Silver City, Kansas

Micro-Lite Mine

James S. and Susan W. Aber

Introduction

In November 2009 the authors accomplished kite aerial photography under high-wind conditions at a mining site known as Silver City in southeastern Kansas. This venture took place during a geology class field trip from Emporia State University, and we were assisted by Lynn Lefebvre, an undergraduate student in the course. This site has been the subject of ongoing geological investigations and class field trips led by the authors. After many visits and years of ground study, this was our first successful KAP at Silver City.

The name Silver City dates from the 1870s, when prospectors thought that silver was present. This led to a short-lived mining boom and swindle, as there is no silver. Instead, an unusual rock called lamproite is found here. It was emplaced as an intrusive pipe, and the surrounding rocks were altered by contact metamorphism with the high-temperature magma. In other parts of the world, lamproite contains diamonds, but not here. The lamproite is mined nowadays in an open pit for a commercial product named Micro-Lite, which is used as a cattle-feed supplement.

The day of our visit was forecast to have strong south to southwest wind at 20-30 mph, and the forecast proved to be accurate! We set up on the southern rim of the mine pit and utilized a small delta kite to lift our Canon S70 and Rebel SRL camera rigs. The former has a wide-angle lens; the latter was equiped with a superwide-angle lens. The delta performed remarkably well, considering the gusty wind. The delta lifted both rigs and was relatively stable in flight.

*Canon* Rebel views over Silver City
View toward SE	View toward SW	View westward	View northward	View toward NE

*Canon* S70 views over Silver City
	Ore processing equipment, storage silo, maintenance buildings and office complex on the southern side of the open-pit mine. View toward southeast.
	Eastern portion of the open-pit mine. This section was worked most recently prior to our visit. The lamproite is excavated using earth movers to scrap up the soft, clayey rock.
	View toward southern margin of the mine. Kite flyers are set up on the rim at the van near center of view. Note kite line.
	Westward view of the mine pit and surroundings. Drainage channels are cut through the wall rocks toward upper left and at the far end.
	View toward the northwest showing the northern wall of the open-pit mine. Note the cluster of students on the mine wall at scene center.
	Near-vertical shot of students on the northern wall of the open-pit mine. They are searching for various minerals in the contact metamorphic rocks adjacent to the intrusion.
	Near-vertical shot over the center of the open-pit mine. Tracks in the lamproite were made by earth movers.

Related websites

Geologic guidebook from the Kansas Geological Survey.
Silver City geology field trip from Emporia State University.
Geology article in the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science.
Silver City ghost town.

Return to KAP gallery.
Last update: Nov. 2009.