1771. Alexander Henry makes the first English attempt to mine copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Ontonagon River.
When was copper first mined in Michigan?
Native American
Native Americans were the first to mine and work the copper of Lake Superior and the Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan between 5000 BCE and 1200 BCE. The natives used this copper to produce tools.
Where is copper found in Michigan?
The Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan has been nationally famous for over 100 years for its history of highly productive copper mining. The local basalt is criss-crossed with many thick veins of native copper that made up the main ore of many of the mines.
How did copper form in Michigan?
Native copper is abundant in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in basaltic lava and interlayered sediments formed approximately a billion years ago. Much smaller deposits are known where these same rocks extend into Wisconsin and Minnesota.
How old are the ancient copper mines in Michigan?
5000- 3000 years ago
Research has verified that the earliest copper mining tools date to 7000 B.C., but the earliest sites with direct evidence of copper mining date to the late Archaic Period (5000- 3000 years ago).
Is there any copper left in Michigan?
Today, two iron mines remain active in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—the Tilden Mine and the Empire Mine, both in the Marquette Range. Industrial copper mining began in the 1860s. During the earlier years of the copper mining era, Michigan produced up to 90 percent of the nation’s copper.
What happened to the copper in the Great Lakes?
Copper is known to have been traded from the Great Lakes region to other parts of North America. However, there were also other sources of copper, including in the Appalachian Mountains near the Etowah Site in Georgia. The Mississippian copper plates were made by a process of annealing.
Are there copper mines in Michigan?
The Michigan State Geologist, Dr. Douglass Houghton, reported on the copper deposits in 1841, causing a rush of prospectors. Mining took place along a belt that stretched about 100 miles southwest to northeast through Ontonagon, Houghton, and Keweenaw counties.
Does Michigan have gold?
Records available at the US Forest Service in Cadillac indicate that gold has been found in over 100 places in Michigan. Gold has been discovered in 27 of 68 counties in the Lower Peninsula and 6 of 15 counties in the UP. Remember, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is an ancient, rugged land.
What is float copper worth?
The weight of the float copper is estimated at [26.6 tons, or 53,100 pounds (24,085kgs)]. Copper nuggets from the upper Michigan Peninsula generally have a copper purity of 90% to 97%. So, using a purity of only 90% copper by weight, the copper specimen has a current conservative metal value estimate of $101,000!
Can you find copper in Lake Michigan?
The Keweenaw Peninsula, located in northern Michigan, was a major copper mining district at one time. “The Keweenaw Peninsula is the world’s largest accumulation of native copper,” Bornhorst says.
When was copper first mined?
Archaeological evidence suggests that copper was first used between 8,000 and 5,000 B.C., most likely in the regions known now as Turkey, Iran, Iraq and — toward the end of that period — the Indian subcontinent.
Where is float copper in upper Michigan?
Often these float coppers were buried inside glacial outwash deposits like those all around Calumet at Swedetown, Centennial Hill and Copper City. The most famous piece of float copper in the region is the Ontonagon Boulder, a legendary boulder found along the riverbank south of Ontonagon.
Why is copper no longer mined in Michigan?
Iron and copper are the two most economically important minerals in Michigan. Michigan produced 5,385,849 tons of copper between the beginning of commercial operations in 1845 and 1969 when several companies ended operations because of labor troubles.
What is the largest copper mine in the world?
Escondida
1. Escondida. The Escondida mine is an open-pit mine and without a doubt the world’s largest copper mine. The country of Chile produces 23% of the world’s copper and the Escondida mine alone accounts for almost a third of that output.
What is the oldest Native American artifact?
The Oldest Weapon Discovered in North America is a 15,000-Year-Old Spearhead. The weapon has archaeologists rethinking America’s earliest settlers. Archaeologists in Texas have discovered what they believe are the oldest weapons ever found in North America: spear-point tips from 15,500 years ago.
Who mined copper in Michigan?
Alexander Henry makes the first English attempt to mine copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Ontonagon River. At the time, the nearest English settlement is nearly 300 miles away at Sault Saint Marie and the region is completely undeveloped and mostly unmapped.
Are there abandoned mines in Michigan?
Michigan Abandoned Underground Mines
The inventory project reports were finalized in early 1999, and consist of two parts, an inventory of all of the Abandoned Underground Mines and a report of those locations needing safety remedies.
Is there a lake under Lake Superior?
Lake Inferior: The Underground Lake Beneath Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and it’s also one of the deepest lakes in the world. But did you know that there’s an underground lake beneath it? Lake Inferior was discovered in 1870 by William Bitter, who found an entrance to the lake.
Could there be a tsunami in the Great Lakes?
“Meteotsunamis happen in every Great Lake and they can happen (roughly) 100 times per year,” said Eric Anderson, the study’s lead author and a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
Where did they get the copper for the Bronze Age?
Here are the facts. During the Bronze Age, 3500 to 1000 BC, five thousand copper mines were excavated on the south shore of Lake Superior. Millions of pounds of copper were extracted. Only a miniscule fraction of this copper can be accounted for among the artifacts of Native Americans.