Copper

specimen number:
2062353

location:
Great Sand Bay, Keweenaw Co., Michigan, USA

description:

A large mass of native copper, this collected in August, 2000 diving offshore and 35 feet of water.

Great Sand Bay, located along the northern shore of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula between Eagle River and Eagle Harbor, is a scenic coastal area with a rich geological and recreational history. Geologically, the site features a combination of Jacobsville Sandstone and conglomerate beds of the Copper Harbor Formation, interspersed with erosion-resistant lava flows known as the Lake Shore Traps. Mineralogically, the area is famous among rockhounds and collectors for yielding native copper masses, Lake Superior agates, and quartz, with offshore hydrothermal veins occasionally producing exceptional specimen pockets. Historically, while industrial mining focused heavily on the interior ridges of the Keweenaw copper boom during the 19th and 20th centuries, Great Sand Bay gained lasting renown among modern historians and mineral enthusiasts for underwater copper discoveries, including massive float copper specimens like the famous Lake Copper.

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