Defending St. Louis from Attack Saves STL
The Colonial Days His Bride
Valles Mines, Missouri, U S A
Founded in 1749 by Francois Valle in the French Upper Louisiana before Lewis and Clark. 275 years later the Valle Mining Company's 4000+ acre property every year absorbs 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide and generates
14,000 tons of oxygen, enough to meet the needs of 63,000 people. [USDA Forest Facts]
Skip Navigation Links
Home
Company Store
Directory
Main Street
Mining Heritage
Mining Museum
Lost History Museum
Weather
Miner News

Our Mining Heydays

Metallic Ores

1964 The last metallic ore mining operation ended with Mr. Woods but three mining engineer/consultants' works deserves re-examination, namely

1914 - The Garotte Mine had apparently "bottomed out" in most of its shafts but the one never touched needed pumping because of groundwater infiltration. Mr. Finney, of Finney Creek fame and his mines to the west, offered to operate it if the Company bought the pumping equipment but the Board voted it down. So it is still "in inventory".

Recently spelunkers Adam Marty, Jim Sherrill, and Eric Sutherland, working underground, followed the surveys done by Doe Run in 1911 and found the passageway into the Flooded Mine still flooded although that water seeps above ground to this day downhill from its Drill Hole nearby. Oddly, only one Company Board member has ever visited this mine site off the Garotte Mine Road even though it potentially sits on millions of dollars of zinc ore (In 1914 zinc sold for $28 a ton. In 2022, zinc hit $4,500 in August and now sits at around $3,000 a ton. [See Table 2 below]. In today's dollars, the Mining Company made $324,000,000 [very approximately, smelter price]).

Dolomite/Limestone - The 4th Heyday?

After prospecting and drilling 3 sites, the highwall begins for the Frazier II Quarry

Successful Dolomite exploration by Clayton Francois' team in 2003 resulted in 2 viable quarry sites, Frazier I with proven reserves, (67 Sunset Strip and the Tower Fingers failed), and finally an established high wall and proven reserve at Frazier II.

Valle Mining Company then obtained a Missouri DNR Reclamation Permit 2008 to begin serious work. Despite many trips to Valles Mines, tech support, and a serious interest in a quarrying operation, all out of his own pocket, by Jay Peckham of Peckham Brothers of Middletown, R. I., operations to date have yet to begin seriously on Valle Mining's part.


Julian "Jay" Peckham repairs the Big Bill Mine's truck loop with the new dolomite shot rock

With the high wall established and a permit to quarry, Jay begins truck access for loadout by repairing access to our former haul road ("The Rock Road") accessing the gate at 14169 Valle Mines School Road.

Quarry Entrance
2002-03 Dolomite Exploration. [Pictured:Sveta, John, and Ruslan Harrison having just driven in to the quarry on the new truck road coming out at Crow Lane onto Silver Springs Road by the Radio Tower.

Although still on backorder because of Supply Chain issues, new equipment has been promised. [Pictured: past president of VMC, "Cupcake" Hayward with her dog Wiggy. Their relentless leadership on the ground and in the woods in the heat of summer was instrumental in mapping the roads required by the permitting operation.

Mining Heydays Over 3 Centuries - [Les Forces de L'âges]

Historical Mining Output