We Struck it Rich! (Iron Ore)

We Struck it Rich! (Iron Ore)

In which JB and JF find gobs of magnetite near Old Irontown in southern Utah and basically lose their minds from the awesomeness.

More seriously, the history of the old Iron Mission is incredible. The Latter-day Saints who settled Utah did so several decades before the transcontinental railroad connected what is now Utah with the civilized world. The Pioneers had two choices: import raw iron by wagon from Saint Louis across hostile territory and at huge expense, or make their own. And for 6 years, they managed to run a self-sufficient iron refinery and foundry in this corner of Utah.

50 Comments

  1. Sam on December 9, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    You guys should try roasting the iron ore before smelting. Check out The Fires of Guedelon ep. 7 on youtube.

  2. Jade on December 9, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    Cant wait for the smelting video!

  3. Nex us on December 9, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    πŸ‘πŸ“Ή

  4. Rodman Brown on December 9, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    How come the iron ore is black? Why wouldn’t it have absorbed oxygen and turned red with rust?

  5. Delicious DeBlair on December 9, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    There is a giant untapped vein of iron over where my old family farm was.

  6. Zero Mostel on December 9, 2021 at 7:16 pm

    looking forward to your future success

  7. Kineth1 on December 9, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    Would that be the "mother lode"?

  8. Marc Gabriel on December 9, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    If I got one I would make a machete

  9. F L U X on December 9, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    In the future? As in not June?

  10. Vali Lucifer on December 9, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    I subscribe for the comedy

  11. Patt Adams on December 9, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    Excited and looking forward to the primitive tool making content.

  12. Bart Bols on December 9, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    The joy in your eyes is simply magnetising.

  13. CodockDraconin on December 9, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    Looking forward to the smelt video. Should be pretty interesting. I’d be interested in seeing a bit more of the process if you are willing to film it. Even as a montage or something.

  14. Priscilla Sotelo on December 9, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    What did you mean by prefluxed???

  15. Michael Arsenault on December 9, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    Low fuel…. ?

  16. CelticUchuu on December 9, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    Load up the Mustang until the suspension bottoms out.

  17. Jawdat Fares on December 9, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    Thanks again that was awesome to see keep up the good work we love you guys,,,

  18. _P-i-V_ * on December 9, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    Try a bellows like the inflation bags on those new camping air mattresses

  19. batenkait0s on December 9, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    Texas has some interesting clay material – in Dallas you have normal clay and shale all over but when you go to Tyler the iron in the soil spikes and you start finding little pebbles that are drawn even to weak permanent magnets and the soil has so much iron that clay from where trees are breaking down (assuming perfect decomposition) is anywhere from dark red to having a rusty tinge – unfortunately unlike these people I cannot do much due to 1 lack of available materials as a result of my young age and 2 restrictions on fires during dry weather not to mention while the clay is good for making iron it is not useful for building a foundry or bloomery due to moisture and heat shrinking causing cracks though that could be solved with a slightly different type of bloomery schematic I have come up with – the most efficient method to remove bit’s of silica from the iron would be to melt some sand with it but I am not yet very knowledgeable about what materials work best for bloomeries and foundries I think adding a layer of firebrick or insulation at the bottom of the pit in the schematic I came up with would be useful though Im more interested in the possibility of a foundary than a bloomary – also charcoal mixes with iron to make steel and cast iron correct? if so how come graphite crucibles don’t do the same? — it seems this comment is poorly formatted so I will stop now but I will soon make a well formatted list of agustments to make to create a efficient foundary with somewhat pure iron (depending on if the ore is contaminated with other metals) one source of somewhat pure iron are pyrite crystals though beware when pyrite decomposes it can release toxic sulfur oxide fumes – end of comment

  20. Massimo on December 9, 2021 at 7:35 pm

    So what if you go there with one of those giant electromagnets used to move cars in junkyards?

  21. Peter Johnston on December 9, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    you could buy a new car

  22. ManicPandaz on December 9, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    The simple joys of picking up rocks πŸ™‚

  23. Akosua Nkansah on December 9, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    I found dark rocks of about a kilogram each that has a kind of magnetic properties,
    its doesn’t really attract of repels but you bring it close you feel a kind of two forces acting simultaneously
    when i use my digital multimeter on it i got a resistance reading
    I dont have any tools to analyze it more
    can someone give more insight on it please

  24. Ashley Griggs on December 9, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    Dam claim jumpers

  25. edgeeffect on December 9, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    "It’s a Christmas miracle"…. funny considering I’m watching this, not in June but at Christmas.
    Oh… are Euro Cents steel too… I thought only England was cheap enough to make it’s "copper" money out of steel.

  26. Doctor Purple on December 9, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    Awesome!

  27. Delicious DeBlair on December 9, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    Get a yard salvage magnet and a dump truck [HOP HOP HOP!]

    /)/)
    ( ‘Λ¬’)
    @(>_ )-b
    ) )

  28. Dave McG on December 9, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    You’re just 2 grown up kids. Love it!

  29. abledbody on December 9, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    Hehehehe, that Julian Smith reference at the end.

  30. Ramin on December 9, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    So when u gonna collect diamonds with Ur iron pickaxe??

  31. dereklacy on December 9, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    dude raising the roof at the beginning made me lol

  32. Kyle Hearnsberger on December 9, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    This may seem stupid but, I wonder how much ore ya can get, in cash-terms, in one go ? I stink at math, so i figured β€œWhat’s the harm in asking ?”.

  33. Jeanette Swalberg on December 9, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    What the What?!? That’s great!

  34. Matt Mountain on December 9, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    The white coating looks like a lichen. That area probably has some fairly well adapted and specific species (s)…

  35. Warpreacher on December 9, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    Yeah sick

  36. Rennis Tora on December 9, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    You should go out there with a wheel barrow and some of those big magnets they sell for Magnet Fishing rather than bending down to pick the small stuff up by hand.

  37. minecrafter9000 on December 9, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    How

  38. ChaosSwissroIl on December 9, 2021 at 7:53 pm

    So were those tailings, or was it just like that naturally on the side of the road?

  39. Delicious DeBlair on December 9, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    Gunna hafta make yourself a smithy now! ~( ‘w’)/

  40. Danielle Spargo on December 9, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    looking forward to it πŸ™‚

  41. Joe Koltes on December 9, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    I would like to see and all encompassing video of making iron in multiple ways

  42. angelica ynzon on December 9, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    Where do you get that iron????????

  43. Joel Martinez on December 9, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    Lmao I love your jokes

  44. Slpwq42 on December 9, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    My only question is why it took you so long to go there. I mean it’s called Iron County after all.

  45. aditya suresh on December 9, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    You still have subscribers because of the authentic passion.

  46. PKMartin on December 9, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    "I don’t know why we still have subscribers" because you are *so excited* about finding black rocks on the ground it temporarily turned both of you into idiots… we’re here for the enthusiasm, the terrible puns are just a side product of that. I’m looking forward to the smelting videos and more giddiness.

  47. YmirIsHere on December 9, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    This is epic.

  48. SkyWizardless on December 9, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    I can hear the iron ore detector in the Mustang beeping 😁

  49. Happy_Feet_ 324 on December 9, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    ompa ompa ompa omp

  50. Jason T. Rogers on December 9, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    What will be your first furnace design?

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