Republic Mine Tailings Pond Dams

Republic Mine Tailings Pond Dams is an earth dam located in Marquette County, Michigan, built in 1960. It carries a Low hazard potential classification.

About Republic Mine Tailings Pond Dams

The primary purpose of Republic Mine Tailings Pond Dams is tailings. Tailings dams contain waste material from mining operations — typically a slurry of finely ground rock left over after valuable minerals have been extracted. These structures require ongoing monitoring because tailings can contain heavy metals and other contaminants. The dam is owned by Marquette Iron Mining Partnership (private). It impounds the Tributary To Michigamme River near Republic.

The dam stands 91 feet tall and stretches 22,300 feet across, creates a reservoir covering 220 acres, and has a maximum storage capacity of 880 acre-feet. Completed in 1960, the structure is well into its service life at over 50 years old.

This dam has a low hazard potential classification, meaning that failure would cause minimal damage, limited primarily to the dam owner's property, with no expected loss of life. The most recent inspection on record was 01/01/1901. That was over 125 years ago.

At 91 feet, this dam is taller than 98% of all dams in the United States.

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Low HazardNot Rated ConditionEmergency Action Plan: Not Required

Location

StateMichigan
CountyMarquette
Nearest CityRepublic
River/StreamTributary To Michigamme River
Coordinates46.37333, -87.95833

Physical Characteristics

Dam TypeEarth
NID Height91 ft
Dam Height91 ft
Dam Length22,300 ft
Year Completed1960 (66 years old)

Storage & Hydraulics

NID Storage8,000 acre-ft
Max Storage880 acre-ft
Normal Storage8,000 acre-ft
Surface Area220 acres
Max Discharge200 cfs
Spillway TypeControlled

Ownership & Safety

PurposeTailings
OwnerMarquette Iron Mining Partnership
Owner TypePrivate
Hazard ClassificationLow
Condition AssessmentNot Rated
Last Inspection01/01/1901
Emergency Action PlanNot Required

Identifiers

NID IDMI00578
Federal IDMI00578
More InfoState Dam Safety Program

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