Soudan Mine, drill mounted on jumbo

Abstract

A miner stands on a jumbo, a drill carriage or mobile scaffold on which drills are mounted, in the Soudan Mine. Iron ore was discovered on the site of the Soudan Mine near Vermillion Lake, Minnesota in 1865. The Soudan Mine was opened by the Minnesota Iron Company in 1884 as a series of open pits, and underground operations were started in the 1890s. The Oliver Iron Mining Company operated the Mine starting in 1901. The Soudan operated almost continuously until its closure in 1962, making it the oldest mine in Minnesota. The Mine was used for particle physics experiments from 1989-2001.