Copper

specimen number:
8311376

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

description:
Aesthetic attractive branching crystallized grouping of native copper with little attached matrix. Complete all around and in super condition. The specimen comes with a custom acrylic display base.

The White Pine Mine, located in Ontonagon County, Michigan, is a historically significant copper operation situated within the Keweenawan-aged Oronto Group. Geologically, the deposit is a shale-hosted stratiform copper system, where mineralization occurs primarily as fine-grained chalcocite and native copper within the Nonesuch Shale. Unlike the native copper lodes found further north on the Keweenaw Peninsula, White Pine represents a distinct sedimentary-hosted mineralization style formed during the late stages of the Midcontinent Rift. Historically, underground mining at the site began on a small scale in the early 1900s, but large-scale modern operations were established by the Copper Range Company in 1953. The mine was a massive industrial complex, utilizing room-and-pillar extraction methods to become one of the largest producers of refined copper in the United States. Operations continued for over four decades until the mine closed in 1995 due to declining ore grades and environmental considerations. Today, the site is recognized for its unique geological signature and for producing notable specimens of native copper and silver hosted in dark, fine-grained siltstone.

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