Soudan Underground Mine

On Saturday, September 28^th sixteen IRE students and two instructors visited Soudan Underground Mine State Park.  Opened in 1882, it was Minnesota’s first iron ore mine.  By 1892, after several accidents, operations went underground.

Students and faculty arrived early enough to explore the surface buildings and exhibitions before heading underground.  This included the drill shop, crusher house, engine house, mining equipment, and the former open pit.

After exploring the facilities above ground, a brief video was shown to the tour group chronicling the history of the mine’s operations, employees, and regional impact. 

After the video each visitor received a hard hat and headed out to the head frame.  Once ten or so people were crowded into each cage, the descent began.  Although the cages only moved at about 10 miles per hour, it felt much faster. 

Once underground, and after a ¾ of a mile train ride to the last worksite, we had reached our destination half a mile beneath the surface of the earth.  In these large chambers blasted and hewn of solid stone, we were shown the veins of valuable ore, semi-precious metals, and the equipment that miners had used.


This was a unique opportunity to gain insight into what conditions were like in the mine, what kind of impact the Soudan Mine had on the local economy, and to further appreciate the rich mining heritage of the region.

Reviewed by: Kody Kamunen