An underground copper mine consisting of 14 shafts located south of Houghton. The Ohio and Isle Royal Company was organized in 1852 to explore the island of Isle Royale in Lake Superior. The same year, the company transferred all operations to south of Houghton where three rich veins of copper were discovered. Five shafts were sank in the area of prehistoric pits that also followed the veins. Much copper was found as several masses were discovered very close to the surface. In 1855, the company was reorganized into the Isle Royal Copper Company but closed just two years later in 1857. After this time, the mine was leased on tribute to the Mabbs Brothers. In 1862 the company bought the Webster Mining Company after which time the company worked the mine between 1863 and 1870, but closed it again. Again, the Mabbs Brothers worked the mine on tribute for several years. Between 1853 and 1885, the mine produced 8.8 million pounds of copper. In 1899, the reorganized once again into the Isle Royal Copper Company, Inc. This new company was a merger of the old Isle Royal, Huron, Grand Portage, Fure, and Dodge Mines. With the additional mines, the “New” Isle Royal was now working 14 shafts on the Isle Royale Amygdaloid. In 1909, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company bought the mine and operated it until the depression. It reopened the mine in 1932 and closed it for good in 1949. Between 1901 and 1925, the mine produced over 171 million pounds of copper. Little remains of the original Isle Royal site. Most of the rock piles are gone; used for construction projects and road work. The Houghton Wal-Mart store is located on the former Huron Mine site, and other stores occupy the minesites of the Isle Royal. The only remaining rock pile is the Isle Royal No. 7, but this is privately owned as well. Wandering around the area one will run into small remnants of the mine. Minerals that can be found in these small rocky areas include copper, silver, copper wires, and quartz.
References
Dana, E.S. (1892) System of Mineralogy, 6th. Edition, New York: 1086.
Palache, C., Berman, H., & Frondel, C. (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II: 1081.
Rocks & Minerals (1983): 58: 109.
Kaminski-Hamka, T., 2011, Copper Mines of Houghton County, Michigan. Copperlady Press, 120 pp.
DeGood, L., 2011, Michigan Copper Mining Stocks and Bonds. 401 pp.
Kilpela, T, 1995, The Hard Rock Mining Era in the Copper Country. 89 pp.
The Copper Country Rock & Mineral Club, 2001, Red Gold and Tarnished Silver, 2nd Ed., 44 pp.
Butler, B.S., and Burbank, W.S., 1929, The Copper Deposits of Michigan. U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 144. 238 pp.
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