Comments on: Mesnard Compressor House

By: B Groeneveld

B Groeneveld — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:38:32 +0000

Correction,Looked thru my articles & found that homestacke started in 1975 at # 8 location (not 74 as I ist thot) There exploration lasted till 1977. Bruce G.

By: Dale Beitz

Dale Beitz — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:31:47 +0000

I went back to the event web site and double checked. They have a blurb that explains “prepared surface collecting” as having heavy equipment on site to expose fresh rock from mine piles. They go on to say that the Mesnard/Quincy #8 event is a “prepared surface collecting” event, and that the “pile must be restored to it’s pre-event condition” when they’re done. It also mentions that the Quincy Mine Hoist Association has been paid for access to the site – not sure if that helps narrow down where they’ll be or not. That’s the best info I can glean from their web site. You’d have to contact the event organizers for more details about this specific event.

By: explorer

explorer — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:12:09 +0000

I believe those piles belong to the Franklin Mine (on the north side of Sunshine) with the piles to the south belonging to the Pewabic. But I suppose when Quincy finally took over the Franklin they could of moved the rock down there.

By: dcclark

dcclark — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:12:37 +0000

Could the Mesnard rock have been trammed down south a little way, towards Sunshine road (nearer to the old Pewabic shafts)? There are some large rockpiles right there, and it’s not that far.

By: explorer

explorer — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:21:03 +0000

Thats funny, I don’t recall seeing any rock piles at the Mesnard – at least none that I cam across during this exploration. Specially not anything large enough to require a bulldozer. I wonder what pile they are referring to?

By: Dale Beitz

Dale Beitz — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:46:06 +0000

There is apparently a “Copper Country Mineral Retreat” this fall, Aug. 3-10, 2008. One of the many events is a datolite collecting trip to the Quincy #8/Mesnard mine pile. The event organizers will have a bulldozer on site to expose new materials. Google the event name for more details.

By: Dale Beitz

Dale Beitz — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:31:40 +0000

According to http://www.mindat.org, the #8 produce 84,000 lbs of refined copper between 1863 and 1877. It doesn’t say anything about the more modern re-opening.

By: explorer

explorer — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:55:36 +0000

I think it just depended on what the mine used to line its trenches. These here are concrete, and thus have held up rather well. At Hecla the trenches were lined by simple rock walls, and only a few could still be found. Most no doubt have collapsed.

Most likely the cause of so many trenches being open and visible at Quincy probably has more to do with the fact that the property has been under a preservation groups control for several decades now. There hasn’t been as much possibility for them to be destroyed or covered.

By: dcclark

dcclark — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:57:23 +0000

I’ve noticed a lot more utility trenches open and visible at Quincy than at any of the other mine sites I’ve been to. I wonder if the others are mainly filled in, or if Quincy made greater use of trenches than other places.

By: B Groeneveld

B Groeneveld — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:23:18 +0000

#8Quincy location had hoist(nordberg,identical to 6 & 7);8 boilers in back & compressor room to the side.All in the same building ,but each had seperate rooms.The # 8 exploretory venture built the hoist & headframe in74.#8shaft was concrete lined for over100 feet & the exploratory venture used only the north skip track.# & dont know if any ore was ever processed. # 8 shaft went deep over 8000feet & ist connected to #6 below the old franklin workings & made many connections to # 6 on its bottom levels. Quincy last operated #8 in 1945 when the mine closed. Bruce G. (glad to hve toured this site before it was demolished in late 73)