Mine: Spies-Virgil Mine, Mineral Hills, MI

Virgil mine and Spies mine → Spies-Virgil Mine → Became

Operated for 40 years (with inactive periods).

From: 1915

Location: E 1/2-NW (Spies) and SW-NW (Virgil) of Section 24 of T43N-R35W.

Owned by: Mines were consolidated by Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.

Produced: Iron Ore, soft, red, high phosphorus, crushed.

Method: Underground, sub-level stoping method. Depth: 1,256 feet.

Railroad connection: C&NW to port of Escanaba.

Until: 1955

Lifetime Production: 4,195,111 tons between 1912 and 1950

Notes

Spies opened in 1916 and shipped through 1927. Inactive until 1945 when it began shipping and has shipped each year. Virgil opened in 1912 and shipped in 1912-1914, 1916, 1918 and 1925-1946, except 1934. [LSIO]

Ore was extracted by way of the Spies shaft from two ore bodies distinct from those of the old Virgil and Spies. The workings of the Spies-Virgil and the Spies-Johnson were mapped in the course of the SMG-1967 study but the old Spies and Virgil were inaccessible.

Time Line