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NATIVE MICHIGAN COPPER. by AL STIMAC. Native Copper. One of the Few Metallic Elements to Occur in Uncombined Form as a Natural Mineral Occurs rarely as Isometric Cubic and Octahedral Crystals More Typically as Irregular Masses and Fracture Fillings. PERSPECTIVE.
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NATIVE MICHIGAN COPPER by AL STIMAC
Native Copper • One of the Few Metallic Elements to Occur in Uncombined Form as a Natural Mineral • Occurs rarely as Isometric Cubic and Octahedral Crystals • More Typically as Irregular Masses and Fracture Fillings
PERSPECTIVE • Kennecott-Utah Copper Contains 0.5 to 0.8% Copper • One 350 Ton Truck with O.6% Copper yields 3 Tons of Copper • Michigan Copper is 2 to 100% Copper Depending on the Sample
KEWEENAW PENINSULA • Northernmost point in Michigan • Premier Mining Location from 1840 to 1968 • Calumet was the second largest city west of Appalachians after Chicago at turn of the century • At one time there was 1 stockbroker for every 26 residents of Calumet and area
Place Name Derivations • Keweenaw – Indian for The Crossing Place • Calumet – French for Pipe meaning Indian Peace Pipe • Laurium – Mining City in Ancient Greece where Copper and Silver were Mined and Home of George Gipp and Al Stimac
THE PROLIFIC KEWEENAW • 94.5% Cu Mined until 1929 came from a 3 mile by 26 mile strip between Mohawk and Painesdale • Heyday was 1900-1918 • Keweenaw District was Second Largest Producer of Copper in the World - 8.2 Billion Pounds Copper Mined - $325 Million in Dividends from 1845-today
Early Exploration Was Fostered By Ontonogan Boulder • Circa 1670 explorers were viewing the boulder • Ben Franklin Drew the Map of Settlement with Britain to Include Isle Royale • After Michigan became a State in 1840 Douglass Houghton Led the Survey to The Keweenaw • Legacy Short Lived - Drowned in 1845
ONTONOGAN BOULDER 3708 POUNDS
COPPER FORMATION IS CHEMICAL AND NOT VOLCANIC • Hydrothermal Venting with Copper in Solution which Precipitated on Cooling Forming: • Float • Mass • Amygdaloid • Within other salts like calcite • Fused with other metals like silver (half breed)
DATOLITE WAS CONSIDERED A WASTE PRODUCT • Porcelain-like Material • Ranged in Size from Tiny to 140 lbs • Calcium Boron Hydroxide Neosilicate Mineral • Coloration Due to Inclusion of Copper or associated minerals from hydrothermal precipitation • Caused Drills/Tools to Muck Up/Wear Out
QUICY MASS 16 TONS QUINCY MASS 16 TONS
Largest Mass Found in Minesota Mine in 1857 • Estimated at 380 to 478 Metric Tons • 52 ft x 16 ft x 9 ft • 20 Men Took 15 Months to Blast, Hammer and Chisel it for Smelting • Chisel Chips Alone Weighed 24 Metric Tons and Paid for Half the Labor
LATEST BOULDER FIND • Offshore 1991 • Seventeen Tons • Removed in 2001 • Destination Michigan Tech Mineral Museum at Quincy Steam Hoist
19TH Century Mining • Early Mines were located near Lake Superior for Transportation Purposes • Significant Amounts of Lumber Were Required for Shoring Up Drifts • Trains Came Later • Mills and Smelters Followed • Mechanical Drilling Followed 3 Man Hand Chiseling
Many Ethnic Groups Contributed to the Copper Industry • Cornish Croatians Finns French • Irish Swedes Italians Norse • Germans Poles Slovenes Scots • There were up to Four or Five Churches of the Same Faith for the Different Ethnic Groups
Cliff Mine • Operated from 1846 to 1856 • $108K Investment Yielded $3.8M