The Rouchleau Mine is an abandoned

open-pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

within the

Mesabi Iron Range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Ir ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The mine, located on the east side of the city, is roughly long and wide; its deepest point is below its surface, making it one of the deepest mines in the range. Named for Louis Rouchleau, who explored the area for its mining potential, the mine was initially created as a

shaft mine Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

. It was converted to a pit mine by the 1930s due to improvements in open-pit mining technology and increasingly unstable terrain which made shaft mining unsafe. Ten companies have overseen mining operations at the Rouchleau Mine since it began operating in 1893. The majority owner has always been either present owner

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

or one of the firm's predecessors. The mine has produced 300 million gross tons of iron ore since it opened; it was last mined in 1977. Since its closure, the mine became part of Mineview in the Sky, a local tourist attraction. Mineview in the Sky featured a viewing platform overlooking both the Rouchleau Mine and an active

United Taconite United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

mine; it also included a 240-ton mining truck, a production truck, a railroad car, and a visitor center. The attraction closed in 2015 due to United Taconite's planned expansion of its mine into the land the mineview occupied. The mine expansion forced

U.S. Route 53 U.S. Route 53, or U.S. Highway 53 (U.S. 53), is a north–south U.S. highway that runs for 404 miles (650 km) from La Crosse, Wisconsin to International Falls, Minnesota. It is the primary north–south route in northwestern Wisconsi ...

to relocate; the

Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees Transportation in Minnesota, transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Cabinet (government), cabinet-lev ...

built a bridge over the Rouchleau Mine to carry the highway. The

Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge The Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge carries U.S. 53 over the Rouchleau Mine pit connecting Virginia, Minnesota with other cities to the south. U.S. 53 continues through Virginia to International Falls, Minnesota, International Falls and Canada; ...

opened in September 2017. The mine pit serves as the source of drinking water for

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Iron Range's commercial center. The population was ...

References

{{coord, 47.5115931, -92.5221273, display=title, source:GNIS Iron mines in Minnesota Geology of Minnesota Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Minnesota

See also

References