Mineral Resources of Michigan

BY R. A. SMITH

ICHIGAN is one of the foremost States in the

MICH
Microduction of minerals and mineral products. She

produces about thirty different mineral products. The total value of these in 1917, exclusive of pig iron, was $185,511,101, and the value of pig iron shipped was $18,300,501. The production of copper amounted to 268,508,091 lb., valued at $75,622,256, and the shipments of iron ore amounted to 17,839,548 tons, valued at $60,508,942. The total value of copper and iron was $136,131,198, or nearly 74 per cent of the total value of the mineral products for the State.

The chief mineral products next in order of importance were salt, 16,078,136 bbl., valued at $6,877,202; portland cement, 4,688,899 bbl. shipped, valued at $6,122,887; coal, 1,374,805 tons shipped, valued at $4,426,314; limestone and lime sold $4,213,587; brick and tile products, $2,846,264; sand and gravel, $1,641,748; and gypsum, 375,803 tons mined and gypsum products sold, $1,568,655.

The other less important mineral products in order of value are silver, bromine, sand-lime brick, calcium chloride, mineral waters, grindstones and scythestones, potash, trap rock, glass-sand, quartz, clay, sandstone, petroleum, natural gas, marble, graphite, precious stones, mineral paints.

In 1917 Michigan held first rank in the production of salt, bromine, calcium chloride and sand-lime brick; second in iron ore and grindstones and scythestones; third in copper, gypsum and gypsum products; fourth in limestone and lime; sixth in sand and gravel, and eighth in portland cement.

The development of some of the mineral resources began early. The production of coal began as early as 1836, copper in 1845, iron ore in 1850, salt in 1859, and gypsum in 1860. The quarrying of limestone for burning lime began in Monroe county almost with the settlement of Detroit in 1701. The development of some of the other mineral products was comparatively recent -sand-lime brick about 1903, potash as a by-product of the portland cement industry in 1917, and marble in 1918. Michigan contains other mineral resources as yet undeveloped-feldspar, pyrite, slate, granite, celestite and many of the other resources are susceptible of much greater development.

IRON ORE

The iron ores of Michigan are chiefly hematite, but there are some limonitic ores. The iron ore districts are located in the Northern Peninsula. The ore is produced in six districts, which in order of importance are: the Gogebic, Gogebic county; the Marquette, Marquette county; the Iron River, Iron county; the Menominee, Dickinson county; the Crystal Falls, Iron county, and the Gwinn, Marquette county. The total shipments of

iron ore in 1917 amounted to 17,839,548 tons, of which the Gogebic Range contributed 7,003,838 tons, the Marquette 3,959,103 tons, the Iron River 2,525,741 tons, the Menominee 1,975,096 tons, the Crystal Falls 1,454,667 tons and the Gwinn 921,103 tons.

The total ore reserves Jan. 1, 1917, were estimated at 196,750,502 tons, of which 83,721,570 tons were developed ore, 107,954,081 tons prospective ore, and 5,132,343 tons ore in stock.

In 1916, 4,801,856 tons, or 25.4 per cent of the ore shipped, was of bessemer grade. The Gogebic Range contributed 3,933,594 tons, or 81.9 per cent, of the total bessemer ore produced, the Marquette Range (including the Gwinn District) 690,283 tons, or 14.4 per cent, and the Menominee 177,979 tons, or 3.7 per cent.

The average iron content of the ore as shipped was 53.03 per cent for the Gogebic, 52.43 per cent for the Marquette and 51.62 per cent for the Menominee Range.

COPPER

Prior to 1883 Michigan had produced 80.2 per cent of all the copper produced in the United States. In 1887 she was surpassed in production by Montana and in 1905 by Arizona. From 1845 to the close of 1917 Michigan produced 6,366,506,339 lb. of copper, or 25.27 per cent of the total production of copper of the country during this period.

The copper range extends from the northern extremity of Keweenaw Peninsula southwest through Keweenaw and Houghton counties into Ontonagon county. Copper-bearing rocks also occur on Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. The copper-bearing series comprise a thick succession of lava flows and interbedded sandstones and conglomerates. The copper deposits are unique in that they are the only large deposits in the United States in which the ore occurs chiefly as the native metal. The copper occurs in the cellular portions of the lava flows and in some of the beds of standstone and conglomerate and certain shales.

Most of the lodes are low grade. The average content of copper recovered from the ore treated in 1917 was less than 1 per cent. The copper values, however, are relatively uniform in the lodes. This, together with the high concentration possible with native ore and the low cost of refining, makes the mining of such low-grade deposits profitable.

