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Calumet and Hecla Conglomerate Lode

Past Producer in Houghton county in Michigan, United States with commodity Copper
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10082604
MRDS ID W060036
Record type Site
Current site name Calumet and Hecla Conglomerate Lode
Alternate or previous names C & H Conglomerate
Related records 10146583

Comments on the site names

  • THE CALUMET AND HECLA CONGLOMERATE LODE WAS WORKED BY AS MANY AS 34 SEPARATE SHAFTS.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -88.45005, 47.24583 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Houghton(county)

Michigan(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Laurium(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Hancock(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Hancock C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Keweenaw Peninsula(hydrologic unit)

Southcentral Lake Superior(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southern Lake Superior(hydrologic subregion)

Great Lakes(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Michigan Houghton

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
056N 033W 14 SE 4 OF SE 4 Michigan

Comments on the location information

  • THE CALUMET AND HECLA CONGLOMERATE LODE WAS MINED FROM SEVERAL LOCALITIES - OVER A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 18000 FEET. POSITION WAS TAKEN AS THE LOCATION OF THE CALUMET NO. 1 SHAFT

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE CALUMET AND HECLA CONGLOMERATE WAS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE LODE IN THE COPPER DISTRICT WITH TOTAL PRODUCTION EXCEEDING 4.2 BILLION POUNDS (1,905,086 MT)OF COPPER. THIS SINGLE LODE PRODUCED 45% OF THE COPPER FROM THE ENTIRE DISTRICT.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Copper Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Epidote Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Barite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Pumpellyite-(Mg) Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Locally epidote lenses

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 96
USGS model code Unassigned
Deposit model name Native Cu
Mark3 model number 99

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Conglomerate
    Rock unit name Portage Lake Volcanics
    Rock description Portage Lake Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Stenian
    Chronological age 1095
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Portage Lake Volcanics
    Rock description Portage Lake Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Stenian
    Chronological age 1095

Nearby scientific data

(1) -88.45005, 47.24583
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description C & H conglomerate lode can be traced for a distance of more than 40 miles.

Ore body information

  • Name CALUMET AND HECLA CONGLOMERATE LODE
    General form CONGLOMERATE LODE
    Length 5500M
    Width 3M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Permeability and thickness of conglomerate unit

Comments on the geologic information

  • The Calumet & Hecla conglomerate lode was rich at the surface between No. 3 Calumet and No. 5 Hecla, and again from a point 400 feet south of No. 10 Hecla to and beyond No. 1 Osceola. In the Osceola mine and in No. 12 shaft of the Hecla the shafts went from good ore into poor ground with depth. Nos. 6, 7, and 8 Hecla went through poor ground into rich ore. No. 2 Hecla to No. 3 Calumet went from rich ore into lower-grade ground with increase in depth. Nos. 5 and 6 Calumet went through poor ground to the thirtieth level before they entered good ore. The outcrop of the Calumet & Hecla conglomerate lode was, in short, rich in some places and poor in others. A study of the character of the lode rock has shown that the differences in copper content are correlated with differences in the original. character of the rock; where the ore was poor, the felsite conglomerate was very thin or was represented by a thin bed of sandstone; where conglomerate was present at the outcrop in considerable thickness it was well mineralized. There is no indication that the poor areas were ever mineralized and subsequently leached or that the rich areas have been subsequently enriched. It is therefore logical to conclude that the variation in richness is dependent on the character of the rock rather than on position relative to the outcrop (Butler and Burbank, 1929).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1864
Year of first production 1865
Year of last production 1968
Production years ESSENTIALLY ACTIVE CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL CENTENNIAL #3-#6 WAS SHUT DOWN IN 1968

Mining district

District name Keweenaw Copper

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1968
    Period 1865-1968
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major recovered Cu Copper Copper 1910086mt

Comments on the production information

  • Ore grade reported 2.64 % Cu. Production figure is for copper produced including copper from tailings.

Comments on development

  • A FEASIBILITY REPORT ON DEVELOPING AND MINING NATIVE COPPER FROM THE HILLS CREEK DEPOSIT IN THE CALUMET CONGLOMERATE LODE WAS PUBLISHED IN 1966. THE REPORT ESTIMATED 45 MILLION TONS OF COPPER ORE WITH A GRADE IN EXCESS OF 1.5% CU.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BUTLER, B.S., AND BURBANK, W.S,. 1929, THE COPPER DEPOSITS OF MICHIGAN: USGS PROF. PAPER NO. 144, 238 PP.

  • Deposit

    WHITE, W.S., 1968, THE NATIVE COPPER DEPOSITS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN: IN J.D. RIDGE, (EDITOR), ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES, 193301967 (GRATON-SALES VOLUME): AM. INSTIT. MIN. METALL. PETROL. ENG., VOL.1, P. 303-325.

  • Deposit

    WEEGE, J.J., AND POLLACK, J.P., 19971, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NATIVE-COPPER DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN: IN, W.S. WHITE (EDITOR), GUIDEBOOK FOR FIELD CONFERENCE, MICHIGAN COPPER DISTRICT, SEPT. 30-OCT.2, 1971, SOC. ECON. GEOL., P. 19-43

  • Deposit

    WHITE, W.S., CORNWALL, H.R., AND SWANSON, R.W., 1953, BEDROCK GEOLOGY OF THE AHMEEK QUADRANGLE; USGS MAP GQ-27, SCALE 1:24000

  • Deposit

    CORNWALL, H.R., AND WRIGHT, J.C., 1956, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LAURIUM QUADRANGLE, MICHIGAN: USGS MAP MF-47, SCALE 1:24000.

  • Deposit

    BODWELL, W.A., 1972, GEOLOGIC COMPILATION AND NONFERROUS METAL POTENTIAL, PRECAMBRIAN SECTION, NORTHERN MICHIGAN: HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, M.S. THESIS, 98 P.

  • Deposit

    BORNHORST, THEODORE J., 1992, KEWEENAWAN COPPER DEPOSITS OF WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN; AN OVERVIEW OF THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA NATIVE COPPER DISTRICT, MICHIGAN: GUIDEBOOK SERIES, VOL. 13, P. 33-62.

  • Production

    WHITE, 1968 WEEGE AND POLLACK, 1971

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE LODE WAS MINED FROM THE CENTENNIAL, CALUMET AND HECLA, TAMARACK, OSCEOLA, RED JACKET, AND TAMARACK JR., LOCATIONS ALONG A STRIKE LENGTH OF ABOUT 18,000 FEET. DIP LENGTH OF CALUMET AND HECLA MINE WAS 9,200 FEET; BOTTOM LEVEL IS 5,500 FEET BELOW THE SURFACE.
Deposit C & H CONGLOMERATE LODE CAN BE TRACED FOR A DISTANCE OF MORE THAN 40 MILES. FOR MOST OF ITS LENGTH IT IS VERY THIN (0.3 TO 1 M). IN CALUMET AREA WHERE MINING TOOK PLACE, IT AVERAGES MORE THAN 6 M THICK.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1995 Nicholson, Suzanne U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 28-JUL-1995 Sachiko Tanikawa U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAR-1997 Sutphin, D.M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAY-1997 Mason Jr., G.T. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-JAN-2004 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey MERGED RECORDS
Editor 14-SEP-2009 Nicholson, Suzanne U.S. Geological Survey corrected typos

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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