Copper

specimen number:
2062210

location:
Painsdale Mine, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA

description:
Interestingly shaped crystallized native copper specimen. Collected in 1994.

The Painsdale mine complex, historically operated as the Champion mine at Painesdale within Adams Township of Houghton County, Michigan, United States, is a legendary underground copper operation celebrated for producing exceptional specimens of native copper, chalcocite, and prehnite. Geologically, this major deposit is located along the western flank of the Keweenaw Peninsula within the Proterozoic-age Portage Lake Volcanics, specifically targeting the highly mineralized Baltic amygdaloidal lode which exhibits a steep dip of approximately 72 degrees. Millions of years ago, widespread structural folding and subsequent hydrothermal fluid circulation forced volatile-rich, copper-bearing solutions upward through porous basaltic flow tops and interbedded conglomerates, precipitating massive native copper aggregates and distinct crystalline wires inside localized solution fractures alongside secondary epidote, quartz, and calcite. Historically, organized commercial development and shaft-sinking commenced in 1899 under the Champion Mining Company, which soon fell under the corporate umbrella of the Copper Range Consolidated Company and expanded into an immense industrial enterprise utilizing four deep inclined shafts. The underground workings were continuously deepened over the decades, eventually reaching the 56th level at an inclined depth of roughly 5,500 feet from the surface, before changing economic conditions and the depletion of easily accessible high-grade ore reserves forced the permanent cessation of all commercial extraction in September 1967.

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