Randy Scott stands safely out of range while munitions crews set off an explosion that opens a new quartzite mining operation in his pasture three miles north of Hardwick.
By Lori Ehde
A large explosion set off by 3,500 pounds of ammonia nitrate blasted an opening in a new Rock County quarry Monday morning.
Marcella Scott and her son Randy have signed a 30-year lease with Dunnick Bros. Inc., Prinsburg, to open a quartzite mining operation that will feed area road construction projects.
The quarry, located three miles north of Hardwick about a half mile east of Highway 75, is now the only operating quarry in Rock County.
Randy Scott said the idea for a quarry stemmed from a visit by Dunnick Bros. to the Scotts' gravel pit on other business.
"We got the gravel bid for the Highway 75 project, and they were out here looking at the gravel, so I asked him what he thought about the rock here," Scott said.
Subsequent test borings showed the Scott pasture was rich in a natural resource high in demand by road builders.
According to Harris Dunnick, a partner owner in Dunnick Bros., the Minnesota Department of Transportation is setting more stringent specifications on the type of rock used in asphalt and other road projects.
"A lot of natural gravels do not have as much rock or the quality of rock we need," Dunnick said.
He said product in the Scott pasture fits the bill. "Quartzite or granite is certainly a good quality rock."
The Highway 75 road work between I-90 and Trosky will begin July 1, so work is already in process to build a road to the pasture and to set up a crushing plant on site.
The area permitted for mining is 40 acres. The initial mining for the Highway 75 project will open a hole 35 to 40 feet down, depending on the quality of rock mined.
Roughly 40,000 tons of rock will be mined this year alone.
According to Scott, the quarry will eventually stretch two miles long, a half mile wide and about a mile deep.
Both he and Dunnick Bros. agree the secluded spot in the middle of the pasture is a perfect site for the operation, since it won't be a nuisance to neighbors.
Dunnick added its proximity to the Highway 75 work will be handy. The nearest other quarries are in Jasper and Sioux Falls.
The cliff line of the Blue Mounds State Park was the site of a Sioux quartzite that operated in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Marcella Scott became a bit nostalgic as she watched the explosion Monday.
"This land has never been tilled," she said. "It's the same now as when the Indians lived here years ago."
But she and Randy agreed it was exciting to witness the beginning of what may well be a productive Rock County industry for years to come.