Document 827rDzvn8nB9RQ379p6kJe49e
The Mac Intyre Development of National Lead Co.
. TITANIUM DIVISION ..
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When the history of American business during these momentous war years is written, an absorbing chapter will be devoted to the MacIntyre Development.'
It will tell of a timely mining project......deep in the wilds of the Adirondacks........... blasted into being by Axis torpedoes.
It will recount the labors of 1500 engineers and workmen...... miles from a highway, rail line or power source......who built a huge enterprise in a few short months1 time.
And it will list these major contributions to the war effort: ......more than a quarter-million tons per year of ilmenite, source of titanium dioxide -- man's most opaque white pigment -- to be used in points for warships, tanks, guns, planes, and the plants that build them.
......as. a. eb-produet, over 700,000 tons each year of magnetite -- an important iyp f ironJore --= to help feed the cavernous maw of America's wartime steel industry. *
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THE STOKT OPENS
But to begin at the beginning:
. Itt lS26,-'a St. Francis Indian, hired
,-lead a -periyfof prospectors deep into the Adirondack*
toisonUiTO^i^-.f;;^
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found a ledge .of solid iron ore
^ItheXVicini'ly.
iawi a. pouck of tobacco, .the' headwaters of the
of one
th'excitement,' the prospectors?!
toAlbary and
' te .'of Kew-Tork lO^OOOracres:in;the;surrounding region
1 ' shrewdness ten^
price of the land was low, the cost of development in human sring:was^appallingly high.: ** . * - i
, a road had to be hacked through virgin; forest, with primitive ^Champlain;fifty miles away. Machinery^had^to be hauLed in and
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Nor were remoteness azid climate the only.enemies. . Despite its
richness in iron, the ore contained an element whicheomplicated the blast
ftenkee operations.-:.-
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Finally, in 1857, after a series of catastrophes, including a flood, a financial panic and death of two principal officials,, the project was abandoned.
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Under the leadership of National Lead Company, this fascinating compound and its derivatives grew to major industrial importance......finding use not only in paint hut in the manufacture of paper, inks, linoleum, leather and rubber goods as well.
To meet an ever-mounting demand, more than 250,000 tons of titanium concentrates flowed to this country in 1939.. t... principally from the Travancore coast of India where the ilmenite concentrate from the beach sand runs as high as 60$ in titanium .diocsdde.'
AH J3PISTRI IS SAfED ,
But war on the high seas slashed savagely at shipping, and the industry was threatened. In 1940, ilmenite importsHarrowed to a slender stream, then a trieHe.
Determined not to let belligerent action choke off a material so vitally needed in America6 s defense , program, National Lead Company decided to purchase and develop a portion of the long-dormant Adirondack deposits.
.. . The government, recognising the project's importance granted a blanket priority, to insure delivery ;of-essential- construction materials and plant
.... ~ , jjjjgug a year ago company engineers arrived on the newly acquired holdings;
The scene that confronted them was as wild and., as desolate as in. 185?. But-the
year, was 1941* fine was short. The need was great. So work began.
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year.later...these are^the accomplishments* '
r ...hundreds of acres of land, stripped of trees and over-hurden^: laying here a-va$t mss'of-rich.titanim and1 iron ore..
...sprawled on the hillside, massive mill buildings -- the largest seven stories high -- housing crushers, concentrators, separators and oilier equipment.
...farther up the slope, a 1,100,000 gallon reservoir supplying water
for all mill and community needs.
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...stretching away to the southeast, a 42 mile, 100,000 volt power line bringing current through virgin forest from Ticonderoga.
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--dftrrrirs:ts"- "
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4] 0iTf tb the south, an 8j mile, heairy-^uiy road over which concentrates will be hauled to a state highway, thence 24 miles farther to a rail head at Horth Creek. (Later on, the ore will .be transported over a 32mile railroad extension to be built by 'the Defense Plant Corporation from Horth Creek to the mine property.)
...and, nestling on the shores of Lake Sanford, one-half mile to the south of the mine, a model mining Tillage of 43 modem private dwellings, a retail store, and & 40-room workmen's;dormitory with dining .hall.
smjsmx jm. t o mo r o t
Today, titanium concentrates are flawing to pigment plants and thence
1 to paint makers and other consumers in a ever-broadening stream. i
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There are 15,000 charted tons of ore in the Sanford Hill deposit...
I sufficient to maintain peak production for many years. In addition, there are
other bodies of ore of unestimated size in the surrounding acreage.
Truly, the MacIntyre Development-is an outstanding example of what
can he accomplished by
resourcefulness and enterprise.
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