=France.=--The iron ores of France are divided into three distinct groups: the “minette” ores of the Briey, Longwy, Crusnes, and Nancy districts; the Silurian ores in Normandy; and the vein deposits of the eastern Pyrenees. The “minette” ores of northern France form part of the great basin of “minette” ores of France, Luxemburg, and Germany already mentioned. In 1913 they furnished about 91 per cent. of the total production of France. The iron ores of Normandy and Brittany are of sedimentary origin and are composed of hematite or carbonate or a mixture of both. The carbonate becomes more abundant with depth. The iron-ore deposits of the eastern Pyrenees consist of both hematite and siderite and are of high grade, constituting the only considerable source of Bessemer ore in France. The iron content of the ores of Normandy and Brittany ranges from 30 per cent. to 50 per cent.; that of the Pyrenees ores from 51 per cent. to 57 per cent. The latter range includes calcined siderite. The production of iron ore from French Lorraine was about 19,500,000 tons in 1913; that of Normandy and Brittany about 1,500,000 tons, and that of the eastern Pyrenees about 500,000, making a total production of more than 21,000,000 tons for France. The following table shows the relative output of iron ore from the different iron fields of France and Germany during the last three normal years before the war: TABLE 15.--PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE IN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 1911 TO 1913 Metric tons ---------------------------------+----------+----------+---------- District | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 ---------------------------------+----------+----------+---------- German Lorraine |17,734,576|20,050,245|21,135,554 Luxemburg | 6,059,797| 6,553,930| 7,331,050 French Lorraine, including Briey,| | | Longwy and Nancy |14,878,000|17,235,125|19,499,166 Germany, outside of Lorraine | 6,968,000| 7,167,000| 7,472,000 France, outside of Lorraine | 1,584,000| 1,925,000| 1,686,000 ---------------------------------+----------+----------+---------- The available reserves in the different districts of the French “minette” ore field are estimated as follows:[34] TABLE 16.--ORE RESERVES IN FRENCH “MINETTE” FIELD Million tons Briey 2,000 Crusnes 500 Longwy 275 Nancy 200 ----- Total 2,975 [34] NICOU, L.: “Iron Resources of the World,” Stockholm, 1910.