Algodonite-Domeykite

specimen number:
8911089

location:
Ahmeek #2 Mine, Keweenaw Co., Michigan, USA

description:
A large fist sized example of what is called drill scar mohawkite. Very popular for lapidary material, this is mostly a combination of the minerals algodonite and domeykite. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

Located in Michigan's famous Keweenaw Peninsula, the Ahmeek #2 Mine operated as part of the Ahmeek Mining Company on the rich copper-bearing Kearsarge Amygdaloid lode of Mesoproterozoic basaltic flows. Hydrothermal mineralizing fluids migrating through fractures and fissure veins in the basalt deposited native copper alongside unusual copper arsenides, leading to notable ore bodies throughout the district. Sunk between 1905 and 1907, the #2 shaft served as a major production point for high-grade copper ore until mid-twentieth-century closures. The mine became especially famous among mineral collectors for yielding fine specimens of mohawkite, a rare metallic ore rock named after the nearby Mohawk Mine. Highly valued for cabochon cutting and specimen display, mohawkite consists of a natural hydrothermal intergrowth of copper arsenides like algodonite and domeykite with arsenian copper and minor nickel or cobalt, often matrixed with white quartz to create a brassy, metallic golden-yellow contrast against quartz and basalt host rock.

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