Copper

specimen number:
2292154

location:
White Pine Mine, Ontonagon Co., Michigan, USA

description:
A bright crystalline sheet of native copper.

The White Pine mine, located in Ontonagon County, Michigan, is a stratiform copper and silver deposit situated near the western base of the Keweenawan Peninsula. Geologically, the mineralization is hosted within the lower sections of the Mesoproterozoic Nonesuch Shale, primarily occurring as fine-grained chalcocite and native copper within siltstone and shale beds that conformably overlie the Copper Harbor Conglomerate. Underground mining at the site began on a small scale with initial production attempts from 1879 to 1881 and again from 1913 to 1920. Large-scale industrial development commenced in 1953 under the Copper Range Company, which established an underground mine, mill, and smelter complex. The operation continued to extract copper and silver ore until economic factors led to its permanent closure in 1995.

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