Copper (CU-0016)

specimen number:
9273052

location:
Champion Mine, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA

description:

A thick cluster of beautifully twinned native copper crystals with little attached matrix on the backside. This is in super condition. Classic material for this famous locality.

The Champion mine, located in Painesdale within Houghton County, Michigan, stands as one of the most successful and technologically significant operations on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Geologically, the mine exploited the exceptionally rich Baltic lode, an amygdaloidal basalt layer formed during the Precambrian Midcontinent Rift event, where hydrothermal fluids deposited native copper and distinct chalcocite mineralization within the vesicular flow-tops of ancient lava sheets. Organized in 1899 by the Copper Range Company and overseen by William A. Paine, commercial underground extraction via deep inclined shafts began in earnest in 1902 with the completion of major infrastructure, including the Champion Number 4 shaft-rockhouse. The operation sustained a thriving company town and robustly produced copper for over six decades, navigating the complex economic pressures of the mid-twentieth century until escalating operational costs and depleted shallow reserves led to its permanent closure in 1967.

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