News from the Keweenaw: Recent Mineral Finds in Michigan's Copper Country.  The full article can be found in Rocks & Minerals magazine, May, 1998, article by Tom Rosemeyer.

Although commercial copper mining has come to an end in the Copper Country, specimens reminiscent of the heyday of mining are still being recovered. When one thinks of superb specimens from the Keweenaw, memories of arborescent groups of copper and silver crystals, colorful porcelaneous nodules of datolite, and copper inclusions in calcite crystals come to mind. Surprisingly, specimens mined and collected in the last few years rival or equal some of the classic specimens that now grace museum and private collections the world over.

The demise of the native copper mining industry in the latter part of the twentieth century started with the closure of the Champion mine in Houghton County by the Copper Range Company in September 1967, due primarily to the exhaustion of known ore reserves and the failure to find additional reserves (Fields 1997). This was the last native copper mine in operation by the Copper Range Company and was one that produced superb arborescent groups of native copper. The next blow to the industry was the shutdown of all Calumet & Hecla, Inc.(*) mines in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties by a labor strike that started in August 1968 (Lankton 1991). When management and union could not come to a settlement, all operations were permanently closed in December 1970, followed by the liquidation of all equipment. The final blow came with the closing of the White Pine mine, Ontonagon County, in September 1995. New, stringent environmental laws and an outdated smelter that could not meet emission standards led to its demise.

The Michigan Copper Country contains the largest-known native copper deposits in the world, with a recorded production of 10.5 billion pounds of copper; the White Pine mine produced another 4 billion pounds of copper from a disseminated sulfide ore body. A colorful mining era that flourished from 1843 to 1995 and helped shape the landscape and character of the Keweenaw Peninsula for more than 150 years has apparently finally come to an end.

The mineralogical history of the Copper Country can be viewed at the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, located on the fifth floor of the Electrical Engineering building on the Michigan Technological University campus in Houghton. Its many fine displays acquaint visitors with the bygone glories of the Copper Country that have been preserved by past and present mineral collectors.

Planned field trips sponsored by the Capital Mineral Club

June 26^th 2004  Ossipee Mts. Ossipee, NH.  Smokey Quartz, Microcline Feldspar, Miarolitic Cavities.

July 10^th 2004  Moat Mt Collecting Area, Bartlett, NH.  Smoky Quartz, Microcline Feldspar, Miarolitic Cavities.

August 7^th & 8^th 2004  VAG Mines, Eden Mills, VT Garnet, Diopside, Clinozosite, Epidote.

For more information about other Nefta trips that are sponsored by other clubs check out our club website at www.capitalmineralclub.org in the members only section, or contact Jon Herndon for more information about these trips at omm@aspi.net or 603-539-3884.