Background

The Bautsch-Gray Mine site is located in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. In 1944, the owners of the Gray farm installed a mining shaft on the property, built a 600-ton flotation mill and began mining the Gray ore body and milling the ore. The ore body contained minable concentrations of lead and zinc and was found to extend into the adjoining Bautsch property. In 1946, operations began at the Bautsch mine on the Bautsch property. Ore from both mines was processed at Gray Mill. Gray Mill also processed tailings from other nearby mines.

Since it closed in 1975, tailings from the mine ...
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