With an understanding of modern stone quarrying practices, design teams can bring enhanced creativity to their designs featuring nature’s most beautiful, enduring and unique materials – natural stone. An in-person or virtual visit demonstrates the high-tech capabilities of today’s most advanced quarrying operations. One of these quarries, located in Babbitt, Minnesota, produces a beautiful and versatile domestic black granite known as Mesabi Black®. Coldspring’s Mesabi Black quarry has been in operation for more than 20 years, supplying material for high-profile as well as smaller projects across the country.
Located within the Superior National Forest, this certified quarry operates year-round. Mesabi Black, like all granites, offers exceptional character and finishing capabilities, possesses low embodied energy, no toxic chemicals, is harmonious with nature, infinitely versatile, and reliably sourced. A large amount of Mesabi Black is featured on the World Trade Center site. It has also been used on many notable projects around the country such as the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian Institute, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, and Target Field Station in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Another exciting project featuring Mesabi Black, known as Turn to the River in Terre Haute, Indiana, was recently completed. The project is part of an ambitious vision to connect downtown with the Wabash Riverfront area through public art, new pathways and rethinking use of spaces. The first phase of the project includes a remodeled plaza and a spectacular black granite sculpture with a stream of water flowing through a black granite sculpture to depict the course of the Wabash River and its banks. The sculpture, designed by artist Brad Goldberg, was created using the beautiful and versatile Mesabi Black granite. It includes a carved abstraction of the Wabash River Valley and pools in which the water falls at both ends of the artwork. Future phases will include the development of a promenade with an event space and an elevated overlook that will provide beautiful views of a picturesque portion of the Wabash River.
Coldspring Quarries—Abundant Supply of Materials
As one of North America’s largest and greenest natural stone quarriers, Coldspring offers an abundant supply of quarried materials from multiple quarries around the nation. Sourcing stone domestically is particularly advantageous in light of today’s import supply chain challenges. With shipping times and potential delays from overseas, the import supply chain is being severely affected and could result in even longer production times. Conversely, when sourcing stone from a domestic supplier, disruptions can be greatly reduced and significant delays avoided. Because Coldspring has complete control over the supply chain with full ownership of its quarry systems and manufacturing facilities, lead times are met and ease of matching the stone with other domestic colors is ensured — something that importers cannot easily duplicate.
When it comes to leveraging quarried materials for civil construction purposes, superior product availability and proximity are only part of why Coldspring is the preferred partner. You’ll also have a dedicated, experienced team of specialists working on your behalf and applying industry best practices throughout the process.
To learn more about Coldspring’s Mesabi Black and other quarries or to request a natural stone sample, please contact your local Coldspring representative today.
We would love to have you come tour one of our quarries and earn credits while doing it! The course Tour: Quarrying Natural Stone – Selection to Extraction is approved for 1 LU/HSW by the American Institute of Architects (AIE/CES) and the American Society of Landscape Architects (LA CES). For more information and to register, contact your Sales Representative.