Soudan Underground Mine


Useful Information

Location: At Soudan. U.S. Highway 169 to Soudan, follow the signs. (47°49'8.73"N, 92°14'34.75"W)
Open: Underground Mine Tour: Memorial Day Weekend to Labour Day daily 10-16, on the hour.
SEP Mon-Fri 10, 12, 14, 16, Sat, Sun 10-16, on the hour.
First three weekends in OCT Sat, Sun 10-16, on the hour.
High energy physics lab tour: Memorial Day Weekend to Labour Day daily 10, 16.
Labour Day to SEP daily 12.
First three weekends in OCT Sat, Sun 12.
[2010]
Temporarily closed due to fire!
[2011]
Fee: Underground Mine Tour: Adults USD 10, Children (5-12) USD 6, Children (0-4) free (ticket required).
High energy physics lab tour: Adults USD 10, Children (5-12) USD 6, Children (0-4) free (ticket required).
[2010]
Classification:  Iron Mine, Soudan Iron Formation.
Light: electric.
Dimension:  
Guided tours: Underground Mine Tour: D=90min.
High energy physics lab tour: D=75min.
Photography:  
Accessibility:  
Bibliography:  
Address: Soudan Underground Mine, 1379 Stuntz Bay Road, Soudan, MN 55782, Tel: +1-218-753-2245. E-mail: contact
Special in-depth tours, guided by physicists, Eileen Amos, Tel: +1-218-753-6611.
Last update:$Date: 2011/12/13 09:10:41 $

History

 
1880an area of 8,000ha of iron-rich land purchased by Charlemagne Tower.
1884mine opened by the Minnesota Iron Company.
1901Ownership passed to the Oliver Iron Mining Division of U.S. Steel Corporation.
1962mine closed because of technological progress and a changing economy.
1962opened as a show mine.
1965site donated to the state by United States Steel Corp.
13-NOV-1966listed on the National Register of Historic Sites (NRHS).
1989-2001Soudan 2 Proton Decay experiment.
2004expected start of MINOS.

Geology

Soudan Underground Mine was operated to mine the famous Soudan Iron Formation. This is part of the Iron Range.


Description

Soudan Underground Mine is located in Vermilion Range and is the oldest and deepest iron mine in Minnesota. During its 80 years of operation about 15.5 million tons of ore were removed. The mining started in seven open pits. But after some time the mine suffered frequent accidents from falling rocks. To avoid that the operations were moved underground in the 1890s. Technological progress and a changing economy made the mining unprofitable and so all operations ended in 1962.

The Historic Underground Mine Tour shows the last level that the miners worked. The visitors get hard hats and then journey down 730m in an elevator called "the cage". The tour continues with a ride on a rail car on the 27th level. This mining tour is completed by several related buildings on the surface, the dry house (1925), drill shop (1917), crusher house (1904) and engine house (1901).

A second tour concentrates on the High Energy Physics Lab at the bottom of the mine. This lab was built about 800m deep under the mine after the mining ended. This cavern is not a former part of the mine, but was built using modern underground mining methods right for this purpose. The enormous layer of rocks and iron ore filters most of the cosmic rays, allowing to conduct sensitive experiments which are impossible on the surface. The lab operated the Soudan 2 Proton Decay experiment from 1989-2001, with the goal to observe the decay of a proton. This goal was not achieved, but much valuable data was collected, leading to the MINOS experiment. MINOS stands for Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, the attempt to measure the mass of particles called neutrinos, which are smaller than the nuclei of atoms. A third big experiment at the lab is Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CMDS), the direct detection of dark matter particles other than neutrinos. While Proton Decay is stopped, the two other experiments are under construction now.


See also


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