Spies-Johnson Mine

Past 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. 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. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10106122
MRDS ID W028944
Record type Site
Current site name Spies-Johnson Mine
Alternate or previous names Spies-Virgil, Virgil, Spies

Comments on the site names

  • SPIES JOHNSON WAS LATEST MINING OPERATION TO USE THE SPIES SHAFT. THIS RECORD CONTAINS ALL INFORMATION FROM RECORD NUMBER W028942. RECORD W028942 SHOULD BE DELETED. SEE GENERAL COMMENTS.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -88.63672, 46.11 (WGS84)

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

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Michigan 043N 035W 24 NE OF NW Michigan
SE OF NW Michigan

Comments on the location information

  • CENTERED ON SHAFT IN SW OF NW OF SECTION 24

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hematite Ore
Goethite Ore
Chert Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Siderite Gangue
Stilpnomelane Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Mica Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Chert and siderite to hematite and goethite in oxidation zones

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 Riverton Iron-Formation
    Rock description Riverton Iron-Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -88.63672, 46.11

Economic information

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Stratigraphically controlled.

Comments on the geologic information

  • WELL BEDDED CHERT AND SIDERITE IRON FORMATION

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of first production 1912
Year of last production 1956

Mining district

District name Menominee Range

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1956
    Period 1912-1956
    Material ore Fe
    Ore mined 4262120mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Fe Iron Iron 52wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • ORE IS SOFT, RED, HIGH PHOSPHORUS, NON-BESSEMER HEMATITE. CRUSHED AND A CONSTITUENT OF GRADE SHIPPED. GRADE GIVEN IS AN AVERAGE OF PRODUCTION ANALYSIS FROM 1916, 1926, AND 1929.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • REMAINING IRON FORMATION IS NOT COMMERCIALLY VIABLE.

Comments on the workings information

  • UNDERGROUND SUB LEVEL STOPING; USED SPIES SHAFT FOR FIRST 3 LEVELS; SPIES JOHNSON USED SPIES SHAFT FOR HAULAGE & AIR SHAFT- MINING IS BELOW AND NORTH OF OLD VIRGIL MINE WORKINGS.

Comments on development

  • PRODUCTION DATA IS FOR SPIES-VIRGIL AND SPIES-JOHNSON AS GROUP; JOHNSON (1945-1956), VIRGIL (1912-1946); SPIES (1916-1927)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit OPENED 1912. SHIPPED 1912-1914, 1916, 1918, AND 1925-1946 EXCEPT 1934. OPERATED BY CLEVELAND-CLIFFS IRON CO. WORKED BY SUB-LEVEL STOPING METHOD, UNDERGROUND. OPERATED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SPIES MINE (SEE SEPARATE REPORT, SAME FILE).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1980 Yeager, Keith (Cannon, W.) Michigan Geological Survey Division
Updater 01-MAR-1997 Sutphin, D.M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAY-1997 Mason Jr., G.T. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 13-AUG-2001 Anderson, Arlene (M. Gere) Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Beyond USGS

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

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.