Calcite

specimen number:
2062216

location:
Vulcan Mine, Dickinson Co., Michigan, USA

description:
Colorless translucent scalenohedral crystals of calcite measuring to 1.5 cm in size across the top of matrix with minor pyrite. In good condition with very minimal cleaving present. Nice old time piece, at one time this was part of the collection of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum and comes with one of their labels.

The Vulcan mine complex, situated near the village of Vulcan within Norway Township of Dickinson County, Michigan, United States, is a historically prominent iron operation noted for being the first major producer on the legendary Menominee Iron Range. Geologically, this extensive deposit is hosted within the Paleoproterozoic-age Vulcan Iron Formation, a complex, steeply dipping sedimentary sequence of cherty iron oxides, slates, and dolomites that underwent intense regional folding and fracturing during the Penokean Orogeny. Natural circulation of localized meteoric waters along deep faults leached out silica and oxidized primary iron minerals, creating large, highly concentrated pockets of high-grade, secondary blue-gray hematite and soft red iron ore trapped against impermeable layers of slate and altered igneous dikes. Historically, the deposit was discovered during exploratory prospecting in 1873 by Dr. Nelson Powell Hulst, a brilliant geologist and chemist working for the Milwaukee Iron Company, who identified rich outcroppings that led to immediate test-pitting and trenching. Large-scale industrial production and regular shipments officially commenced in the summer of 1877 upon the completion of the Menominee Range Railroad branch by the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company. Operated heavily by the Menominee Mining Company and later the Penn Iron Mining Company, the complex expanded into an immense underground network utilizing several distinct shaft locations, including the Central, West, and East Vulcan workings, which reached thousands of feet in depth to supply high-quality ores to Midwestern blast furnaces. Continuous corporate ore extraction ran for over six decades until the depletion of easily accessible high-grade underground reserves and changing market conditions forced the permanent cessation of commercial iron-mining operations in 1946.

The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton within Houghton County, Michigan, United States, is celebrated as the official mineral museum of the state of Michigan and a premier repository for Midwestern geological heritage. Geologically, the museum acts as the ultimate reference archive for the unique mineralogy of the Lake Superior region, curating tens of thousands of scientifically significant specimens that document the unique Keweenaw native copper deposits, the metamorphism of the Marquette Iron Range, and classic worldwide occurrences. The collection features unparalleled clusters of crystalline native copper, large calcites, and rare regional species that provide researchers with a comprehensive look at Proterozoic volcanic and sedimentary mineralization. Historically, the institution had its origins in 1885 when the Michigan Mining School was established, with the collection growing rapidly under the dedicated care of Arthur Edmund Seaman, a prominent professor of geology who served as its first official curator and for whom the museum was formally named in 1932. The museum was housed within various campus buildings, including the long-standing Hubbell Hall and later the Electrical Energy Resources Center, before moving into its own dedicated, state-of-the-art facility in 2011 to better accommodate public exhibits and advanced academic research. Through 2026, the museum continues to function as an active, vital educational asset and a major regional attraction, welcoming thousands of visitors annually while preserving its irreplaceable holdings as a definitive benchmark for global topographic mineralogy.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.