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Field CollectingKeweenaw Peninsula Collecting Trip

20th Aug 2018 21:23 UTCRobert Darabos

Taking a trip to the U.P. of Michigan this September to look for minerals, mainly copper.

I have been through the Marquette Iron Range before, but never to copper country.

Best places to find large amounts of copper?

Places I was thinking of visiting are the Arcadian Mine Dump, Quincy Mine, Mohawk Mine, Wolverine Mine, Central Mine Dump, and maybe Copper Falls Mine.

I don't really care to drive further North than the Kearsage area, unless it would be greatly worth it.

Are these mine dumps legal to collect from? One article I read on the internet stated that you need permission for the central mine... is this still true?

20th Aug 2018 21:58 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Your timing is impeccable Robert, as you just missed all the big collecting opportunities in the Keweenaw earlier this month. ;-) Oh well, maybe next year you can plan to be there in early August.

Best places to find large amounts of copper? Probably a rock shop! Most of the piles up there are very well picked over so finding large amounts is nearly impossible. If one is patient however, you can still find great specimens on the piles with some digging and observation, just not car loads.

One thing to note is that, technically, every pile on the Keweenaw is owned by someone, whether that be a person, business, or the county. Most of the county owned and "backwoods" piles you can access with no issues, but the privately owned ones can be more difficult, if not impossible, to gain access. Out of the ones you listed, I can tell you that a) Arcadian is pretty much gone, b) Quincy is off limits, c) some of the Mohawk piles are accessible (the ones north of town). d) Wolverine No. 4 is accessible as far as I know, e) Central is tricky. I have heard it is private, yet I see numerous folks in there especially after 5pm., f) Copper Falls is accessible, but unless you have a 4x4 or plan to walk, they are not easy to reach. Based upon your criteria, Mohawk, Central, and Copper Falls would be off your list as they are north of Kearsarge. However, they are other sites not mentioned that, with a little patience, can produce some fantastic specimens. Of course, stay off any pile posted as "No Trespassing".

In addition, don't overlook the other minerals that can be found on the Keweenaw, and also don't forget about the micro/thumbnail-sized specimens as most collectors seem to pass by these in favour of larger sized specimens, for whatever reason......

Good luck!!!

20th Aug 2018 22:19 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

And of course private property owners have not stopped Nature from eroding mineralized rock and washing it down to the beach. I've found native copper and other typically Keeweenaw minerals in beach cobbles. And those into scuba diving can find really wonderful specimens offshore. I don't know whether boat harbors are ever dredged there but, if they are, and your timing gets better ;)) , you might find interesting things looking through the dredge spoils.

21st Aug 2018 04:01 UTCKeith A. Peregrine

The best places for finding copper at accessible dumps would be the Cliff and Central (Fri - Sun, do not block gate). Both have been recently dozed and heavily collected. However, not all copper has been found as people return time and time again. Metal detector is highly recommended for finding copper and silver.

Wolverine #2 is a spot for copper agates and to a lesser extent solid copper.

Only the Mohawk #3 and #4 are accessible for collecting. All others are privately owned and no collecting permitted. The Cliff, Central, and Wolverine #2 are county owned piles. If any activity is present, please stay away as it would interfere with work.

If you need more information, please drop me a personal message.

21st Aug 2018 15:06 UTCJohn Truax

Keith is right about using a metal detector, highly recommended. What has worked best for me is moving rocks, to reveal those below, so leather gloves and dig into the piles. "Large amounts of copper", not sure that will happen, but if you work at it, you'll find some great specimens. https://www.mindat.org/photo-503060.html

Good Luck Digging!

J T

21st Aug 2018 16:30 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

Don't overlook the Seaman Museum in Houghton. It is a world class mineral museum and Chris Stefano is most helpful. Might be a good first stop .

The Manganese Mine near Copper Harbor is the type locality for Mcfallite, and it is easy to find. (or was a year ago).

22nd Aug 2018 03:42 UTCKeith A. Peregrine

Seaman Museum is a must!!!

22nd Aug 2018 07:56 UTCDon Windeler

Amen on the Seaman Museum! A fantastic collection, front to back -- especially for those of us with a copper or Michigan mineral fixation.

When I was at Tech I always considered the museum the most under-rated place to study on campus, as it had a nice quiet area in which to sit -- which was almost always empty -- and any time you needed a break you could get up, walk around, and check out great rocks. That was when it was on the 5th floor of the EEERC; the museum is now a bit farther away from the main campus, but still one of the best places to visit in the UP.

Perhaps not exactly what Robert's asking about, but absolutely a must-see for anyone visiting the Keweenaw and interested in minerals.

Cheers,

D.

22nd Aug 2018 14:25 UTCJohn Truax

Robert if you spend some time looking over photos submitted by Larry Maltby, you can see just how spectacular the specimens from the area can be!

https://www.mindat.org/gallery-23016.html

22nd Aug 2018 16:46 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

John,

Thanks for the referral. You may want to suggest that on that page write Keweenaw in the key words box and click search.

Larry,

22nd Aug 2018 20:36 UTCRobert Darabos

What are these locations (Kearsage and South) like for finding other minerals besides Copper?

Copper is of course the biggest interest, but any Manganese minerals, Ankerite, Quartz, Chalcosite, anything awesome for micro mounts (like the basalt at St. Louis Mine), etc would be fine. I'm assuming people look for these much less than the copper.

22nd Aug 2018 20:47 UTCTravis Olds Expert

The Manganese mine in Copper Harbor is very easy to find, now that it's dump piles have been spread across ~1 mile of the road on which you access it! Some good micros can be had there.

