Michigan · Marquette County
Past Producer

Cliffs Shaft Mine

Marquette County, Michigan, United States
Iron
⌖ Show on mapUSGS source ↗
Commodities
PrimaryIron
Commodity typeM
Deposit
Deposit typeBedded, Chemical Sediment
Model241: Superior Fe (BC name is Lake Superior & Rapitan types iron-formation)
Deposit sizeM
WorkingsUnderground
Orebody formSTRATABOUND
Ore controlHard ore commonly overlies or abuts against intrusive greenstones at cliffs shaft mine. in a few places, jaspilite beds grade along strike into chert-siderite beds, and small islands of chert-siderite iron-formation are surrounded by jaspilite (Gair, 1975).
Materials
Ore mineralsHematite, Magnetite, Goethite
GangueQuartz
Geology
Host rockIron Formation · Negaunee Iron-Formation
StructureWestward plunging synclinorium open at western end; regional trends are eas, Cliffs Shaft mine is generally on a syncline, but there is an anticlinal fl
AlterationSome magnetite formed by replacement of ferrous iron minerals during diagenesis and most iron silicate probably formed by metamorphism of an early silicate mineral.
Economic & production
Development statusPast Producer
Production years1887-1950, EXCEPT FOR 1899. THE UNDERGROUND MINE CLOSED IN DEC 1967; STOCKPILE ONLY SHIPMENTS WERE MADE IN 1968; THE MINE WAS ACTIVE IN 1970 AND CLOSED AGAIN IN 1971. IT HAD THE LONGEST PRODUCTION LIFE OF ANY MINE IN THE LAKE SUPERIOR REGION (1848-1967).
First production1887
Discovery year1844
Identification
Deposit ID10082728
MRDS IDW062078
Alternate namesLake Superior Group, Barnum, Section 10 Exploration
RegionNA
Data scoreA
Coordinates46.49139, -87.67641
References
JAMES, H. L., 1955, ZONES REG. METAMORPHISM. IN N. MICHIGAN.: GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICAN BULLETIN, V. 66, P. 1455-1488.THE LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ASSOC., 1938, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES.LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE ASSOCIATION, 1952, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES: CLEVELAND, OHIO, 2D ED., 334 P.GRATON-SALES VOL. A. I. M. E., THE MARQUETTE DISTRICT: ORE DEPOSITS OF THE U. S., 1933-1967, P. 508-517.LAURA, D.K., 1981, THE EARLY PROTEROZOIC PRE-IRON FORMATION, MENOMINEE GROUP SILICICLASTIC SEDIMENTS OF THE SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR REGION; EVIDENCE FOR SEDIMENTATION IN PLATFORM AND BASINAL SETTINGS: JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY, V. 51, NO. 2, P. 397-414.SIMS, P.K., 1990, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS OF IRON MOUNTAIN AND ESCANABA 1 DEGREE X 2 DEGREES QUADRANGLES, NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN AND NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATION SERIES, I-2056.BOYUM, B.H. AND REED, R.C., 1988, MARQUETTE MINERAL DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN, MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY, IN SCHULZ, K.J., 34TH ANNUAL INSTITUTE ON LAKE SUPERIOR GEOLOGY FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOKS, V. 34, PART 2, P. B-1-B-15.BOYUM, B.H., 1988, THE ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF THE HARD AND SOFT IRON ORES OF THE MARQUETTE RANGE, MICHIGAN, IN KISVARSANYI, GEZA, AND GRANT, S.K., NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON TECTONIC CONTROL OF ORE DEPOSITS AND THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL EXTENT OF ORE SYSTEMS, PROCEEDINGS VOLUME: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, ROLLA, P. 301-311.MOST ALL OF THIS DISTRICT HAS BEEN MAPPED AT 7 1/2 MINUTE QUADRANGLE SIZE. TOO MANY GEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED TO MENTION INDIVIDUALLY. GAIR, J.E., 1975, BEDROCK GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE PALMER QUADRANGLE, MARQUETTE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 769, 159 P.LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE ASSOCIATION, 1952, LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORES: CLEVELAND, OHIO, 2D ED., 75-92 P.