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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 9, 2014 9:11:45 GMT -5
Last year I joined the CCRMC (COPPER COUNTRY ROCK AND MINERAL CLUB) in Houghton. MI. This area is about 225 miles from home. This last Saturday they held their first field collecting trip of the year. The snow has finally melted, although their are still a few small snow banks that I saw. The drive there is on nice 2-lane roads filled with wildlife, so be careful. Deer, bald eagles eating a coyote, turkey vultures, and a coyote that was only a bit shy. Our first stop was at the WI/MI border at a tourist info center and they have this core sample on display: Looks like @shotgunner will have to upsize his core drill set up to do this. Stayed at the Super 8 for under $70. Clean, decent comp. breakfast, and a HOT Michigan sauna! Sadly this area is a victim of the whims of the mining companies and the economy that is driven by it and many of the little towns on the drive there are near-ghost towns. Fortunately, it appears that the town of Houghton is thriving. Might have a lot to do with the beauty of the town and that they have Michigan Tech there. Across the river is Hancock, MI. Below is a wonderful restaurant/brew pub where we ate. This area was inhabited by westerners at least as early as the 1840's. Sunset at the hotel looking toward Hancock, MI.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 9:13:48 GMT -5
haha! Those are really nice images of some beautiful country.
That core section made me smile, thank you!
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 9, 2014 9:20:29 GMT -5
haha! Those are really nice images of some beautiful country. That core section made me smile, thank you! Would have loved to see them drill this.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 9:22:01 GMT -5
yes, I bet it took a good while. Considering I am getting 2" per hour in Jasper...
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 9, 2014 9:34:00 GMT -5
So the next morning we got up and headed about 25 miles further up the U.P. to the Cliff Mine just beyond Ahmkee, MI. The lilacs were out and smelled wonderful. Here is a sign just a few hundred yards beyond the collecting site. These trucks were there for the ATV trail and were not part of the rock crew. Below is most of the crew. Wonderful group of guys. Without dissing anyone I believe my wife and I were the youngest ones there. Some And a panorama of the site. There was a very small stream to cross. The dig site is often hounded by locals but our group paid a dozer operator to come in and push up some new/old material. The area we were in is the waste rock area of the Cliff copper mine. Amazing how much copper material is there. It comes in rock form where the copper can not be seen. Metal detectors are used. Some has exposed copper, green of course. And neatest of all are the copper chips and tools. In the 1800's they would find large copper masses up to several hundred tons each. But they did not have the ability to move or easily but them. So miners would take a long chisel and a 6 to 8 pound maul and manually cut them up to manageable sizes. Here is a chisel that was found by the dozer operator. It was given to the group and raffle off to a lucky winner, not me. It is believed that the top of this chisel was broken off. So, what was found there? I was able to gather up well over 100 lbs. of material in 4 hours. Doesn't look like much in the buckets but they are heavy. Stay tuned.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jun 9, 2014 10:33:39 GMT -5
I was at that mine a couple years ago. I thought I found a piece of datolite, but when I cut it, I found that it was not.
I talked to my sister and brother in law last night to arrange a trip up there this summer. They live in Lake Linden, near Houghton. He said that there were still big chunks of ice floating in a bay near them.
Did you go to the Seaman's Mineral Museum in Houghton? If not, you really have to check it out next time you're there. It's free on Tuesdays, and well worth the five dollars on the other days.
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 9, 2014 11:27:40 GMT -5
Did not get to the Seaman museum this trip but have been there a few times before. Certainly will be there this August when I return. Now the sad news about the Cliff Mine site. It is scheduled for remediation this summer and will be off-limits to everybody then. There is an irrational fear that the copper will leach out of the rocks and get into the water. Seems to me that the copper has been there all along. But what do I know. So pretty much they are going to move and/or bury what is there. I'll bet the ground water will still get there. Nobody in the group found any datolite but the guys agreed that there should be some there, especially on the south-east side of the road. Did not see any icebergs this trip but just over a week ago there were still some in Superior.
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 9, 2014 11:41:36 GMT -5
Doesn't look like much on the tailgate. Mining artifacts on the right, nails, spikes, doo-dads. Copper pieces on the right, float copper: Washed piece of float with some extras in it: Before: After washing: The copper that runs through it is what is holding this chunk together. Now for the super artifacts…As I stated before the humongous pieces of float copper, many tons in a chunk, had to be chiseled apart. The workers didn't do too good of a job of picking up their chiseled chips and some are left behind for the eager rock hound to discover. My cheapo camera doesn't do these justice but when seen in person you can see that it is a chiseled piece. One fella' found one about 6" or 7" long. Typically smooth on the chisel side but the other side shows evidence of it being rolled out like a ribbon from the chisel action. And the other side of the big one: While nearly all of the specimens here have copper in them, several had visible copper on the outside, such as the green showing nearly dead center on the middle rock.
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swiper
having dreams about rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 64
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Post by swiper on Jun 10, 2014 14:31:02 GMT -5
Very nice. What do you do with the copper infused rock?
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Post by DirtCleaner on Jun 10, 2014 18:50:07 GMT -5
Those with exposed copper can be made into specimens worthy of showing by cleaning the copper areas. I have slabbed some but have not taken them further yet. Jewelry is certainly an option. Bigger pieces would make good book ends. If I ever complete anything with them I will certainly post some pics. And whatever someone's imagination can do.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 16, 2014 23:45:43 GMT -5
Great photos,love old buildings and old towns.....Lilacs are the best smelling flowers too...Nice haul on the treasures
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