"Journal: 100 Years / Iron Mining in Minnesota By Charles E Van Barneveld, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 912 The Mesabi (""Missabe"") RangeTHE MESABI (“MISSABE”) RANGE"

RBH Note: the following item is a little different than the usual, in that it shows how explosives were used in the past to assist in putting down holes for iron ore prospecting on the early Mesabi Range of Minnesota. The way explosives were used would not even occur to the modern explorationist, given the equipment available today. The reason for the great difficulty in putting down a hole was that the area was covered with debris from the great glaciers of the past (the same ones that carved out the Great lakes). This debris consisted of boulders, clay, sand, and any other imaginable mixture of materials.