In June of 1864, the Sheldon Mining Co. and the Columbian Mining Co. merged, forming the Sheldon and Columbian Copper Co. At the time of the merger, the Columbian had two working shafts; the Sheldon five. After the merger, three of the shafts were closed and used for winzes to connect operating levels of the mine. The remaining four were named Stewert #1, Stebbins #2, Banker #3, and Bloodgood #4 (thought to be the mine captains at the time of merger). The mine worked the Isle Royale lode, which was known at the time to be rich in copper and silver. Operations continued until 1870 when erratic mineralization of the lode at depth forced the company to close. Since the opening of the Sheldon in 1853, 1,463,000 lbs. of copper were mined from this location. Copper crystals, silver, datolite, and chalcocite can be found here.
References
Butler, B.S., and Burbank, W.S., 1929, The Copper Deposits of Michigan. U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 144. 238 pp.
Palache, C., Berman, H. & Frondel, C. (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged, 834pp.: 172.
Kilpela, T., 1995, The Hard Rock Mining Era in the Copper Country. 89 pp.
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