News release: Minnesota state park summer tours now …

Minnesota has been a powerhouse in the production of iron ore starting with the state's first iron ore mine, the Soudan Mine, which opened in 1882 and operated until 1962. Underground mine tours will return in May after being closed the last two years due to an extensive restoration project. The mine shaft restoration was completed in ...

Explore Minnesota

Iron ore mining first occurred in Minnesota on the Vermilion Iron Range in 1884 followed by the Mesabi Iron Range (1892), Cuyuna Range (1911) and the Fillmore County District (1941). The first mines on the Mesabi exploited the so-called "natural ore", …

Mining and mineral resources of Minnesota | Minnesota …

Even though nearly all of the high grade iron ore in Minnesota has already been mined, advances in technology have made possible the use of low-grade iron ore, called taconite. Taconite mining occurs on the Mesabi iron range in northeastern Minnesota. Furthermore, iron ore is being recovered from old iron mining waste materials, called tailings ...

Cuyuna Iron Mines

The mines near the subsequent towns fo Crosby and Ironton were by far the largest but they were only a part of a whole series of mines in the Cuyuna Iron Range. The most infamous of the mines was the Milford Mine site where 41 miners died February 5, 1924. The mines gave up 100,000,000 tons of iron ore before they were closed and allowed to flood.

Mnnesota Mine Tours

View of the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine on the Mesabi Iron Range. Duluth Ore Docks ca1904. Taconite pellets from the Mesabi Range continue to be shipped from these docks and those in Silver Bay and Two Harbors, MN and Superior, WI ... 3. "3-D Modeling of Underground Iron Mines," Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Lands and ...

Minnesota mining history | Minnesota DNR

Iron Ore. Minnesota's iron ore was actually discovered while miners were on their way to seek gold. Since their aim was gold, the iron was ignored. As it turned out, the iron would become more valuable to northern Minnesota than the gold. ... Forty-one miners drowned in the Milford mine when a nearby lake broke through the underground mine ...

Minnesota's Hill Annex Mine State Park is closed and the …

Hill Annex Mine, like Soudan Underground Mine State Park, was created to help Minnesotans to learn state history right where it happened. Iron mining shaped northern Minnesota. ... It told the story of iron ore mining in Minnesota and the people who came here to live and to work in those mines. That story came to life through a mix of signage ...

Go 2,341 Feet Underground On This Minnesota Mine Tour

Head to Minnesota's Iron Range to visit this fascinating state park, where you can explore mining history over 2,000 feet underground!

Soudan Underground Mine

Never as big as the Mesabi Range to the southwest, the Vermilion Range and its mines were steady producers of iron ore over many decades. The Soudan Mine peaked in 1892 at 568,471 tons of iron ore shipped. Later, once it was clear …

Itinerary: Iron Range, Minnesota

See another side of the Iron Range with a trip to Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park. Here, groups can travel 3/4-mile underground on foot and then in an old ore cart. These guided tours of the old …

Lake Vermilion

The Soudan Mine offers three different tours which are described below: Underground Mine Tour: Tour Minnesota's first iron mine. Don a hardhat and journey 2,341 feet via a cage to the 27th level, ride the rails back into the mine …

Mining on the Iron Range | Minnesota Digital Library

Minnesota's Iron Range is located in the state's far northeastern corner and includes the following counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and Saint Louis. Iron mines were generally of two types: open pit and underground. The Iron Range includes three major iron ore deposits: Mesabi Range, Vermilion Range, and the Cuyuna Range.

Underground mine mapping – Maps | Minnesota DNR

Since underground mines cannot be seen, utilizing the existing underground maps is the only practical way of mapping them. ... Arcelor Mittal, Eveleth Fee Office, Great Northern Iron Ore Properties, Meriden Engineering, RGGS, Department of Interior Office of Surface Mining, and the public. ... The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources makes ...

Soudan Mine, Tower

The Soudan Mine, which opened in 1884, is located at the western edge of the Vermilion Range, about two miles northeast of Tower. It was the first iron mine in the state, and its first ore shipment in the summer of 1884 marked the …

MPR: A timeline of Minnesota's Iron Range

The worst mining disaster in Minnesota takes place on the Cuyuna Range, as 41 miners drown in the Milford mine when nearby Lake Foley breaks through the underground mine. 1930-1935 More than one-half of iron ore extracted from the earth originates in Minnesota mines.

