Jackson County Iron Mine, near Black River Falls, Wisconsin

View into the Jackson County Iron Mine in 1980.

LOCATION: Large open pit mine and dump worked by Inland Steel, 1969 - 1986 in SE sec. 15 T.21N R.3W, NE of Black River Falls.

ACCESSIBILITY: Now Wazee Lake Recreation Area, managed by Jackson County Forestry and Parks Dept. Water-filled pit, reclaimed dumps and geology display accessible, but collecting is prohibited.

GEOLOGY: Complex section of Archean rocks mosly magnetite iron formation, with talc and mica schist, cross-cut by granitic plutons. Deposit was subsequently oxidized and covered with Cambrian sandstone and glacial drift.

MINERALOGY NOTES:

IRON FORMATION:
Almandine
Apatite
Biotite
Calcite
Cummingtonite
Epidote
Ferroactinolite
Graphite
Grunerite
Hastingsite
Ilmenite
Kyanite
Magnetite
Pyrite
Pyrrhotite
Quartz
Riebeckite
Scapolite
Titanite
Zircon

MICA SCHISTS:
Almandine
Andalusite
Biotite
Chlorite
Kyanite
Muscovite
Plagioclase
Quartz
Sillimanite
Staurolite

TALC SCHIST:
Almandine
Andalusite
Biotite
Cummingtonite
Talc

GRANITE:
K Feldspar
Quartz

OXIDIZED ZONE:
Goethite
Hematite

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Jones, 1978; Kimball and Spear, 1984.

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