discovered in 1948 by a government aeromagnetic survey, and the stripping of 120 feet of limestone overburden started in 1953.
- The first shipment of iron ore pellets commenced in 1955, and eventually the mine employed 300 workers and support staff. It was owned by Bethlehem Steel Mills of New York and exported iron ore pellets. The site was developed between 1951 and 1953.
- Size of the pit: 2800 feet long, 1500 feet wide covering 75 acres with a depth of 550 feet. The average grade of the circular haulage road was 10%.
- There has been a total of 70 million tons of waste rock removed from the pit to date...and at the time, 2 ~ 250 HP pumps were needed to pump excess water from the pit for excavations to continue.
- The breakup of the rock and ore was accomplished with sets of drilling patterns boring 7 inch holes 60 feet into the bedrock, and filled with 8 - 32, 000 lbs of explosive. Each blast could yield 20 - 80,000 tons of rock and ore.
- Electric shovels used - 3 with 6 cu. yd. dipper, 1 with an 11 cu. yd. dipper....Dumptrucks used - 6 ~ 105 ton with 1000 HP diesel electric drive, 2 ~ 55 ton with 635 HP diesel engines.
- Total mine production: 1.3 million tons of iron ore / 3.5 million tons of waste rock.
- Process: The iron ore containing magnetite is crushed and ground, magnetically separated to produce 65% iron concentrate, then converted by roasting into hematite pellets ( 3 crushers of 350 HP each, 2 rod mill grinders of 350 HP each and 2 ball mills).
- The 2400 degree F. roasting took place in 4 vertical shaft furnaces 6 X 12 feet and 40 feet high.
- A daily ore train of 30 to 35 cars took pellets south to Picton port for loading into the 25,000 ton ore boats.
- Annual plant production: 520,000 tons of hematite.
Address of this page: http://www.ruralroutes.com/marmoraton