Underground mine mapping

The Underground Mine Mapping Project is a Geographic Information System of the documented underground mine features on the Mesabi Iron Range. Documenting these areas of known underground mining and making that information available to those involved in community and business development was the objective of our project. ... MN 55746, 218-231 ...

Iron Range: MN Weekend Getaway

Iron Range Best Bets. Don't miss views from the world's largest open pit iron ore mine – Hull Rust Mahoning in Hibbing, MN nicknamed the "Grand Canyon of the North." Tour a historic underground mine at Soudan Underground Mine State Park. See the historic mine, as well as an operating physics lab housed underground.

Mesabi Iron Range

The Mesabi Iron Range wasn't the first iron range to be mined in Minnesota, but it has arguably been the most prolific. Since the 1890s, the Mesabi has produced iron ore that boosted the national economy, contributed to the Allied victory in World War II, and cultivated a multiethnic regional culture in northeast Minnesota.

Attractions

Discover the Range by visiting Iron Range attractions that celebrate and illuminate our mining, logging and hockey history. ... Minnesota Museum of Mining: Exhibits, Pricing, Getting There. 218-753-6017 | View Website. 701 West Lake Street ... Soudan Underground Mine. 218-753-6017 | View Website. 1302 McKinley Park Road Soudan, MN 55782.

Closed 2 years for upgrades, famed Soudan Underground Mine …

The Soudan Underground Mine, now part of the Lake Vermilion/Soudan Underground Mine State Park, began operations in 1882 and produced massive amounts of high-grade iron ore until it closed in 1962.

Uncover A Mysterious Abandoned Underground Mine On …

The Soudan Underground Mine, once an active iron ore mine, now serves as the park's centerpiece. The mine operated continuously until 1962, producing over 15.5 million tons of high-grade iron ore. Imagine descending half a mile underground to explore the labyrinthine tunnels where miners toiled away in the early 20th century.

Take a Field Trip on the Iron Range

Minnesota's first iron ore mine is now a state park with preserved dry house, drill shop, crusher and engine house, plus an underground mine tour that takes visitors ½ mile into the Earth on a …

Underground mine mapping project

The Underground Mine Mapping project was originally funded in 2006 by the Central Iron Range Sanitary Sewer District. ... CIRSSD secured funding for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to research the underground mines within this area. ... U.S. Steel Keewatin Taconite, U.S. Steel Minntac, Eveleth Fee Office, Great Northern Iron Ore ...

Bucket List: Tour the Renovated Soudan Mine

Minnesota Iron Company began mining operations at the site in 1882 with a series of seven open pits, and eventually took operations underground to safely access deep ore deposits. U.S. Steel later acquired the mine, which was operated by its subsidiary, Oliver Mining Company. Known for its geologic stability and safety, and wages that were ...

Lake Vermilion–Soudan Underground Mine State Park

The Lake Vermilion–Soudan Underground Mine State Park occupies over four thousand acres in the far northeast corner of Minnesota. The site contains a historic underground iron mine as …

Best things to see and do on Minnesota's Iron Range

Another kind of mining was practiced on the Vermilion Range, where the rich ore is in hard vertical layers of hematite. The Soudan Mine was the first in the state when it began operating in 1884. It became an underground mine in the 1890s, with a shaft that eventually reached 2,400 feet, or seven football fields, into the earth.

Interactive map of underground mines in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources provides an interactive map of underground mines in Minnesota. The map provides detailed information on underground mines and their relationship to overlying surface features. Specifically, this map focuses on iron mines in the …

Soudan Underground Mine

Ojibwe living in northeastern Minnesota had long been aware of the presence iron ore deposits in the region. They told blacksmith N.A. Posey about it in 1863, when Posey was living among …

These Mines Hiding Deep Below Minnesota Are Like A …

From scenic mine overlooks to sparkling lakes created by mining activity, they have made an indelible mark on the landscape of northern Minnesota. At one brand-new state …

Soudan Underground State Park: Minnesota Mine Tours

In fact, it was the richest source of iron ore in the world at the time." Immigrants looking for a better life came to the area to mine what began as open pit mines. Due to safety concerns, mining was moved underground. Nicknamed the Cadillac of underground mines, Soudan was in operation from 1882 to 1962.