Mather B 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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Mineral rights holdings
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10146672
MRDS ID W001392
MAS/MILS ID 0261030004
Record type Site
Current site name Mather B Mine
Alternate or previous names Pioneer Pellet Plant, Ore Improvement Plant
Related records 10068367

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -87.62642, 46.75 (WGS84)
Elevation 415
Location accuracy 500(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Marquette(county)

Michigan(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Negaunee NW(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Marquette(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Marquette(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Dead-Kelsey(hydrologic unit)

Southcentral Lake Superior(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southern Lake Superior(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
Michigan 047 N 027 W 01 E2NWNE Michigan

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chert Unknown
Chlorite Unknown
Goethite Unknown
Hematite Unknown
Martite Unknown
Mica Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -87.62642, 46.75

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike E00W
    Dip 30S
    Thickness 1000M
    Length 4000M
    Width 1500M
    Area 24HA
    Depth to top 300M
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 SEDIMENTARY
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Shape of Orebody #2 MASSIVE
    Primary mode of Origin SEDIMENTATION
    Secondary mode of Origin OXIDATION
    Primary Ore Control FAULTING
    Secondary Ore Control BEDDING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. NONE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 OTHER
    Strike And Dip E00W:30S
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 300
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Total Surface Area (HA) 24
    Date of Last Modification 820708

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1844
Year of first production 1880

Mining district

District name Marquette Iron District

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Fee Ownership
Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.
    ID 2000421
    Interest 32
    Home office Ohio
    Year 1981
  • Type Owner
    Owner Bethlehem Steel Corp.
    ID 2000421
    Interest 20
    Home office Pennsylvania
    Year 1975
  • Type Unknown
    Owner Mc Louth Steel Corp.
    ID 2000421
    Interest 20
    Home office Michigan
    Year 1975
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.
    ID 2000421
    Interest 15
    Home office Ohio
    Year 1975
  • Type Owner
    Owner Sharon Steel Corp.
    ID 2000421
    Interest 12
    Home office Pennsylvania
    Year 1975

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION IS ONGOING

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 7380M
    Overall depth 1008M
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method ESTIMATE
    Mining Method BLOCK CAVING 10-79
    Swell Factor .6
    Hardness of Rock HARDROCK FISSURED WITH MODERATE WATER
    Rock Characteristics MULTIPLE SYSTEMS OF WEAKNESS PLANES
    Rock Support Chars. UNSUPPORTING NO SLOUGH
    Mine Support Chars. OPEN STEEL SETS
    Number of Shafts 2
    1st Condition of Workings OPEN
    Capacity 7336
    Capacity Units MT ORE/DAY
    Unit Production Cost 8.57
    Units of Production $/MT ORE
    Operating Days per Year 277
    Operating Shifts per Day 3
    Year of Information 1975

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LETTER FROM STATE GEOLOGIST 03-05-80 STATUS=MINED OUT

  • Deposit

    -- MATHER MINE MARKS PRODUCTION OF 50 MILLIONTH TON OF IRON

  • Deposit

    SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW, V.64, NO.21, 1975, PP.1,12-15

  • Deposit

    -- MATHER BLOCK CAVES 2 MILLION LTPY, ENGINEERING AND MINING

  • Deposit

    NAL, V.175, NO.11, 1974, P.144

  • Deposit

    -- CLEVELAND-CLIFFS MICHIGAN IRON ORE OPERATIONS IN 1974, SK

  • Deposit

    MINING REVIEW, V.63, NO.22, 1974, PP.1,6

  • Deposit

    -- TEN MILLION TON MINES OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION, SKILLING

  • Deposit

    ING REVIEW, V.59, NO.33, 1970, P.27

  • Deposit

    -- PELLETIZING OF NATURAL ORES AT THE PIONEER PELLET PLANT O

  • Deposit

    CLEVELAND-CLIFFS IRON CO, 27TH ANN MEETING, AIME, 1966, PP.1

  • Deposit

    -- CLIFFS PIONEER PELLET PLANT, MARQUETTE IRON RANGE, SKILLI

  • Deposit

    MINING REVIEW, V.54, NO.36, 1965, PP.1,4-5

  • Deposit

    -- CLEVELAND-CLIFFS PROGRAM AT THE MATHER MINE / PIONEER PEL

  • Deposit

    PLANT, SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW, V.53, NO.45, 1964, PP.6-7

  • Deposit

    -- VARIOUS REPORTS ON STATISTICS AND COSTS OF MICHIGAN IRON

  • Deposit

    MICH GEOL SUR, 1952, 1954-74

  • Deposit

    -- IRON ORE, AMER IRON ORE ASSOC, CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1959-74

  • Deposit

    -- LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES, 2ND ED, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE A

  • Deposit

    CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1952

  • Deposit

    -- HAMMES, J K, THE ECONOMICS OF PRODUCING AND DELIVERING IR

  • Deposit

    PELLETS FROM NORTH AMERICAN TYPE RESOURCES, 27TH ANN MEETING

  • Deposit

    1966, PP.9-16

  • Deposit

    RCF & CMS LISTS 10/81

  • Deposit

    NOT ON 1980 OR 1981 MSHA LISTS; ASSUME PAST PRODUCER

  • Deposit

    # ASSOCIATED WITH MILL, SEQ. NO. 0261039014

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORIGINAL EVALUATION BY MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, AD AND CORRECTIONS BY EFOC, SCHMIDT, 1976 REC 101 PAST PRODUCTION HAS AVERAGED 60.1% FE, BUT CURRENT I REC 111 BASED ON CURRENT PRODUCTION CONTINUED THROUGH 1983 REC 050 COL 22 FIRST MATHER B PRODUCTION IN 1951 REC 120 COL 58 BASED ON 2,032,000 MT PER YEAR, 277 DAYS PER REC 120 COL 69 15 MILLION CAPITAL COST IN 1963 UPDATED TO 19 BLS INDEX (REC 700) REC 150 FOR ORE IMPROVEMENT PLANT. CAPITAL COST INCLUDED WIT PIONEER PELLET PLANT REC 151 FOR PIONEER PELLET PLANT. CAPITAL COST DERIVED FROM SHIPPED CONVERTED TO ORENNAGES FROM REC 700 REC 160-166 PIONER IS PIONEER PELLET PLANT AND ORE IMPROVEME PLANT, TRENT IS TRENTON, L.E.P. IS LAKE ERIE PORT, BUFF IS B S CHI IS SOUTH CHICAGO, CLEVE IS CLEVELAND, SFL.ML IS UNSPEC STEEL MILL

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 28-FEB-1986 Mi-Tech-U U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

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

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusAbandoned since 05/05/1980
MSHA mine ID2000421
Mine name (MSHA)Mather Ug Or Mather B
Current operatorCleveland-Cliffs Iron Company
Current controller (parent)Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
Mine typeSurface (Metal / non-metal)

MSHA cross-reference per the original MRDS record. Mine status and operator reflect MSHA's last published Mines export (February 2025); MSHA's public bulk feed has been unavailable since, so this may be out of date. See the Mine Data Retrieval System for current status.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.

Operator history (post-MRDS)

MRDS records operators as of each record's last update (≤ 2019). Some of the operators listed here have since changed hands or dissolved:

Curated by qvyshift.com from publicly-reported M&A activity (SEC filings, press releases, USGS Mineral Yearbooks). Not authoritative — verify against primary sources before relying on it. The MSHA panel above is the current authoritative source for actively-permitted mines.