Datolite

specimen number:
1791261

location:
Empire Mine, Keweenaw Co., Michigan, USA

description:
Attractive cut and polished datolite specimen. Classic material for this mining district.

The Empire Mine in Keweenaw County, Michigan, is part of the historic Upper Peninsula copper mining district that emerged during the major American mining boom of the nineteenth century. Geologically, the site is situated within Precambrian basaltic lava flows and related sedimentary interbeds associated with the Midcontinent Rift system. Mineralogically, the region is famed for its hydrothermal vein systems, yielding native copper alongside associated gangue minerals like calcite, quartz, and epidote. Prospecting and minor exploratory mining at locations such as the Empire opening took place during the mid-to-late 1800s as miners extensively combed the region for productive fissure veins and copper-bearing lodes.

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