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LocalitiesAdams County, Ohio, USA

31st Mar 2025 20:05 UTCAntonio Nazario OP

So a while back I uploaded a sphalerite to the locale known as the Standard Slag Quarry, which is located in Adams County, Ohio. Last week I had decided to do some research on this locale to try and learn its history. Not much information was available on the locale and a google search of the standard slag quarry did not bear too many results. I decided my best course of action was to email the people who would most likely have records, The Ohio geological Survey. Today, I received a response from a Mr. Chris Wright.

31st Mar 2025 20:09 UTCAntonio Nazario OP

So the coordinates for the Standard Slag Quarry, Adams County, Ohio, USA should be updated to 38°57'12.3"N 83°18'28.9"W putting it closer to the Hanson Aggregates Inc. Plum Run Quarry, Peebles, Adams County, Ohio. A second thing to note is that the standard slag quarry was also called the adams quarry and that the Hanson Aggregate Inc is currently called the Heidelberg Materials Midwest Aggregates Inc on maps just as mentioned by Mr. Wright.

31st Mar 2025 20:10 UTCAntonio Nazario OP

Slightly zoomed out screenshot of google maps showing the standard slag quarry and Plum Run quarry. There is also a 3rd quarry pictured here that does not appear to be on mindat.

31st Mar 2025 21:41 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

Information updated, thanks!

1st Apr 2025 11:51 UTCJamison K. Brizendine 🌟 Expert

According to the Ohio business directory, the Standard Slag Corporation filed for incorporation in 1991 and was a subsidiary of the Standard Lafarge Corporation, which is now Lafarge North America. It was officially dissolved in 2006.

The locality is mentioned in the second edition of Minerals of Ohio by Ernie Carlson (2015) as the Standard Lafarge Quarry.

Sphalerite:

11. Sphalerite with apshalt, marcasite, and pyrite in the Tymochtee, Greenfield and Peebles dolomites. Standard Lafarge quarry near Pine Gap on U.S. Route 73, Franklin Township; JAYBIRD (Quadrangle)

Mineral occurrence: McFarland, B. P. (1999), Mineralization in the Serpent Mound disturbance and the surrounding region: An investigation using sulfur isotopes, fluid inclusions, and trace elements, M. S. Thesis, Kent State Univ., Kent, Ohio.

(The entries for marcasite and pyrite are duplicated without additional references).

My advice is to contact Lafarge NA and see if they still continue operation at that location or when they suspended operations.

6th Apr 2025 20:27 UTCJamison K. Brizendine 🌟 Expert

I spent some time this afternoon to try and see if I could find some more information on the background on the Standard Slag Company (SSC). The information I found on the Ohio Business lookup only provides dates after the SSC was acquired by Lafarge

The Standard Slag as an independent company was founded in 1914 by Leon A. Beeghly, William A. Bliss and William H. Kilcawley and headquartered in the Stambaugh Building in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown between the 1910s to the 1970s was a major industrial town, with many steel factories and blast furnaces, and SS provided slag, coke and stone to those plants. Gunter Grundmann has kindly uploaded a few postcards of some of those Youngstown steel plants on Mindat for those interested.

I found a newspaper clip from Akron, Ohio's newspaper, The Reporter (VIA Ohiomemory.org) which mentioned that the Standard Slag Company issued a 2.2 million dollar bond to build the Adams County quarry. This clipping was published in December 1979. I'm guessing that production probably started in the early 1980s. I have no idea when the iridescent sphalerites first starting appearing on the market, but probably before the late 1990s.

The Standard Slag Company was acquired by the Lafarge Corporation in 1989, though it was officially "re-incorporated" as a satellite company of Lafarge in 1991, which is the date I found on the Ohio Business directory. The holdings of Standard Slag became "Standard Lafarge". "Standard Lafarge", now known as Lafarge North America continues to operate several quarries in the United States and Canada.

Looking at historic aerials, it appeared the quarry began flooding in the mid-1990s.

6th Apr 2025 21:12 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

Thanks, that's good information! I remember seeing some of the iridescent sphalerite specimens at the Bedford and/or Bloomington, Indiana Swap (different location for a swap run by the same club) in that time-frame. I think (maybe) Harris Precht had some. A few folks definitely had some of the Plum Run Quarry specimens.

I've added a link to this discussion on the Standard Slag Quarry page:

https://www.mindat.org/loc-7794.html

10th Apr 2025 03:26 UTCAntonio Nazario OP

A minor update: I have given the Standard Slag quarry a proper description covering its history.

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