Soudan Underground Mine State Park

The Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a state park in Minnesota and is located on the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the southern shore of Lake Vermilion. The mine is the oldest, deepest and richest former mine in Minnesota and now hosts the Soudan Underground Laboratory. On November 13, 1966, the mine on the National Register of Historic Places is registered.

History

Towards the end of the 19th century discovered spies in search of gold in northern Minnesota at this point extremely rich hematite veins, whose iron content more than 65 %, respectively. In 1882, the mining began in an open pit. 1900 was converted into a mine for safety reasons the mine. From 1901 until the end of the mine operation included the mines of the United States Steel Corporation. In 1912, the mine reaches a depth of 381 m and at the time of closure of the lowest point was reached with 713.5 m below the surface with level 27. U.S. Steel then donated the facility for educational purposes, the state of Minnesota.

In general, the tunnels were again filled with overburden material from other galleries. This was done by was mined by the ceiling of a tunnel and unusable rock the floor at the same speed auffüllte how you took away the blanket. Therefore, the floor and ceiling of the tunnel were always three to six feet apart and the overburden was not required to managed to the surface. This was only possible because the surrounding rock was solid enough.

State Park

The surrounding the mine is located in Breitung Township Park on the shores of Lake Vermilion Vermilion within the Range of northern Minnesota. The mine is located near the Minnesota State Highway 169, approximately 30 km east of Virginia and about the same distance west of Ely, some more than a kilometer away from the village of Tower. The park was a popular destination for tourists who lodge on the way to Ely and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness a stopover.

The park is run by the Department of Natural Resources and is a National Historic Landmark, which means he is on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings on the surface are free to visit and during the summer months there are daily mine tours. Visitors can ride in a 80 year old electrically operated hoisting cage down to the level 27. There are two different call routes; one focuses on exploring historic mining equipment, the other shows the modern physical laboratory facilities.