| Deposit ID | 10401176 |
|---|---|
| MAS/MILS ID | 291890021 |
| Record type | Site |
| Current site name | US Silica Pacific Mine and Plant |
| Alternate or previous names | Pacific Works Quarry and Plant, Pacific Mine and Plant, Pacific Pit and Plant |
| Point of reference | Geographic coordinates: | Elevation | UTM | Precision | Relative position | Point location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pit | -90.72571, 38.48378 (WGS84) | 100 | Coordinates for pit. | |||
| (click for info) | ||||||
| Plant | -90.72628, 38.48432 (WGS84) | 25 | Coordinates for near center of plant area. | |||
Political divisions (FIPS codes)
St. Louis(county)
Missouri(state)
United States(country)
USGS map quadrangles
Pacific(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)
Festus(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)
Saint Louis(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)
| Country | State | County |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Missouri | St. Louis |
| Meridian | Township | Range | Section | Fraction | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th Principal | 43N | 03W | 6, 7 | Missouri |
| Commodity | Importance |
|---|---|
| Sand and Gravel, Industrial/Frac Sand | Primary |
| Sand and Gravel, Industrial | Primary |
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | Primary |
| Materials | Type of material |
|---|---|
| Sand | Ore |
| Host or associated | Host | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock type | Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone | ||
| Rock type qualifier | St. Peter Sandstone- (100 ft. max) massive cross-bedded quartzose sandstone. | ||
| Rock unit name | ST. PETER SANDSTONE, | ||
| |||
| Host or associated | Associated |
|---|---|
| Rock type | |
| Rock type qualifier | Everton FM- (400 ft. max) dolomite with interbedded limestone and sandstone |
| Rock unit name | Everton Formaiton |
| Pit (1) | -90.72571, 38.48378 | |
|---|---|---|
| Plant (2) | -90.72628, 38.48432 |
| Operation type | Surface |
|---|---|
| Development status | Producer |
| Commodity type | Non-metallic |
| Significant | Yes |
| Ownership category | Private |
|---|
| Type | Owner |
|---|---|
| Owner | Simpson Sand |
| Home office | Missouri |
| Year | 1978 |
| Type | Operator |
|---|---|
| Owner | US Silica |
| Home office | Pacific MO |
| Year | 2014 |
| Type | Owner-Operator |
|---|---|
| Owner | P G S CORP PACIFIC |
| Year | 1973 |
| Agency | Database name | Acronym | Record ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bureau of Mines | Minerals Availability System | MAS | 291890005 | = newMRDS 10147580, merged and deleted. |
| Mine Safety and Health Administration | MSHA | MSHA | 2300710 |
| Subject category | Comment text |
|---|---|
| Deposit | There are numerous old underground silica sand mines all along the highway on the west side of town between the state highway and the Meramec River. We have no information about these historic mines. |
| General | Anna Wilson and Mary Ellen Benson, both USGS geologists from the Central Mineral and Environmental Science Center, visited this property July 9, 2015. Host was U.S. Silica Co.'s plant manager, Scott Conroy. The mine is currently operating only as a surface mine. The old underground workings are only used for storage. In the "quarry" the St. Peter Sandstone is overlain by dolomite, which is stripped and used for reclamation on-site. The dolomite does not leave the property. Process is to strip to the top of the St. Peter. Then "drill and shoot" the remaining wall of the exposed St. Peter Sandstone which is about the next 70-80 ft. of the 150 ft. formation. The blocks of rubble are hydraulically broken with high pressure water hose (water is 100% recycled) and pumped as a slurry by pipe to the wet plant for processing (sorting and sizing and drying). The ONLY frac sand produced here is 100 mesh ("whole grain", very fine, and only recently finding a use for hydraulic fracturing). Some specialty silica sand products produced here are ground up very fine and bagged for transport. The frac sand is shipped by rail tanker car after being dried in the fluid bed dryer. |
| Type | Date | Name | Affiliation | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Updater | 2015-07-29 | Wilson, Anna B | U.S. Geological Survey | Revised old record. (MRDS not working properly--original reporter may be lost. Might have been Bill Heran, 2014.) |
| Reporter | 1979-03-26 | Miller | U.S. Bureau of Mines | old MAS 0291890021 = newMRDS 10220898, merged and deleted. |
| Updater | 2014-06-30 | Heran, William | U.S. Geological Survey | Updated sometime in 2014 by Bill Heran. |
Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.
| Status | Abandoned since 09/18/1987 |
|---|---|
| MSHA mine ID | 2300710 |
| Mine name (MSHA) | Pacific Sand & Gravel Company |
| Current operator | Pacific Sand & Gravel |
| Current controller (parent) | John H Berra Construction Co |
| Mine type | Surface (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.