NORTH CREEK — Could the abandoned mines at Tahawus once again fill a critical national need?

A source of iron ore as early as the 1820s, the mines during World War II provided titanium used in manufacturing aircraft.

To mine the titanium, a 30-mile federally funded rail line was built.

The war ended, the mine eventually shut down, and in 1989 the rail line was abandoned.

Now, with a new owner, Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, which operates the North Creek snow trains, the rail line is expected to re-open in the next six to 12 months.

"There are three million tons of tailings. Barton Mines (in North Creek) has another two million tons," said Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific, during an interview Thursday in Saratoga Springs. The tailings, rocks left over from mining, are in demand as road aggregate, Ellis said.

He said the mine also contains rare earths, elements that have a range of applications from batteries and lasers to wind turbines and energy-efficient lighting.

So far, there apparently hasn't been any interest in mining the rare earths.

"Whatever there is to mine, we'd be willing to haul it," Ellis said.

China provides about 97 percent of the world's rare earths but has been reducing its exports, apparently to supply its own growing technology sector.

More Information See More Collapse

Because of that, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer earlier this year accused China of "illegal hoarding" of the elements.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also expressed concerns about Chinese export reductions.

"The United States' reliance on imported (rare earth elements) makes us very vulnerable to disruptions in the global supply chain threatened by Chinese actions in the future," she wrote in a letter to President Obama in January, on the eve of a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Andrew Kozlowski, acting associate state geologist, said some rare earth elements had been identified in other mines in the Adirondacks as long ago as the 1950s, well before much of their usefulness was realized. He said mapping to identify concentrations of the various rare earths wasn't done.

A spokeswoman for the owner of the 1,200-acre Tahawus mines, NL Industries of Dallas, wasn't immediately available to comment.

A renewed mining operation could be a job creator, said George Canon, supervisor of the nearby Town of Newcomb and a 30-year employee of the Tahawus mines.

"At times, they had as many as 500 employees," he said during a phone interview Friday.

Some mines in the region are still active, including Barton Mines, which produces garnet for abrasives.

Chuck Barton, the company's chief operating officer, said the local mine in North Creek employs about 70 people. Barton International is based in Glens Falls.

Barton said he will meet next month with Ellis to explore ways the company could use the railroad to move its products to markets.

"There is a potential for moving some of our material down to the Gulf region," Barton said. "Their rates would have to be competitive with trucking rates."

Ellis envisions a "mineral corridor" developing over the next five to 10 years that could be "very important to job creation and retention (in) the North Country."

Even without the rare earths, there may still be much to mine.

Magnetite and titanium remain in the ground at Tahawus.

One blog on the Adirondacks reported that veins of titanium oxide worth as much as $1 billion remain in the ground, a report that couldn't be independently verified.

Resuming mining at the site would require a permit from the Adirondack Park Agency and possibly from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said Keith McKeever, an APA spokesman.

"It's definitely possible," he added. "Under the APA map, it's classified as industrial use."

He said mining the titanium would be a compatible use.

"The mine didn't close because there weren't valuable minerals," he said. "It closed because of distance to markets and the cost of transportation."

Now, with a new owner of the rail line that has also been aggressively, and successfully, expanding its passenger business to the Adirondacks, and rising costs for iron ores and rare earths, the time may be right.

Reach Eric Anderson at 454-5323 or eanderson@timesunion.com