Domtar mine

Domtar Mine
Location
Domtar Mine Location in Michigan 42°54′N 085°42′W / 42.9°N 85.7°W / 42.9; -85.7Coordinates: 42°54′N 085°42′W / 42.9°N 85.7°W / 42.9; -85.7
Location	Grand Rapids, Michigan
State	Michigan
Country	U.S.A.
Production
Products	gypsum
History
Opened	before 1860

The Domtar Mine, formed from the consolidation of Grand Rapids Gypsum Company mines 1 & 2, is an underground mine in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

History

The Grand Rapids Gypsum Company was incorporated in 1860, but the mines pre-dates this incorporation. The mine is located in southwest Grand Rapids, north of the Grand River. The original mine entrances were both north and south of Butterworth Drive, named after the pioneering mining magnate, R.E. Butterworth, who opened the first gypsum mines north of the Grand River in this area.^[1]

Pellerito Cave

A small gypsum solutional cave, known as the Pellerito Cave, was discovered during the mining operations. ^[2]

Domtar purchase

The mine was purchased by Domtar industries in 1981, and re-opened in 1984 as the Domtar mine.^[3] Domtar sold their gypsum operations to Georgia-Pacific, who closed the mine in 1999. It was the last operating underground gypsum mine in Michigan.^[4]

See also

• Kent County Inventory of Underground Mines

References

1. ^ Lane, Alfred C. (January 1903). Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Michigan. p. 4. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ux7frNefNhEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=%22Alabastine+mine%22&ots=RA1ENS8FBI&sig=-S9fdMAO2V_0eH1wlMiK63KBxXY#v=onepage&q=%22Alabastine%20mine%22&f=false. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
2. ^ Baxter, David A. (2006). "Precambrian Tectonics, Lower Peninsula Gold, and Michigan's Glacial Caves". On the Rocks 5 (January): 5. http://www.mbgs.org/newsletters/2006/01-06.pdf. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
3. ^ Stan, Vitton; Tom Hynes (2004). "The Anaylsis of the Stability of the I-196 Interstate over the Domtar Gypsum Mine in Grand Rapids, Michigan". http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Materials/Geotech_Design/Seminar/PDF/Michigan_I-196_GypsumMineFinal.pdf. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
4. ^ "The Mineral Industry of Michigan". U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook. 1999. p. 24.2. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/state/982600.pdf.