Copper

specimen number:
8311213

location:
Rhode Island Mine, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA

description:
A grouping of native copper crystals, one of them sharply formed in measuring a very large 1.5 cm in size. In great condition.

The Rhode Island Mine, located in Houghton County, Michigan, was one of the many smaller copper mining ventures developed during the early years of exploration in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the mid 19th century. Like other mines in the region, it targeted native copper deposits associated with amygdaloidal basalt flows of the Keweenaw lode system, where copper occurs in vesicles and fractures formed by ancient volcanic activity. Mining was carried out through shallow shafts and limited underground workings, but the property never achieved the sustained productivity of larger operations in the district. Activity was intermittent and influenced by fluctuating copper prices and the uneven distribution of ore, leading to eventual abandonment. Today, the Rhode Island Mine is remembered as part of the broader history of early copper exploration and development in Michigan's Copper Country.

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