SALT

The salt resources are inexhaustible and comprise natural brines and beds of rock salt. Natural brines occur in several rock formations. The brines from the Marshall sandstone have been utilized most extensively in salt manufacture in Saginaw Valley. Formerly this region was the center of the salt industry. It was carried on in connection with the lumber mills, but with the decline of lumbering it has become relatively unimportant. The Marshall brines contain considerable per

centages of earthy chlorides and an appreciable content of bromine. These brines are the source of all of the bromine and calcium chloride produced in Michigan.

The chief salt-producing district is along Detroit and St. Clair rivers, but the Ludington-Manistee district is also an important producer. Salt is produced from artificial brines derived from underlying beds of rock salt. In the Detroit-St. Clair rivers district, the rock salt beds have an average aggregate thickness of over 400 ft. In the Ludington-Manistee district the aggregate thickness of the beds is less than 50 ft. More than 800 ft. of rock salt was penetrated in a well at Onaway and over 300 ft. at Grand Lake, Presque Isle county. Salt was also struck at Alpena, Alpena county. The salt resources of these counties, though unlimited, have not been utilized.

LIMESTONE

Michigan has very large deposits of limestone. Unfortunately most of the deposits are located in the northern part of the State relatively distant from large markets. Many of the deposits, especially in the Southern Peninsula, are on or near cheap water transportation, and this partially compensates for the distance from markets. Only a few important deposits of commercial limestone occur in the southern half of the State.

The principal limestone district of the Southern Peninsula extends across the northern end of the Peninsula from Thunder Bay to Little Traverse Bay. In the Northern Peninsula, the deposits form a belt from 10 to 15 miles wide extending from Menominee county on the west along the northern shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to Drummond Island. There are numerous very large and many smaller exposures of limestone in both districts. The limestone varies in composition from nearly pure calcium carbonate to calciummagnesium carbonate or normal dolomite. The deposits along the shore of Lake Huron in Presque Isle county are remarkable not only for their extent and thickness but for their very high average purity. The greater part of the limestone belt adjacent to the lake shores in the Northern Peninsula is characterized by high magnesian limestones or dolomites. Some beds are very pure, but others are very siliceous. The northern part of the belt contains several relatively thick high calcium beds of limestone interbedded with light to heavy magnesian limestone.

In the Southern Peninsula limestone is quarried on a large scale at Sibley, near Detroit; near Bayport, Huron county; at Alpena and Rockport, Alpena county; near

Rogers, Presque Isle county, and along the south side of Little Traverse Bay. An important quarry is operated at Bellevue, Eaton county. In the Northern Peninsula large quarries are operated at Manistique and near Blaney, Schoolcraft county; at Hendricks and Fiborn and east of Trout Lake, Mackinac county.

The stone is used chiefly for flux, chemical purposes, commercial lime, portland cement, carbide, road metal, concrete aggregates, ballast, etc. A large tonnage of low-silica stone is produced at Rogers, Presque Isle county, for fluxing purposes.

MARL OR BOG LIME

Marl or bog lime occurs in hundreds of lakes and swamps in Michigan. The deposits vary in size up to several hundred acres and to 50 ft. or more in depth. Many deposits contain an average of more than 90 per cent of calcium carbonate, but others are very impure. Though only a small portion of the deposits have been investigated, the aggregate area of proved marl deposits is over 27,000 acres.

Most of the early cement companies in Michigan used marl, but, because of cheaper operating costs, they have since changed to limestone wherever possible. The use of marl for correcting sour or acid soils promises to become of considerable agricultural importance.

COAL

The coal basin underlies the central portion of the Southern Peninsula. In the early days of the coal industry producing areas were in the vicinity of Jackson, Jackson county; Owosso, Shiawassee county, and Grand Ledge, Eaton county. In 1897 the development of the coal deposits in Saginaw Valley began and now most of the coal is produced in Bay, Saginaw and Tuscola counties.

There are a number of coal beds, but most of them are too thin to mine under present conditions. The minable coal occurs in small basins or troughs varying from 100 to 2000 acres or more. The coal is a high volatile non-coking bituminous coal. It is an excellent domestic and a good steam coal.

GYPSUM

Large deposits of gypsum occur in the vicinity of Grand Rapids and Grandville, Kent county; in Iosco and Arenac counties, and in St. Ignace Peninsula and to the eastward on St. Martins Island, Mackinac county. Beds of gypsum apparently of commercial thickness and extent are also reported in Tuscola, Eaton and Ionia counties. The deposits are extensively developed in the Grand Rapids-Grandville district and at Alabaster, Iosco county. There are numerous beds in each district and several are of workable thickness. The largest beds are about 25 ft. thick. A portion of the crude gypsum is ground for land-plaster but most of it is calcined for stucco, mixed wall-plasters, plaster board, building block, calcimines and other gypsum products.

