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Copper mining in the Upper Peninsula boomed, and from 1845 until 1887 (when it was exceeded by Butte, Montana) the Michigan Copper Country was the nation's leading producer of copper. In most years from 1850 through 1881, Michigan produced more than three-quarters of the nation's copper, and in 1869 produced more than 95% of the country's copper.
Sign commemorating the Ontonagon Boulder Location of Ontonagon Boulder. The Ontonagon Boulder (/ˌɒntəˈnɑːɡən ˈboʊldəɹ/, Chippewa: Misko-biiwaabik) is a 3,708-pound (1,682 kg) boulder of native copper originally found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States, and now in the possession of the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian ...
13-oz. nugget of native copper, Keweenaw County, Michigan.Size 9.5 x 8.6 x 1.7 cm. Native copper from the Keweenaw Peninsula Michigan about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) long. Copper Country is highly unusual among mining districts in that the copper mined was predominantly in its elemental ("native") form, rather than in the form of compounds (mostly oxides and sulfides) that form the basis of the ...
Copper was discovered in 1843 at what became known as the Copper Creek mine near Mount Sterling in Crawford County, southwest Wisconsin. About 5500 pounds (2.5 tonnes) of copper were produced from the deposit between 1843 and 1852. [ 73 ]
Agriculture remained the main economic activity before 1860. During the early 1840s, large deposits of copper and iron ores were discovered on the Upper Peninsula. Michigan became the leading U.S. source of these ores by the end of the century, thanks to the influx of experienced Cornish miners (from England) to supervise operations.
In 1899 the property was acquired by the Michigan Mining Company, which also bought the nearby Rockland and Superior mines. In 1903, the Michigan company opened the Calico amygdaloid, which held 3% copper ore, and outcropped on the Minesota property only 140 feet (43m) from the outcrop of the Minesota fissure vein. [3] Minesota Mine Site Panoramic
The mine was the first Michigan copper mine to switch from fissure mining to amygdaloid mining, when the recently discovered Pewabic amygdaloid lode was found to cross Quincy property in 1856. [9] High-grade fissure veins contained large, pure masses of copper, but the masses could take days or even months to extract, at high cost.
However, the Riversite site is particularly remarkable for the variety and quantity of copper implements discovered - about 700 in total. [4] This includes the first clearly documented copper implement that was manufactured by casting rather than hammering. [4] Many of the copper artifacts were in an excellent state of preservation.