South East Missouri information

[jm.]

I came down highway 8 to the junction of highway 67, there at a small town Leadington I past a plant called Piramal Glass. Across from this plant was a large pile of grey material. My question is, what is this material. A by product of the glass manufacturing or is it the raw material for the glass. We had a ford motor glass plant nearby here for years and it used pure white fine silica sand. Wondering if that stuff was the byproduct is there not a use for the material. Maybe what I saw was just the stockpile but sure looked like a lot of material. Sorry but this is my go to place for odd things like this , surely someone lives close enough to give me the answer .

 

[buzzinduzzin]

isn't there a lead mine in SE MO ?

 

[ASE guy]

Yes. That area has an old rusted out plant that has been turned into a place to tour. It's rusted out buildings would make a great place for a Walking Dead episode.

 

[jm.]

Yes. That area has an old rusted out plant that has been turned into a place to tour. It's rusted out buildings would make a great place for a Walking Dead episode.

Nothing thee was old this place was upp and running glass plant with lots of cars and employees , just trying to find out what the acres of that waste was or is

 

[Steven Allen]

That mound--there used to be more of them--is mine spoil, or, in local parlance, slime (spoil + lime, since it's mostly limestone). That area is nearly hollow with the the numerous and massive lead mines, so it is known as the Old Lead Belt, at one time, this was the largest producer of lead in the world. It was once possible to travel from Doe Run all the way up to Desloge underground. You can tour the mine in Bonne Terre, just to the north, to get an idea of what the mines were like, and, as ASE guy hints, you can tour Federal Mill #3 next to Park Hills (better known to old timers as Flat River, Elvins, Rivermines, et. al.) to see how the lead was processed. The area was also well provided with railroads--the Bonne Terre & Mississippi
River RY, the St. Francis County Traction, the Missouri - Illinois, and the Missouri Pacific nee St. Louis and Iron Mountain (which ate all the other up) moved ore, goods, and people there beginning in the late 1800s until the advent of the common infernal combustion engine and the shift to the New Lead Belt (Viburnum-Buick area to the east).

It used to be possible to take your jeeps and other 4x4s up and down those massive piles, but that sport ended years ago for reasons that are probably obvious.

Anyone interested in mining, engineering, railroad, or mechanical history should take some time to study what happened there.

 

[Loosehandle]

Yikes wonder how the ground water is there...

 

[Steven Allen]

Bonne Terre used to pump its drinking water right from the mines. Until it is processed, lead ore is essentially insoluble in water. Herculaneum--the plants where most of the processing was done--is a different story.

Our well, just outside Flat River and behind Mineral Area College, produced wonderful water except that the lime content was very high. Over here near St. James, now, our well has enough iron in it to build a battleship out of each glass.

 

[Mule Meat]

Piramal is a huge supplier of glass containers. They supply huge quantities of beer, soda, wine and perfume bottles.

So most likely what you saw was a stock pile of mined silicate.

Blenko Glass is a small local glass company here that does collectable pieces. They have silicate delivered by one or two rail cars at a time. One car will normally have regular silica for clear and another different silicate for making colored glass. Some of there work is worth thousands of dollars.

 

[glennster]

Bonne Terre used to pump its drinking water right from the mines. Until it is processed, lead ore is essentially insoluble in water. Herculaneum--the plants where most of the processing was done--is a different story.

Our well, just outside Flat River and behind Mineral Area College, produced wonderful water except that the lime content was very high. Over here near St. James, now, our well has enough iron in it to build a battleship out of each glass.

we scuba dove the flooded Bonne Terre mines years ago. amazing! water is clear as glass. there is a guided walking tour thru the above water section of the mine. reaaly interesting. And the New Madrid fault runs thru there. kind of a foot wide crack filled with quartz like rock.

 

[jm.]

That mound--there used to be more of them--is mine spoil, or, in local parlance, slime (spoil + lime, since it's mostly limestone). That area is nearly hollow with the the numerous and massive lead mines, so it is known as the Old Lead Belt, at one time, this was the largest producer of lead in the world. It was once possible to travel from Doe Run all the way up to Desloge underground. You can tour the mine in Bonne Terre, just to the north, to get an idea of what the mines were like, and, as ASE guy hints, you can tour Federal Mill #3 next to Park Hills (better known to old timers as Flat River, Elvins, Rivermines, et. al.) to see how the lead was processed. The area was also well provided with railroads--the Bonne Terre & Mississippi
River RY, the St. Francis County Traction, the Missouri - Illinois, and the Missouri Pacific nee St. Louis and Iron Mountain (which ate all the other up) moved ore, goods, and people there beginning in the late 1800s until the advent of the common infernal combustion engine and the shift to the New Lead Belt (Viburnum-Buick area to the east).

It used to be possible to take your jeeps and other 4x4s up and down those massive piles, but that sport ended years ago for reasons that are probably obvious.

Anyone interested in mining, engineering, railroad, or mechanical history should take some time to study what happened there.

thanks

Piramal is a huge supplier of glass containers. They supply huge quantities of beer, soda, wine and perfume bottles.

So most likely what you saw was a stock pile of mined silicate.

Blenko Glass is a small local glass company here that does collectable pieces. They have silicate delivered by one or two rail cars at a time. One car will normally have regular silica for clear and another different silicate for making colored glass. Some of there work is worth thousands of dollars.

That was my first thought but all glass plants I was ever around use fine sand, that material would have to be crushed I would think, but pretty sure it is related to the glass plant and not lead mining tailings but again I am not from there so that is why I asked.

 

[Steven Allen]

IIANM, Piramal gets most of its silicates via covered rail hoppers. There is a spur there, and they have their own little truck-switch engine to move the cars around.