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Located on the MESABI TRAIL(Trezona Loop) Ely, Minnesota. I WILL DELETE ANY SPOILERS (LOGS/PICTURES) THAT INDICATE THE LOCATION OF THE CACHE or show container. A scenic picture of the view is ok. BYOP
SOMETHING NEW
The new building across the road from this point is the Ely Headquarters of the new mining venture in the area. The building stands on the site of the Pioneer Mine B Shaft, which closed in 1967. You can see the remaining concrete rubble, steel, and huge concrete footings. remains of B Shaft in-between this point and the road. Inspiration for this building, came from the still standing Pioneer A shaft which can be seen to the north up the path from this site. They tried to be true to Ely history by using corrugated metal looking siding like the still standing Miner’s Dry building. The copper sheathed tower resembles the old Pioneer mine shafts, with the symbols of the 7 elements of the periodic table engraved on two sides which represent the main metals which the company will be producing.
THE FOLLOWING INFO IS CURRENT AS OF 2014. AS OF 2016 THE PERMITTING HAS YET TO TAKE PLACE AND POSSIBLY THE NUMBERS HAVE BEEN CHANGED. WE WILL UPDATE AS NEEDED. BUT AT LEAST YOU GET THE IDEA OF WHAT WAS FIRST PLANNED.
Twin Metals, Minnesota, owned by Antafagasta, a Chilean company is focusing exploration on Highway #1 on both sides of the Kawishiwi Bridge with over one billion tons of copper-nickel ore deposits in its ownership within 32,000 acres. It will be one of the largest mines in the world, the largest underground mine ever in Minnesota, and Minnesota’s first copper mine.
This area of exploration is said to hold the world’s largest un-tapped source of copper as well as other ores. The plans call for a 80,000 ton a day production mine and processing plant, and hiring about 1000 workers to mine 400 million tons of ore-bearing rock at a cost of $3 billion. There is enough ore to last 60 years @ about $100 billion @ today's worth.
The mine will have miles of tunnels about 4,400 feet below the ground, and possibly below Birch Lake, that giant dump trucks will be able to drive down a slope to get the ore and filled trucks right out again.
This building will be the brains of the operation- planning, housing, storage, and drill cores.
SOMETHING OLD
This is the history of Miners Lake, which is a flooded open mine pit near Ely, MN. The trail is named after Charles Trezona, who was a historical figure in Ely and mine supervisor. The Trezona Trail, is part of the multi-use Mesabi Trail Ely. It is a nonmotorizied, paved 4 mi trail.
Think what it was like in 1888 when the immigrants came from Europe and the Eastern European 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. The men would enter the underground mine from Shaft A and load skip cars full of ore and then the skips full of raw ore would be hoisted from Shaft B and be 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.
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