What was mined in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan?
Dozens of copper and iron mines were scattered across the Upper Peninsula in the 1800s and early 1990s. Just two are left at the Cliffs Natural Resources facility in Marquette County.
Do they still mine copper in the Upper Peninsula?
Copper mining has been almost continuous in the Keweenaw Peninsula area for the 150 years since then. During that time over 12 billion pounds of native copper have been mined.
Who first mined copper in Michigan?
Alexander Henry makes the first English attempt to mine copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Ontonagon River. At the time, the nearest English settlement is nearly 300 miles away at Sault Saint Marie and the region is completely undeveloped and mostly unmapped.
Where can I find copper in upper Michigan?
Domeykite or algodonite are two very similar minerals containing copper and arsenic. Just north of Kearsarge are the mining towns of Allouez and Ahmeek area. At the Ahmeek Mine, you should find Algodonite, Domeykite, and Massive Quartz. At the Allouez Mine, look for Chrysocolla.
Where is iron mined in Michigan?
Iron mines are located in areas known as ranges. The Upper Peninsula's biggest range is called Marquette Range. Two smaller ranges are the Menominee Range and The Gogebic Range. Michigan's early mines had to deal with a tough environment and difficult transportation issues.
Is There gold in Upper Michigan?
The Upper Peninsula, the shore of Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan beach gold are everywhere. They have high amounts of gold for recreational prospectors. Any of the great lakes and some of the streams in the national forest offer terrific prospects for gold hunting.
Is iron ore still mined in Michigan?
All of the mines on the Menominee and Gogebic Ranges have closed. Today, the Tilden mine in Ishpeming is the only Michigan mine still operating.
Where is the purest copper found?
Halfbreed is the term for an ore sample that contains the pure copper and pure silver in the same piece of rock; it is only found in the native copper deposits of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
What kind of mines are in Michigan?
The Department of EGLE, Oil, Gas, and Minerals Division (OGMD) regulates several mining industries in Michigan including, metallic mining, native copper mining, sand dune mining, and coal mining.
What is float copper worth?
The weight of the float copper is estimated at (26.6 tons, or 53,100 pounds (24,085kgs)). Copper nuggets from the upper Michigan Peninsula generally have a copper purity of 90% to 97%. So, using a purity of only 90% copper by weight, the copper specimen has a current conservative metal value estimate of $101,000!
What minerals are mined in Michigan that we can extract iron from?
Chert and magnetite are by far the most common minerals in the iron-formations. Other iron minerals include siderite and hematite.
Where is magnetite found in Michigan?
Lake Michigan Small concentrations of black sands are common on the Great Lakes. On the Wisconsin shoreline of Lake Michigan they are composed primarily of high-density oxide and silicate minerals such as magnetite, illmenite, hematite, amphiboles, pyroxenes, and garnets.
Can diamonds be found in Michigan?
Jack Van Alstine, geologist at the Michigan State Department of Natural Resources at Marquette, said diamonds have been found in northern Michigan and Wisconsin within the last 100+ years. Where to search for diamonds? Near Dowagiac in Cass County. Diamonds that floated down on glaciers have been found in the area.
Is there uranium in Michigan?
There is no uranium ore anywhere in the state of Michigan. And since there is no uranium ore, there are neither proposed uranium mines, nor planned uranium mines; statements to the contrary are absurd.
When was copper discovered in Michigan?
“Prehistoric Copper Mining in Michigan” has more than 200 pages of appendix and bibliographic material detailing the names of the explorers, the location of the mine they discovered and the date it was discovered. The first “official” discovery of these ancient mines occurred in the 1840s.
What minerals are mined in Michigan?
Michigan is a major producer of cement, construction sand and gravel, iron ore, peat, and potash. It produces common clay, crushed and dimension stone, gypsum, industrial sand and gravel, lime, gemstones, and salt.
Is iron ore mined in Michigan?
Iron mines are located in areas known as ranges. The Upper Peninsula's biggest range is called Marquette Range. Two smaller ranges are the Menominee Range and The Gogebic Range. Michigan's early mines had to deal with a tough environment and difficult transportation issues.
Is native copper valuable?
Copper is only worth about $3 per pound, but natural specimens are worth considerably more than that. Collectors pay a premium for nice nuggets and specimens that is not based on the “melt value” of the copper. Individual specimens with nice crystalline shapes can bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars per pound!
Is native copper rare?
The native state of copper is relatively rare, meaning most of the world's copper supply is extracted from other minerals. Native copper has been an important ore of copper throughout history and has a variety of uses both industrially and economically.
Is there cobalt in Michigan?
Michigan's geological makeup One area, the western Upper Peninsula, has igneous and metamorphic rocks that host well-known, abundant and varied metallic mineral resources, including copper, iron, nickel, platinum group minerals, manganese and cobalt.
Is there quartz in Michigan?
Vein quartz is abundant at the Michigan Gold Mine a few miles west and north of Ishpeming. Some fragments of quartz contain tourmaline, a black shiny mineral in long needle-like crystals.
Does Michigan have gold?
Records available at the US Forest Service in Cadillac indicate that gold has been found in over 100 places in Michigan. Gold has been discovered in 27 of 68 counties in the Lower Peninsula and 6 of 15 counties in the UP. Remember, Michigan's Upper Peninsula is an ancient, rugged land.
What do they mine in Michigan?
Michigan is a major producer of cement, construction sand and gravel, iron ore, peat, and potash. It produces common clay, crushed and dimension stone, gypsum, industrial sand and gravel, lime, gemstones, and salt.
What rock is copper found in?
Copper minerals and ores are found in both igneous and sedimentary rocks.
How do you tell if a rock has copper in it?
In addition, search for rocks that are green or pieces of ore that have green flecks. The green hue is characteristic of copper. Remove samples of the rocks and take them back to the lab for testing. If the rocks have a high part per million count of copper, then you may have found a copper deposit.
Is float copper worth anything?
The weight of the float copper is estimated at (26.6 tons, or 53,100 pounds (24,085kgs)). Copper nuggets from the upper Michigan Peninsula generally have a copper purity of 90% to 97%. So, using a purity of only 90% copper by weight, the copper specimen has a current conservative metal value estimate of $101,000!
Is there obsidian in Michigan?
Two archeologists found pieces of obsidian, pictured, at a dig in Lake Huron, Michigan that are over 9,000 years old and from the Wagontire area.
What kind of rock contains gold?
Gold is most often found in quartz rock. When quartz is found in gold bearings areas, it is possible that gold will be found as well. Quartz may be found as small stones in river beds or in large seams in hillsides.
How do you tell if a rock has gold in it?
One of the easiest and most telling tests for gold that you can perform on your rock is for hardness. This test is an application of Mohs hardness scale, which compares the hardness of different minerals by scratching them against one another.
What raw copper looks like?
Copper is a copper red to reddish-brown soft ductile and malleable metal. Its color as copper red is best seen by reflected light.