Southeast Missouri Lead District

The Southeast Missouri Lead District, often called the Lead Belt, is an important area for mining lead in the southeastern part of Missouri. This region has rich deposits of a mineral called galena, which contains lead and other metals. These minerals belong to a special group known as the Mississippi Valley type.

This mining district covers many counties, including Bollinger, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Jefferson, Madison, Perry, Reynolds, Saint Francois, Sainte Genevieve, Shannon, and Washington. For many years, people have worked here to find and use the valuable metals hidden underground.

History

The area in Southeast Missouri where lead can be found was first noticed in 1700 by Father James Gravier. In 1719, Philip Francois Renault from France led a big group to explore and began mining in Old Mines and Mine La Motte in 1720, starting the first lead mining area called Mine LaMotte-Fredericktown.

Later, between the 1750s and 1799, lead production went down. But in 1799, Moses Austin moved to Potosi, bringing new ways to mine and process lead. He was the first to dig deep mine shafts, which helped make much more lead than before. In 1808, Moses Austin and Samuel Hammond created the town of Herculaneum to help move goods closer to the mines along the Mississippi River.

In 1864, a big mine called the Bonne Terre Mine opened, starting the Old Lead Belt area. Important mines were near places like Doe Run, Desloge, Flat River (Park Hills), and Leadwood. The last mine in the Old Lead Belt closed in 1972 after 108 years of mining.

Over time, the area where mining happened changed. The Old Lead Belt is around Park Hills and Desloge, while the New Lead Belt, also called the Viburnum Trend, is near Viburnum. In the late 1940s, new exploration began because the old mines were running low. In 1955, a new mine was found near Viburnum, and the Viburnum No. 27 Mine opened in 1960. Today, the Viburnum Trend is the only place where lead is mined in Southeast Missouri, with six mines still operating.

Many old mines and mills from the Old Lead Belt are now empty or used for other purposes. Bonne Terre has deep mines that people can visit for fun and scuba diving. The Missouri Mines State Historic Site is located in the old Federal Mill No. 3 in Park Hills.

Mineralogy and geology

The Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri is known for having some of the richest deposits of lead in the world. It also contains useful amounts of zinc, copper, and silver. Miners dig up rocks that have these metals mixed in, especially a mineral called galena, which is made of lead and sulfur.

These minerals are found in old layers of rock formed in ancient seas. Collectors love to find beautiful samples of these minerals in museums and collections around the world. The rocks where these minerals are found can tell us a lot about how the earth was shaped millions of years ago.

Production

The Lead Belt provides most of the lead used in the United States, along with a lot of zinc. In the year 2000, Missouri made about 313,105 tons of lead, worth around $128 million. Most of this lead is used to make lead-acid batteries, and a special factory in Boss, Missouri recycles these batteries. Another big user of Missouri lead was a company called Winchester Ammunition in East Alton, Illinois.

One part of the Lead Belt, called Mine La Motte-Fredericktown, made more than 325,000 tons of lead before it closed in 1959. Another area, the Old Lead Belt, produced over 8.5 million tons of lead from 1864 to 1972. Today, the Viburnum Trend is the only area still being mined, mainly by the Doe Run Company. Since 1960, they have taken out nearly 315 million tons of ore from this area.

Communities in the Lead Belt

The Lead Belt has many small towns and communities where people live and work. Some of these places include Arcadia, Belgrade, Bismarck, Bonne Terre, Boss, Bourbon, Bunker, Cadet, Caledonia, Centerville, Cobalt, Cuba, Davisville, Desloge, Doe Run, Ellington, Farmington, Frankclay, Fredericktown, Irondale, Ironton, Leadington, Leadwood, Lesterville, Mine La Motte, Old Mines, Park Hills, Pilot Knob, Potosi, Reynolds, Richwoods, Salem, Steelville, Sullivan, and Viburnum.