Iron River - Crystal Falls Area

Producer in Iron 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. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Production statistics
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10068374
MRDS ID W001400
Record type District
Current site name Iron River - Crystal Falls Area

Comments on the site names

  • PART OF MENOMINEE IRON DISTRICT (RANGE)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -88.65005, 46.08333 (WGS84)
Relative position BETWEEN TOWNS OF IRON RIVER AND CRYSTAL FALLS.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Iron(county)

Michigan(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Iron River(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Iron River(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Iron River(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Brule(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 Iron

Comments on the location information

  • PREVIOUS QUAD DESIGNATION = IRON MOUNTAIN 1:250000. INCLUDES 47 INDIVIDUAL MINES.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORE OCCURS IN THE RIVERTON IRON FORMATION OF THE PAINT RIVER GROUP OF THE MARQUETTE RANGE SUPERGROUP; PALEOPROTEROZOIC AGE. ALTERNATE LAYERS OF SIDERITE AND CHERT IN METAMORPHIC CHLORITE ZONE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hematite Ore
Limonite Ore
Goethite Ore
Siderite Gangue
Chert Gangue

Host and associated rocks

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -88.65005, 46.08333

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Major troughs ; regional trends: E-W, with local variations.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Troughs into which Iron formation has slumped.

Ore body information

  • Thickness 180M

Comments on the geologic information

  • ALTHOUGH RIVERTON IRON FORMATION AND VULCAN IRON FORMATION (MENOMINEE DISTRICT IN GENERAL) ARE BOTH OF PALEOPROTEROZOIC AGE, THE RIVERTON IRON-FORMATION IS THE YOUNGER. THE RIVERTON IRON-FORMATION IS PART OF THE PAINT RIVER GROUP OF THE MARQUETTE RANGE SUPERGROUP.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No

Production statistics

  • Year 1961
    Period 1882-1961
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 201396766mt
    Accuracy Accurate

Comments on the production information

  • DIRECT SHIPPING, HIGH PHOSPHOROUS, NON-BESSEMER

Comments on the workings information

  • THIS AREA MINED MOSTLY UNDERGROUND, 1882 TO 1961.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ARCHEAN CRYSTALLINE ROCKS OVERLAIN BY PALEOPROTEROZOIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. DURING PALEOPROTEROZOIC TIME, ARCHEAN ROCKS BLOCK FAULTED AND DIFFERENTIALLY RAISED; LOWERED; FORMING TROUGHS. PALEOPROTEROZOIC ROCKS AS SEDIMENTS SLUMPED INTO TROUGHS. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, ENTIRE AREA WAS REGIONALLY THERMAL METAMORPHOSED. THIS IRON RIVER - CRYSTAL FALLS AREA IS IN THE CHLORITE METAMORPHIC ZONE.
Deposit THICKNESS IS OF RIVERTON IRON FORMATION.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1972 Cannon, Suzanne S. 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.