SAND AND GRAVEL

The sand and gravel deposits of Michigan are inexhaustible. The most important deposits occur in ridges known as "hogbacks" or eskers, in irregular hills called kames, and in outwash plains, deltas, and beach ridges-features resulting from water action during the last glacial invasion. Large deposits occur in nearly every locality. In the vicinity of industrial cen

A considerable amount of potash is derived from leaching wood ashes, but in 1918 the production of potash as a by-product of the portland cement industry began at Newaygo, Newaygo county. There are large possibilities for a much greater production from the other portland cement plants which have not yet provided for the recovery of potash from escaping flue dust.

MINERAL AND SPRING WATERS

At Mt. Clemens, Ypsilanti and Detroit mineralized waters are produced in large quantities for bathing and medicinal purposes. Mineral and spring waters are also produced at a number of other places in the State. Some of the mineral waters are strongly mineralized and compare favorably with other famous mineral waters.

GRINDSTONES AND SCYTHESTONES

Grindstones and scythestones are produced in large quantities from certain beds of sandstone in Huron county. There are large deposits in the vicinity of Grindstone City and Port Austin.

CRUSHING PLANT AND STORAGE PILE OF THE MICHIGAN LIMESTONE & CHEMICAL CO. AT CALCITE

CLEVELAND STONE CO. WORKS AT GRINDSTONE CITYSEAT OF GRINDSTONE AND SCYTHESTONE INDUSTRY IN MICHIGAN

TRAP ROCK

There are inexhaustible deposits of trap rock in the western part of the Northern Peninsula. Crushed trap rock for road metal and concrete aggregates is produced at Marquette and Negaunee, Marquette county. A large amount of trap rock is produced in connection with copper mining. The marketed production, however, is small because of the remoteness of the deposits from large markets.

GLASS-SAND

Large deposits of pure white silica sandstone occur in Wayne and Monroe counties. The sandstone is quarried, crushed and washed for glass-sand at Rockwood, Wayne county, and near Steiner, Monroe county. The sandstone is composed of pure silica sand with very little lime or other cementing material. The washed product from some beds contains over 99 per cent silica and only 0.001 per cent of iron. It is used chiefly for the manufacture of plate glass. Because of its exceptional purity it was used during the war by the U. S. Bureau of Standards for the manufacture of optical glass.

QUARTZ

Pure white quartz occurs in large veins at many places in the western parts of the Northern Peninsula. It is quarried and ground near Ishpeming for wood filler, scouring polishes, etc. Analyses show that the quartz rock is practically pure silica.

CLAY

There are extensive deposits of surface clays, but most of them are high in lime and are suitable only for the manufacture of common brick and tile. In some of the deposits, leaching has removed the lime to considerable depths. Such deposits are adapted for the manufacture of higher grade products. In Ontonagon county some of the surface clays are of the slip variety and are utilized for glazing purposes. Surface clays are used at many places for the manufacture of common brick and tile. Most of the common brick are produced in the vicinity of Detroit.

SHALE

There are relatively few deposits of shale because most of the rock strata are concealed by the cover of glacial material. The only important deposits of shale in the southern part of the State are in Branch, Jackson, Eaton, Ingham, Genesee, Shiawassee and Sanilac

counties. There are numerous exposures of shale in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan and Alpena counties, but these are distant from large markets. Shale also occurs in association with coal seams.

Shale is quarried near Coldwater and Union City, Branch county; near Ellsworth, Antrim county, and at Paxton, Alpena county, for use in the manufacture of portland cement, and at Jackson, Jackson county; near Flushing, Genesee county, and at Grand Ledge, Eaton county, for vitrified brick, tile and conduit. Deposits favorably situated in relation to markets and transportation occur at Williamston, Ingham county, and near Corunna, Shiawassee county. Shales associated with the coal beds in Saginaw Valley have been utilized for vitrified brick and tile products.

SANDSTONE

There are numerous exposures of sandstone in Hillsdale, Calhoun, Jackson, Ionia and Huron counties, in the Southern Peninsula. Most of this sandstone, because of its unstable color, is suitable only for rough building purposes. All of the numerous early quarries are now abandoned.

Unlimited deposits of mottled red and brown sandstone occur along the shores of Lake Superior in the Northern Peninsula. The stone has pleasing and permanent colors, but chiefly because of the great distance from markets the industry has declined until there is but one active quarry.

