Chrysotile

specimen number:
2062201

location:
Ropes Gold Mine, Marquette Co., Michigan, USA

description:
Compact somewhat fibrous crystallized chrysotile with matrix. Good example for the species and locality. Collected in August, 1995.

The Ropes Gold Mine, located north of Ishpeming in Marquette County, Michigan, stands as the only significant historical producer of gold in the state. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Ishpeming Greenstone Belt of the Superior Province, where gold mineralization is hosted in quartz-carbonate veins that intruded into sheared serpentinite and volcanic rocks of the Archean-aged Mona Schist. The ore body was formed through hydrothermal activity, concentrating native gold alongside pyrite, chalcopyrite, and galena. Historically, the mine was discovered in 1881 by Julius Ropes and began formal operations in 1883 under the Ropes Gold Mining Company. It operated successfully for fifteen years until 1897, when it closed due to financial difficulties and declining ore grades. The site experienced a major revival in the 1980s when the Callahan Mining Corporation reopened the mine, utilizing modern underground techniques to extract over 200,000 ounces of gold between 1985 and 1991. Today, the mine is closed and the site has been reclaimed, but it remains a landmark of Michigan mining history and a unique example of precious metal extraction in the Lake Superior iron districts.

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