Mines Experiment Station records

Collection

Identifier: ua00005

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The collection contains laboratory notebooks, progress and annual reports, newspaper clippings, articles and speeches by the Mines Experiment Station staff, and general files relating to the activities of the Station.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1976

Creator

University of Minnesota. Mines Experiment Station (Organization)

Language of Materials

Collection materials in English

Access to Materials

This collection is stored at an off-site facility and requires 3-5 business days for retrieval. Email uar@umn.edu to request access. Do not make travel arrangements or plans to visit Andersen Library without making prior arrangements with University Archives staff.

Copyright

Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Requests to publish should be arranged with the University of Minnesota Archives.

Historical Note

The Mines Experiment Station was established by the Minnesota Legislature in 1911 to promote the development and conservation of the mineral resources of the state. A grant of $10,000 was given to the University of Minnesota to set up and administer a program to give assistance to miners, patterned after the agricultural experiment stations established to assist Minnesota farmers. In 1916, the University and the United States Bureau of Mines began a cooperative agreement in which the federal bureau would house and give financial support to one of its experimental stations on campus, if the University administration provided and equipped a building. The building was completed in 1922 and housed the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the School of Mines Experiment Station.

In 1957, the station was placed in the School of the Mines to insure closer cooperation between teaching and research. In the 1960s, the Experiment Station was instrumental in the discovery of a new method that allowed high-grade iron ore pellets to be produced from so-called low-grade or "nonmerchantable" iron ore. In 1970, the name was changed to Mineral Resources Research Center (MRRC). It closed in 1991 because of financial reasons.