Hawkins Mine, Dent County, Missouri, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hawkins Mine	Mine
Dent County	County
Missouri	State
USA	Country

This mine, located 2 1/2 miles west of Bangert, is situated on the southern edge of a plateau. The principal workings consist of a crescent-shaped pit 410 feet long, 300 feet wide at the center, and about 200 feet wide at either end. The pit, which lies in a general north-south direction, is 60 feet deep but is reported to have been worked to a depth of 90 feet. The north, west, and south walls of the pit consist, for the most part, of detritus, although ledges of chert and sandstone are exposed at several places dipping towards the center of the pit. The base of the cast wall is composed of massive beds of iron-stained chert and quartzite 25 feet thick. It is reported that this ledge was underlain by ore which has been mined out. The ledge is overlain by sandy ocher, sand, and clay.

The only exposure of ore occurs near the northeast corner of the pit. Here a vertical band of low grade, red hematite 30 feet across occurs between nearly vertical beds of chert, quartzite, and stratified clay.

In 1907 the Jewel Iron Company operated two shafts on this property both of which were sunk within the area partly encircled by the pit. From one of these shafts, which is 100 feet deep, two drifts were extended at the 85 foot level. One drift was driven northeast for a distance of 105 feet through dolomite. The other, southward for a distance of 100 feet, penetrating ore throughout its length. It is reported that 800 tons were mined from this and several small side drifts. The second shaft encountered dolomite throughout its depth of 105 feet. A drift, extended southward from its bottom, is reported to have encountered ore at a distance of 20 feet from the shaft.

The ore at this mine consisted of red and specular hematites, shipments of which ran 52.86% iron, 8.28% silica, 0.087% Phos., 0.123% Sul., 2.58% alumina, 0.87% lime, and 0.457% magnesia.

This mine was opened in 1879 and worked intermittently to 1907, producing an estimated total of 200,000 tons of ore.