• Saturday-What'sUP July 27 - 08:40 pm

We drove by Grand Traverse Bay this past week and were surprised to see some dredging going on between the irons out there. The barge with the dredging equipment on it was out of Sault Ste. Marie. From what I could tell, there were several large pipelines through which the stamp sand was being moved with, transporting it quite a distance down the shoreline. My husband talked briefly with one of the workers, who told him that it was being piled on DNR property and then the company doing the dredging would come and load it up to transport it somewhere else to be recycled and used in some other process.

Sorry to be so sketchy, but I really don't know any particulars of this operation, just thought the pictures would be interesting and that perhaps someone "in the know", could fill us in on some of the details. Thanks in advance!

That barge/dredge is an impressive-looking piece of equipment. Neat shots, Mary.

I can't shed any light on the process but I can say that I found the pictures to be very interesting. It looks like quite an operation.

Interesting...seems that his is done to keep the harbor up and running.

http://w3.lre.usace.army.mil/OandM/factsheets/GrandTraverseBayHarbor.pdf

Wasn't there a story a while back about a new process which was now cost effective to 're-process' the stamp sands to recover more of the ore left behind originally?

Didn't they film a movie way back when....on the Gay
Sands?

These are awesome!

I don't know the name but the dredge is in MCM Marine blue
and white colors. From the Soo as mentioned.

jbuck,
Haven't heard of any "new" reclamation process for native copper stamp sands. C&H pretty well perfected that way back in the last century. Any entity thinking about reclaiming the Gay sands for copper would first have to have an accurate assay of what was still in the sands. Even if there are commercial values of copper in the sands, the location is not good. The sands in the big lake are much harder to deal with than those that were neatly impounded in Torch Lake. Sucking the Gay sands out of Superior especially after 80+ years of being moved around would be problematic and expensive. Then there is siting the plant to do the reclaiming. It would just about have to be local since the land transportation infrastructure of the Copper Country was destroyed decades ago. A local site especially if a new chemical step were used would attract much attention from the DNR and EPA. Finally any would-be processor would be assaulted by at least two battalions of NIMBY warriors. Assuming all the criteria were met, there would still be about 99% of the sand left - where to go with it?

As a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, I
support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
important projects such as this one, vital to
maintain recreation and small commerce. But as
I look at the project document that Alex
provided, we see the Corps has budgeted 1.14
BILLION dollars over 3 years for just this
ongoing project.

A famous Senator (Everett Dirksen) once said:
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty
soon you're talking about real money.”

D. A. (Midwested):
"… we see the Corps has budgeted 1.14 BILLION dollars over 3 years for just this ongoing project. …"

Notice too:

---

Quote:

FY2014 Appropriation: Zero
FY2015 Appropriation: Zero
FY2016 Appropriation: Zero

---

...it takes a village.

The work is scheduled only every 3 to 5 years.
The most recent dredging was 6 years ago. The
document doesn’t spell out what the Corps
actually spent this time or for the last
dredging or when and for how much the actual
appropriations take place. In this case I
suspect the Corps moved money around from other
projects. I wasn't trying to get too political,
just trying to make a glancing joke about how
poorly the government allocates or keeps track
of money. Most of the work the government does
is quite important. They just don’t do it very
efficiently.

Ah! The wondrous workings of our jolly band of politicians and bureaucrats. They may appropriate - but funding is something else. Actually the project reads as $1.14 million rather than billion.

Paul:

Thanks for the correction. Sounds more like it.

I love these pictures. Summer is not summer
without a trip to Big Traverse to go swimming and
eat sugar plums. Love it there!!!

Thanks Paul! Turns out it wasn't to reclaim the copper, just use the sands:


Alumnus Teams with Tech to Reclaim Stamp Sand and Grow an Industry
August 16, 2010/Michigan Tech News
By John Gagnon

Despite the economic downturn, the roofing industry in America is enjoying long-term, fruitful prospects, and Michigan Technological University will play a role in this nearly $9-billion annual market.

One imminent initiative: a local plant that may employ up to 40 people to process and supply sand to the roofing industry.

A long-term plan: a local plant that would employ 300 people to manufacture roofing shingles.

Both initiatives would use the Keweenaw’s stamp sand, a barren and unsightly leftover of copper mining in the region. If aesthetically unattractive, it is a financial beauty—expansive, ready-made for the purpose and cost-effective. These deposits are seen as the potential bedrock of an economic boon.

Roof shingles are 30 percent asphalt and 70 percent rock granules, which are used as both filler in the shingle and granules on its surface. Currently, shingle manufacturers have to mine the rock, crush it and add copper to retard the growth of moss, lichen, fungus and algae—persistent problems for homeowners. Upper Michigan’s stamp sand has already been mined and crushed, and it contains copper naturally.

I hate being wrong, but by 3 orders of
magnitude? Oh my goodness. The budgeting issues
are still valid though.

Deb,
Aren't there also a lot of blueberries in that
region west of Big Traverse Bay?

The Corps of Engineers report also speaks of
coming up with a new plan for doing something
different so the dredging does not have to be
done so often. Maybe this area could be the
source of roofing material although I think
there may be other/better places to harvest the
sand.

jbuck,
That makes much more sense. Thanks for sharing the info.

Torch Lake Industries has a permit to begin removing the stamp sands. http://www.torchlakeindustries.com/

Not 2 b confused with the Grand Traverse Bay by Traverse City. Good pics.

D.A., yes there are blueberries, but not so much
where we go swimming. There are a lot of
blueberries on the road between Gay and Lac
LaBelle...more so after the Little Betsy River.
But the best place we've found to get the
blueberries is out at Rice Lake. Last year we got
2 ice cream pails full within a couple of hours.
There were bountiful. Hoping they're like that
again this year.

US Army Corps project and Greensand links.

http://keweenawcountyonline.org/township-sherman-view.php?target=62

http://keweenawcountyonline.org/township-sherman-view.php?target=63

Excellent info Chuck B! It would be great if this project could be a win-win-win.

Excellent info Chuck. That explains their long
term plan to avoid repeated dredging to keep the
waterways open. Looks like there will be a
substantial retaining wall to hold back the sand
that remains after a major dredging and sand
removal project. Plus a deep water dock for
continuing production of sand removal.

Just another example why I love this place. I get to come and see pictures of back home...and I get to learn something nearly every time I visit :)