22nd Aug 2018 22:11 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

The St. Louis Mine is my favorite for micro crystals. The Laurium Mine just south of Calumet is also very good for micros. It is located near the State Police post on the left as you are going north. If you are lucky you may find deep blue crystals of kinoite. That will take a lot of luck! For certain you will find vugs lined with salmon colored microcline crystals with centers filled with massive calcite. If you take some of these home and leach the calcite with acid or vinegar, you may find a surprise inside such as copper and or pumpellyite clusters. There are also datolite crystals filled with copper inclusions but they are also difficult to find.

23rd Aug 2018 06:58 UTCJim Gawura

On the Laurium Mine site. The hot key of decimal lat. and long. to take you to Google Maps takes you to 3rd and Hecla St in the city of Laurium. Needs to be corrected. 47.218790,-88.461835 is close to the center of the pile. Cheers

23rd Aug 2018 13:49 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Jim,

I corrected the coordinates to the center of the pile. You can now clearly see the State Police Post in the satellite photo.

Larry,

27th Aug 2018 05:29 UTCRobert Darabos

Here is a quick road trip idea I had and what I'm hoping to find. If any of these mines just repeats the same material (or if there's better options) please let me know. It is a total of about a 2 or 3 day trip. I think none of the mine areas take me further North than the Calumet area.

Day 1: Marquette area -

a.) Sugarloaf Mountain (Epidote)

b.)Presque Isle Park (Clinoenstatite, Agates, Peridotite) (is it legal to collect here?!)

c.) Beacon Hill/Champion Mine (Specularite)

d.) Dickinson County (Goethite, Magnatite, etc - I have no great idea for this place yet)

e.) Black River Pegmatite (or is this picked over and gone?)

Day 2: Keweenaw Peninsula

a.) Painesdale area - Champion Mine and Baltic Mine

b.) Arcadian Mine (ankerite, prehnite, epidote, etc)

c.) Laurium Mine and St. Louis Mine

Does this look like good mines to hit up? Should some be skipped (because they are not allowed for collecting or because they are no longer there). Thanks again!

27th Aug 2018 11:31 UTCSusan Robinson

Presque Isle park at Marquette is a nice area, but access to the collecting areas is mostly off-limits because of the steep cliffs along its side that faces the lake. Most of those sites provide little to no "beach" to stand on, and the waves can be formidable most of the time. Also, the water in the lake is cold most of the year. If you fall in, hypothermia could result.

I know that the area there has few, if any, agates along its shore, since you will be in the Marquette Iron Range region geographically, and not the area of the basalt flows which produced the agates in the Keweenaw.

Susan Robinson

27th Aug 2018 11:34 UTCSusan Robinson

If you do get to the specular hematite sites of the Champion mine at Champion, they are easy to access as long as you have permission. As I recall, the specular hematite is abundant there - in fact, there was a large dump pile of it, as well as other minerals to collect. The street "names" in the hamlet of Champion are a challenge, as you will see.

27th Aug 2018 11:50 UTCSusan Robinson

There is a mine tour at Iron Mountain, MI, and perhaps they could direct you to mine dumps that are open to collect from. There are also some mine dumps at Montreal, WI, which is just across the state line from Ironwood, MI - both in the Gogebic Iron Range.

27th Aug 2018 19:19 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

You have set a pretty ambitious day 1 in the Marquette area, Robert. That's not going to leave you much time at each site to really spend a lot of time for collecting. Same for day 2 in the Keweenaw. You might be better served to really focus on a couple sites to give yourself a bit more time at each. I can say that your pick of Laurium/LaSalle and St. Louis are great ones, but it would be to your benefit to take some time at each....

27th Aug 2018 19:28 UTCRobert Darabos

Yeah, it seems a little crammed to me too :)

I might cut a couple back. A couple of them (especially in the Marquette area) I've been to before so I'm just stocking back up.

Do you know any good Manganese-mineral mines near Marquette or Dickinson county?

27th Aug 2018 22:13 UTCTravis Olds Expert

We visited the Black River pegmatite this July. Except for the main cut, the easier pickings on the side are almost entirely overgrown, so bring a shovel. There was a visible chunk of purple fluorite in the main cut, but would take a large amount of work with feather & wedge + sledge to free it properly. It's honestly best to leave it, so others can see fluorite in-situ.

The Taylor mine in Alberta has nice pyrolusite, manganite, and rhodochrosite + neotocite in one of the test pits. www.mindat.org/loc-3838.html

The South Jackson pit in Negaunee has good manganite, pyrolusite, psilomelane, etc. But it's gated, and on private property. Best to tag along with the Ishpeming Rock and Mineral Club for access.

One the easiest mines to access with Mn minerals is the "Manganese Mine," (not to be confused with the Manganese Mine in the Keweenaw) and its dumps are scattered about the clear-cutting of the power line path. Geothite, pyrolusite, manganite, and if you're lucky, baryte, can be found there. www.mindat.org/loc-125094.html

Travis

28th Aug 2018 03:23 UTCTravis Olds Expert

Thanks, Paul, for fixing the locality links!

28th Aug 2018 04:20 UTCRobert Darabos

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts. I can't get up to the U.P. often (especially considering I live in Guatemala most the year) but enjoy a trip when I visit home to see family.

I've extended the trip to four days, so that should help a lot.

Day 1 and Day 2: Marquette area - Presque Isle, Beacon Hill, Humboldt County Manganese Mine (plus whatever catches my eye)

Day 3: Black River Pegmatite on my way to Crystal Falls to visit Bristol Mine (can I even collect here, btw?!)

Day 4: trip to copper area, mainly for Laurium and St. Louis. Maybe a fast drop through Arcadium or Franklin if I have a few minutes to spare.

Day 5: probably a lot of pain killers and sleep :)

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