Moore Mine

Past Producer in Marquette county in Michigan, United States with commodity Iron
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Production statistics
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10082760
MRDS ID W062110
Record type Site
Current site name Moore Mine
Alternate or previous names Gribben, Gibbon, Mesabi's Friend, Royal, Consolidated, Laxey

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -87.55696, 46.43639 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Marquette(county)

Michigan(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Palmer(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Gwinn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Marquette(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Escanaba(hydrologic unit)

Northwestern Lake Michigan(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwestern Lake Michigan(hydrologic subregion)

Great Lakes(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Michigan Marquette

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
T47N R26W 28 S1/2 - SE1/4 Michigan

Comments on the location information

  • LAT/LON IS FOR THE ORE BODY

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORIGINALLY, THREE OF THE FOUR PRECAMBRIAN U.S. TYPES OF ORES WERE MINED 1) SOFT ORE; 2) HARD ORES; 3) SILICEOUS ORES. IN THE 1970S AND THEREAFTER, MINING WAS BASED ON LOW GRADE 1) MAGNETITE TACONITE AND 2) JASPER ORES. THESE ORES ARE GROUND, SEPARATED AND PELLETIZED, BEFORE SHIPMENT (HENCE, ARE CONCENTRATE ORES).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hematite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Goethite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Some magnetite formed by replacement of ferrous iron minerals during diagenesis and most iron silicate probably formed by metamorphism of an early silicate mineral.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 241
USGS model code 34a
Deposit model name Superior Fe (BC name is Lake Superior & Rapitan types iron-formation)

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Iron Formation
    Rock unit name Negaunee Iron-Formation
    Rock description Negaunee Iron-Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -87.55696, 46.43639

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Westward plunging synclinorium open at western end; regional trends are eas

Ore body information

  • General form STRATABOUND

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE OLD MOORE MINE HAS THE BEST EXPOSURES OF CLASTIC METASEDIMENTS IN IRON-FORMATION IN PALMER BASIN. CLASTIC MATERIALS THERE INCLUDE NUMEROUS THIN SANDY AND PEBBLY LENSES AND SEVERAL SHORT THICK LENSES OF PEBBLY AND COBBLY CONGLOMERATE (GAIR, 1975).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1844
Year of first production 1873
Year of last production 1904
Production years 1873-1904

Mining district

District name Marquette Iron District

Production statistics

  • Year 1873
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 3653mt
    Accuracy Accurate
  • Year 1896
    Period 1895-1896
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 16300mt
    Accuracy Accurate
  • Year 1904
    Period 1873-1904
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 89173mt
    Accuracy Accurate
  • Year 1904
    Period 1900-1904
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 69221mt
    Accuracy Accurate

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Area 320HA

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JAMES, H. L., 1955, ZONES REG. METAMORPHISM. IN N. MICHIGAN.: GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICAN BULLETIN, V. 66, P. 1455-1488.

  • Deposit

    THE LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ASSOC., 1938, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES.

  • Deposit

    LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE ASSOCIATION, 1952, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES: CLEVELAND, OHIO, 2D ED., 334 P.

  • Deposit

    GRATON-SALES VOL. A. I. M. E., THE MARQUETTE DISTRICT: ORE DEPOSITS OF THE U. S., 1933-1967, P. 508-517.

  • Deposit

    LAURA, D.K., 1981, THE EARLY PROTEROZOIC PRE-IRON FORMATION, MENOMINEE GROUP SILICICLASTIC SEDIMENTS OF THE SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR REGION; EVIDENCE FOR SEDIMENTATION IN PLATFORM AND BASINAL SETTINGS: JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY, V. 51, NO. 2, P. 397-414.

  • Deposit

    SIMS, P.K., 1990, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS OF IRON MOUNTAIN AND ESCANABA 1 DEGREE X 2 DEGREES QUADRANGLES, NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN AND NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATION SERIES, I-2056.

  • Deposit

    BOYUM, B.H. AND REED, R.C., 1988, MARQUETTE MINERAL DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN, MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY, IN SCHULZ, K.J., 34TH ANNUAL INSTITUTE ON LAKE SUPERIOR GEOLOGY FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOKS, V. 34, PART 2, P. B-1-B-15.

  • Deposit

    BOYUM, B.H., 1988, THE ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF THE HARD AND SOFT IRON ORES OF THE MARQUETTE RANGE, MICHIGAN, IN KISVARSANYI, GEZA, AND GRANT, S.K., NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON TECTONIC CONTROL OF ORE DEPOSITS AND THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL EXTENT OF ORE SYSTEMS, PROCEEDINGS VOLUME: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, ROLLA, P. 301-311.

  • Deposit

    MOST ALL OF THIS DISTRICT HAS BEEN MAPPED AT 7 1/2 MINUTE QUADRANGLE SIZE. TOO MANY GEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED TO MENTION INDIVIDUALLY. GAIR, J.E., 1975, BEDROCK GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE PALMER QUADRANGLE, MARQUETTE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 769, 159 P.

  • Production

    LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE ASSOCIATION, 1952, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES: CLEVELAND, OHIO, 2D ED., 75-92 P.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LOWER PRECAMBRIAN 'W' (OR ARCHEAN) ROCKS OVERLAIN BY MIDDLE PRECAMBRIAN 'X' (OR MARQUETTE RANGE SUPERGROUP) ROCKS. LOWER PRECAMBRIAN W CRYSTALLINE ROCKS BLOCK FAULTED AND DIFFERENTIALLY RAISED AND LOWERED; FORMING TROUGHS. MIDDLE PRECAMBRIAN 'X' (OR MARQUETTE RANGE SUPERGROUP) ROCKS AS SEMI-CONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS SLUMPED INTO THE TROUGHS. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME ENTIRE AREA WAS REGIONALLY THERMALLY METAMORPHOSED, CREATING METAMORPHIC FACIES OR NODES. THE MARQUETTE DISTRICT AFFECTED BY THE REPUBLIC NODE, WHICH GRADES FROM CHLORITE TO SILLIMANITE ZONES, EXCLUSIVE OF KYANITE ONLY. SILLIMANITE ZONE IS IN VICINITY OF AND INCLUDES REPUBLIC TOWN AND REPUBLIC OPEN PIT. REST OF ZONED AREAS ARE REGULAR SHAPED, FAIRLY ROUND WITH SLIGHT FLATTENING TO THE NORTHEAST. (JAMES, H. L., 1955, P. 1455-1488)
Deposit DESCRIPTIVE (CANNON, 1986) AND GRADE AND TONNAGE (MOSIER AND SINGER, 1986) DEPOSIT MODELS OF SUPERIOR FE ARE IN COX AND SINGER, 1986, MINERAL DEPOSIT MODELS: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN, 1693, P. 228-230. LARUE (1981) FOUND THAT CHEMICAL IRON SEDIMENTATION APPARENTLY TOOK PLACE WITH LITTLE REGARD TO BASINAL OR PLATFORM ENVIRONMENTS. BOTH ENVIRONMENTS SHOW PERIODS OF CHEMICAL-IRON SEDIMENTATION. HOWEVER, IN BOTH ENVIRONMENTS, DEPOSITION OF IRON WAS RESTRICTED TO PERIODS OF DETRITAL-SEDIMENT STARVATION.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1995 Sutphin, D.M. (Cannon, W.F.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-1997 Sutphin, D.M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAY-1997 Mason Jr., G.T. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.