August
1, 2003
This
was one of the trips run by the Ishpeming (MI) club in conjunction with their
annual show. The other trip, which I did not attend, was to the Lindberg Quarry
for Kona Dolomite.
The
Republic Mine is a large open pit that is no longer operated, and is now
flooded. The mine and the dumps are fenced and only available for collecting by
special permission. Next to the entrance gate, however, there is an observation
platform and piles of specular Hematite and taconite balls that may be
collected.
The
mine is reached from US 41 by going south on SR 95 to the first road east to
Republic. Follow that road through the town of Republic, and it leads to the
gate. The location in MAS/MILS appears to be quite a bit off. The GPS location
of the Magnetite dump is lat. 46 deg 23.263’, lon. –87 deg 58.823’
We
collected first on a dump which contained primarily specular Hematite, but we
also found Calcite, Quartz, Ilmenite and Bornite. We then proceeded to another
dump which was predominantly Magnetite. The concentrator at this mine was
unable to process Magnetite, so it was sent to this dump. Despite a light rain,
everyone was able to collect all the Hematite & Magnetite they wanted.
I
took no pictures on this trip, because as soon as I turned my digital camera
on, it killed the batteries. Al Smith of the Ishpeming Club has promised to
send me pictures, and I’ll add them as soon as they arrive.
The
next day, August 2, was the Ishpeming show. This is a small, one-day show, but
very well run. They had dealers both inside the building & outside in the
parking lot, continuous silent auctions, and a speaker and live auction in the
evening. Again, pictures will have to wait.
ON TO THE NEXT FIELD TRIP: Humboldt
Mine