Allouez Conglomerate Lode

Past Producer in Houghton county in Michigan, United States with commodity Copper
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Production statistics
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10082609
MRDS ID W060044
Record type Site
Current site name Allouez Conglomerate Lode
Alternate or previous names Albany and Boston Conglomerate Lode
Related records 10122378, 10267900

Comments on the site names

  • THREE MAJOR MINES WORKED THE ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE LODE: FRANKLIN JR. (ALBANY & BOSTON, PENINSULA, AND FRANKLIN), ALLOUEZ MINE, AND DELAWARE MINE.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -88.40449, 47.28889 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Keweenaw(county)

Michigan(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ahmeek(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
United States Michigan Keweenaw

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
057N 032W 31 SW 4 OF SE 4 Michigan

Comments on the location information

  • THIS CONGLOMERATE LODE WAS MINED FROM THREE WELL-SEPARATED MINES: ALLOUEZ (LOCATION GIVEN ABOVE), FRANKLIN JR. (HANCOCK 7 1/2 ' QUAD) AND DELAWARE MINE (DELAWARE 7 1/2 ' QUAD). LAT/LON IS FOR THE ORE BODY.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Copper Ore

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -88.40449, 47.28889

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Felsic conglomerate

Ore body information

  • Name ALLOUEZ
    General form CONGLOMERATE LODE

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Conglomerate bed between amygdaloidal basalt flows

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE CAN BE TRACED ALONG STRIKE FOR 120 K, MAKING IT ONE OF THE MOST CONTINUOUS SEDIMENTARY HORIZONS IN THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA. RED, CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS OF THE ALLOUEZ WERE DEPOSITED IN A TERRESTRIAL ALLUVIAL FAN ENVIRONMENT. A PEBBLE COUNT OF BOULDERS GREATER THAN 20 CM IS: MAFIC (AMYGDALOIDAL BASALT) = 16%; QUARTZ PORPHYRY = 36%; FELDSPAR PORPHYRY = 11%; AND GRANOPHYRE 37% (BORNHORST AND ROSE, 1994).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1860
Year of first production 1864
Year of last production 1909

Mining district

District name Keweenaw Copper

Production statistics

  • Year 1892
    Period 1869-1892
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major recovered Cu Copper Copper 32897.8mt

Comments on the production information

  • Ore graded 0.63 % Cu.

Comments on development

  • THE ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE LODE WAS DISCOVERED BY THE BOSTON AND ALBANY MINING COMPANY IN 1860 WITH PRODUCTION STARTING IN 1864. THE COMPANY WAS RENAMED THE FRANKLIN COMPANY IN 1894. THE MINES WERE RENAMED FRANKLIN JR. AND CONTINUED TO OPERATE UNTIL 1909. THE ALLOUEZ MINING COMPANY BEGAN SPORADIC PRODUCTION FROM THE ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE IN 1859 UNTIL 1892, WHEN PRODUCTION BEGAN FROM THE KEARSARGE LODE. AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE LODE, THE CONGLOMERATE MINING COMPANY MINED THE ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE AND FISSURES FROM THE DELAWARE MINE.

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

    WEEGE, R.J., AND POLLACK, J.P., 1971, 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., 1968, THE NATIVE COPPER DEPOSITS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN: IN J.D. RIDGE, (EDITOR) ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1967 (GRATON-SALES VOL): AM. INSTIT. MIN. METALL. PETROL. ENG., VOL. 1, PP. 303-325.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    CORNWALL, H.R., AND WRIGHT, J.C., 1956, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE HANCOCK QUADRANGLE, MICHIGAN: USGS MAP MF-46, SCALE 1:24000.

  • Deposit

    BORNHORST, T.J. AND ROSE, W.I., 1994, SELF-GUIDED GEOLOGICAL FIELD TRIP TO THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA, MICHIGAN; INSTITUTE ON LAKE SUPERIOR GEOLOGY PROCEEDINGS, 40TH ANNUAL MEETING, HOUGHTON MI, V. 40, 185 P.

  • Deposit

    CORNWALL, H.R., 1954, BEDROCK GEOLOGY OF THE DELAWARE QUADRANGLE, MICHIGAN: USGS MAP GQ-51, SCALE 1:24000

  • Production

    WHITE, 1968; WEEGE AND POLLACK, 1971.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FIRST PRODUCTION FROM FRANKLIN JR MINE BY ALBANY AND BOSTON CO. (1862). IN 1882 MINE SOLD TO PENNISULA COPPER CO. WHICH OPERATED MINE UNTIL 1892. IN 1895 SOLD TO FRANKLIN MINING CO. AND MINED INTERMITTENTLY. FISSURES AND THE CONGLOMERATE LODE WERE WORKED AT DELAWARE MINE FROM 1847 INTERMITTENTLY FOR MANY YEARS. ALLOUEZ MINING CO. BEGAN WORK ON CONGLOMERATE IN 1869 AND OPERATED IT UNTIL 1892
Deposit ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE VERY SIMILAR TO CALUMET AND HECLA CONGLOMERATE IN COMPOSITION AND ALTERATION. ALLOUEZ CONGLOMERATE TYPICALLY CUT BY MANY FISSURES WHICH CARRY CALCITE AND VERY FINELY DIVIDED CHALCOCITE

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1995 Nicholson, Suzanne U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-1997 Sutphin, D.M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAY-1997 Mason Jr., G.T. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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