Happy Father's Day! "on da range" in Northern Minnesota

King of the Lode was the name of one of the two trucks at the mine lookout in Virginia, Minnesota.  From the lookout view you can see the active taconite mine.  They are slowly moving across the land.  Eventually the roadway between the mine and the lookout as well as the lookout itself will be moved as the mine will take over that area.  

Mine View (Look Out) Virginia, MN
(Current trucks being used are at least twice this size.)

They have old truck tires and an old scoop on display for people to get an idea of the size.  We counted and the new scoop is big enough to use only 5 scoops to fill the newer bigger truck.

Samples of old wheels and buckets. 

They have a fenced and safe spot for people to watch the actively working mine.  We got here before the rain and stayed until it started sprinkling.

The View of the Mine

The BIG Backhoe/ excavator - I call it a digger is actually digging through an area that will create all tailings to get down to the taconite. 

Virginia Taconite Mine

 This is the same view but not zoomed in.  You can see the truck moves the product up and around to another area to dump it as they slowly move processing across the mine.

Virginia Taconite Mine (distant view)

After the rains stopped we went to a second lookout, one that was much less known.  It was a view from the other side of the mine.  I zoomed in on the two large trucks.  You can see yellow dots highlighted by the sun on a distant ridge.  Those were the large trucks that we saw at Mine View.

Mine View from the Other side

Dad brought his telescope with for a better view of the equipment.  Telescopes are awesome for looking at the moon, the stars and what is beyond.  But as we looked at the operation in progress, everyone was upside down.  Good thing I'm dyslexic.  My mind though, cool. 

Dad lining up the Telescope

 The clouds were breaking up and the sun was attempting to come out after torrential rains.  At supper, my camera was in the car.  I wish I'd brought in in with me because as the cars and trucks raced through the nearby intersection they looked more like speedboats racing across the lake.  The water was up to the bottom and spraying at least as high as the vehicles themselves.  It was very entertaining....

Someone looking like an Angel

 On a random occurrence, Pat's daughter and family stopped by the same lookout we were at.  So everyone took their turns looking through the telescope. 

Boys looking at the "Toys"

This is what they were watching through the telescope.  Except they could almost see the driver.  The big debate became, why would they grate over and over and over this one section?  The guys decided it must be a new employee practicing so that he didn't ruin the job when it was important.

Tailings from the mine

Pat wanted me to also share a view of the lake created by the mining process.


Man-made Lake by Taconite Mine