Boatnerd Discussion Forum

torgy, you are correct, BFT

A few years ago 4000 tons of raw taconite was shipped to Chicago to be used in a test to be used in concrete instead of rock to see if it held up better as it is harder.

Such cargoes are usually listed at the ore docks as blast furnace trim.

Raw Taconite is gray, having seen trainloads of it on the Range. I noticed this morning while waiting for the St. Marys Challenger that the pile of Taconite is south of Nidera on the west side of the river.

I was under the impression that raw ore was a dirty red color. This type of rock seemed to be more of a grayish looking color. That is what threw me off on this particular photo and load.

Rob

Could have been " railroad ballast ".... used by railroad companys to stabilize their tracks. Used as the bed under the ties , Worked for GLF for 30 yr. and hauled this type of ore many times.

[quote="Rob"]Lou Gerard recent photos made me wonder about the load. It sure looks like stone to a unfamiliar eye like mine! Never knew taconite rock existed or what it could be used for. Originally when posted about the Anderson I believed it would ore pellets for a foundry or something. Learn something new everyday on the Nerd'

Rob[/quote]

It looks like raw Taconite to me. Taconite is the ore from which the pellets are made.

The Andersons Cap called it RR dock ( I beleieve it stands for Reserve River, there is a Reserve Lake Cal. dock) it was some kind of aggregate. He was either across the river from nideria or south of Nideria on the same side.

She loaded stone at Stoneport for Buffington IN. She came in last night and was headed back north this morning. The two loads she came in with that are supposed to be taconite came from Duluth and went to a dock around 117th St. on the Calumet River..

[quote="scotty"]the arthur m anderson loaded stone at stoneport on oct 21 for chicago so im saying its stone[/quote]

No.

Arthur M. Anderson - 21/1130 due Stoneport, Michigan 22/0500 to load stone for Buffington, Indiana ETA 23/2100. 21/2359 7
miles East Southeast of Mackinaw Bridge Light.

the arthur m anderson loaded stone at stoneport on oct 21 for chicago so im saying its stone

Lou Gerard recent photos made me wonder about the load. It sure looks like stone to a unfamiliar eye like mine! Never knew taconite rock existed or what it could be used for. Originally when posted about the Anderson I believed it would ore pellets for a foundry or soemthing. Learn something new everyday on the Nerd'

Rob

Lots of good replies. It seems the cargoes are indeed taconite rock. My guess is it is being used in the cement industry and being unloaded at the Reserve dock at 116th Street and Calumet River.

Ozinga would be a good guess.

That is a good point Mr. Link. The "Taconite" thing totally slipped past me. On the GLF Vessel Passage it shows the Anderson carrying Taconite, and all the other vessels carrying Iron Ore Pellets. I put up the original post a couple weeks ago and was looking at the Soo and Straits passages where they either said ore or taconite.
I also remember reading on Boatnerd I think a while back, that the mines were looking at using the rock in road construction. In any event, if gets more boats here into Chicago it works for me.

So...maybe the Ozinga Concrete-making plant is under construction?

Remember these pieces from 2011.at least one of which was posted in the Boatnerd News.detailing Ozinga's purchase of a site at 117th & Torrence for the purpose of building a concrete making plant to better compete on a tighter global market. The second linked piece.from the NYTimes.also details a few other examples of industrial re-development in South Chicago:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6249832-418/ozinga-could-build-plant-on-southeast-side.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/us/22cnccoal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Matt, AIS shows her unloading at this dock, which is just south of Cargill. They share a driveway off Torrence.


[url]http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.679831,-87.55367&spn=0.002652,0.005681&t=h&z=18[/url]

Yeah, I'm curious about this too. I was down by the Calumet today and she was not in at any of the usual docks. Two salties at Iroquois landing, nothing at North American or Morton salt, KCBX, Beemsterboer or CFT. Nothing at old Carmeuse although that's no surprise, and that's as far as I went.


I guess that leaves anything near the Cargill plant on Torrence or Lake Calumet. Any ideas on this anyone?

Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if the cargoes for South Chicago were crushed taconite rock and not iron ore pellets.

First, the vessel passage page for Great Lakes Fleet shows the cargoes as taconite, not as iron ore or iron ore pellets as most other cargoes are listed.

Second, I believe the dock they are unloading at is operated by Ozinga Materials, one of the Chicago area's largest concrete producers.

Third, Minnesota has been quite active in trying to market overburden and tailings from the Mesabi range as construction aggregate. They even have coined the name Mesabi Hard Rock as a marketing name. The aggregates have been used for years for local construction but they are trying to develop new markets.

[url]http://www.businessnorth.com/exclusives.asp?RID=3667[/url]

Again, just a guess, but if it is aggregate, hopefully a new market is developing. I've always thought that the huge waste rock piles on the Marquette Range could be marketed in the Detroit, Toledo and Cleveland areas, but I suspect the profit margin on construction aggregates is quite low.

So, will this cargo remain in South Chicago or will it be taken by a barge or truck to another steel plant in Indiana either Gary or else to Indiana Harbor possibly? Also, what is the dock name and site or steel plant that the Anderson is unloading the taconite cargo at as I am not familiar with the docks in South Chicago. Thank You.

Looks like (from the vessel passage page) that the Arthur M. is unloading another taconite cargo in South Chicago-was due there at 1200 today (oct 20th).