Copper

Unknown Owner

A gorgeous thick branching crystal grouping of native copper without matrix. This has a lovely red patina as well as some minor tenorite present. In super condition. Excellent North American classic. The Phoenix Mine in Keweenaw County, Michigan, was an early copper mining operation in the Keweenaw Peninsula, a region famous for deposits of native copper. Mining began in the 1840s when copper bearing fissure veins and amygdaloidal basalt flows were developed by underground workings. The mine produced native copper along with associated minerals such as calcite, quartz, and epidote found in cavities within the volcanic rock. Like many mines in the region, the Phoenix Mine played a role in the early growth of the Michigan copper industry during the 19th century.