PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE FOOD OR LIGHTERS IN THE CONTAINER
MINERS LAKE VISTA is another cache set with a historical theme.
This is the history of the lake around which the Trezona Trail was
built. The Trezona Trail, which is part of the multi-use Mesabi
Trail system, is a non-motorized paved 4 mile trail around Miner's
Lake -which is a flooded open mine pit near Ely, MN. The trail is
named after Charles Trezona,who was a mine supervisor, and
historical figure of Ely.
Think what it was like in 1888 when the immigrants came from
Europe and the Balkan countries, to work in this new open pit mine
under extremely poor working conditions and low
pay(about$1.80-$2.20 a day in the beginning, in 1936 $4.16 per day
- paid once a month) 12 months a year- in heat and cold.Our friend
said he had to work one week in 1936 to pay for his work
clothes.
You are standing at the site of Pioneer Mine B Shaft (across the
lake you can see PM Shaft A and mine buildings). This shaft was
built in 1909 and at the time the head frame at 250 ft high was the
largest in the USA. Across the trail from the vista you can see the
remaining concrete rubble, steel, and huge concrete footings. This
shaft was used for hoisting the raw ore out on skip cars which were
directly loaded onto railroads cars on tracks that ran along
here-now Miners Drive. From here the ore was carried to ports on
Lake Superior where it was shipped to the steel mills.
Miners Lake was formed by the flooding of the open pit iron
mine,and the collapse of several underground mines ( West to East
along the lake were: Chandler Mine North and South, Pioneer,
Zenith, and Savoy) after mining was discontinued, ironically, on
April 1,1967. It took about 10 years for the collapsed area to fill
to its present level. The mine closed because new methods of mining
and steel production reduced the need for high grade ore.
Typical of abandoned hard rock mine pits, Miners Lake is deep
and has very steep, rocky sides. Following its abandonment, water
levels rose due to the infiltration of groundwater and storm water
runoff through culverts from the City of Ely. Water levels were
stabilized in the mid 1980's by the installation of an outlet
culvert to Shagawa Lake. This culvert has an internal drop to
prevent the movement of fish from Shagawa Lake to Miners Lake.
The flooded basin of Miners Lake includes not only the formerly
mined area, but also a shallow bay to the east that was not mined.
Miners Lake has a surface area of 138 acres, maximum depth of 140
ft, and Secchi water clarity of 17 ft. There is a fishing pier and
boat ramp opposite this vista. You can catch trout, panfish, and
bass.
If you have a chance to canoe/boat on Miners Lake you will get a
different perspective looking up at the pit walls. At certain
points you can look down into the clear water and see full grown
trees stretching toward the water surface, still clinging to the
soil they grew in.
DO NOT swim in this lake and PLEASE WEAR A PFD if you go on the
lake in a boat. The water is extremely cold even in the summer, and
the steep banks make getting out impossible or very difficult. Do
not climb down the banks- stay in the fenced area as the sides are
soft and unforgiving - you might end up sliding down to or in the
lake itself.