Chalcocite

specimen number:
2062372

location:
Flambeau Mine, Rusk Co., Wisconsin, USA

description:
Rich massive chalcocite throughout matrix with pyrite. An excellent ore example for the species and locality.

The Flambeau Mine in Rusk County, Wisconsin, was an open-pit copper, gold, and silver mine located just south of Ladysmith. Following its discovery in late 1968 and a lengthy permitting process, construction began in 1991, active ore shipments ran from 1993 to 1997, and backfilling and reclamation were substantially completed by the end of 1999. Geologically, the deposit was a Paleoproterozoic volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) system hosted within strongly deformed volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Penokean volcanic belt. It featured a steeply dipping, tabular orebody that underwent significant supergene enrichment near the surface, producing a high-grade zone rich in secondary copper minerals like chalcocite and bornite before being successfully restored to a natural landscape.

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