PETROLEUM

Petroleum has been struck in small quantities in numerous places in the State, but only at Port Huron has the quantity been sufficient for commercial development. The total output is insignificant.

NATURAL GAS

A small quantity of gas accompanies the oil produced at Port Huron. In several localities gas is found in small quantities in the glacial drift. The total production of natural gas is unimportant.

MARBLE

Numerous deposits of verde antique marble occur some miles northwest of Ishpeming, Marquette county. Production began in 1918. The marble is composed of serpentine and dolomite, the results of alteration of peridotite rocks. It displays an intricate system of veins and stringers of white dolomite in light to dark

FALLS ON MENOMINEE RIVER ABOVE MANSFIELD

cent of sulphur is possible. Probably the pyritic waste from the different mines would be sufficient to supply a concentration plant.

CELESTITE

Celestite occurs as scattered masses in some of the limestone and glass-sand quarries in Wayne and Monroe counties. At Rockwood, Wayne county, the mineral occurs in masses of sufficient abundance to warrant recovery. No production of celestite, however, has been reported.

FELDSPAR

There are deposits of potash feldspar near Republic in sec. 22, T.47 N., R.29 W., Marquette county, and in sec. 8, T.46 N., R.41 W., Gogebic county. An unsuccessful attempt was made many years ago to develop the deposit near Republic. Probably further investigation in the Northern Peninsula would result in the discovery of other deposits of potash feldspar.

WATER POWER

Water power has been extensively developed on the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, Thunder Bay, Au Sable and Huron rivers in the Southern Peninsula and on the Menominee, Carp and St. Mary's rivers in the Northern Peninsula. Large powers have been developed on many of the other rivers in the State. There is an abundance of undeveloped water power on these streams, notably the Escanaba, Ontonagon and Taquamenon, and the water powers on the Muskegon, Manistee, Menominee and Au Sable rivers also are susceptible of much greater development.

Bromine was made as usual from bittern left after extracting salt from the brine pumped from deep wells at Midland and Saginaw in Michigan; at Pomeroy in Ohio; Mason, Hartford and Malden in West Virginia; 1,727,156 lb. of bromine (either as the free element or its salts) was produced in 1918.

Calcium chloride, containing 2 to 6 per cent of magnesium, is recovered as a by-product in the manufacture of salt and bromine in the localities mentioned above. There was produced in 1918 26,624 tons.

'U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin, by Ralph W. Stone.

The history of salt manufacture in Michigan goes back to 1838, when the State appropriated $3000 to bore for salt at one of the salt springs. This work was continued for several years, but never gave any results. The first private plant to make salt was at In Grand Rapids in 1840, but its life was short. 1859 the industry was revived, aided by a State bounty; and though the bounty was not continued long, the industry continued to thrive till in 1905 the State led all her sister States in quantity of salt produced, and in 1906 in value of product. This position it

has kept ever since. An important feature in the growth of the salt industry was the utilization of waste steam from sawmills. To dispose of waste the sawmills built incinerators; and the next idea was to burn the waste under boilers and use the steam for salt making. Hence we find the largest number of salt companies and the largest total number of grainers in the period from 1880 to 1895. Since then the industry has gradually concentrated into the hands of fewer and fewer companies, which make salt as a primary product and not as a by-product as in the days of the lumber industry.

The most important source of salt in Michigan is the Salina formation of rock salt. In some districts the wells are in higher strata; and in the Saginaw Valley the brine comes from flowing wells. The Salina is, however, the largest and purest deposit. In many cases underground waters flow into the salt beds to yield the brine, but in the majority of cases the brine is artificially formed by pumping water down to the salt layer. Practically all plants in the State work on brines running from 95 to 100 per cent saturated; many never fall more than a few tenths of 1 per cent short of complete saturation. At one of the largest. plants in the State, a few years ago the question came up of filtering the water fed to the wells in order to get a cleaner brine. From the records of the amount of salt produced the size of the cavity in the salt bed was estimated; and it was found that if the water spread out evenly over the surface of the cavity, and the brine was drawn evenly from the bottom of the cavity, it would take about three years for the filtered water to appear at the top of the well.

The beds are worked around Detroit and along the St. Clair River. South of Detroit the salt suddenly disappears; and to the north and east the beds rapidly get deeper. Around Detroit the Salina rock salt is at 1000 to 1500 ft. and is 100 to 400 ft. thick. Along the Lake Michigan side the salt reappears, so that the State has three well-marked salt districts-the Detroit district, the Saginaw district and the West district.