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I Found a Lump of Native Copper Ore on The South Shore of Lake Superior!

This was pretty cool.

I was "beachcombing" near the Port Wing Marina in northwestern Wisconsin a couple weeks ago. I'm like a kid when I'm walking the beach up here. There's the usual assortment of nature's unique driftwood sculptures, twisted by the blustery winds of Lake Superior and polished by waves. There are flat sandstone slabs, agates and miscellaneous rocks shaped by the action of sand and water.

But what caught my eye was the gleaming edge of a piece of rock embedded in the sand.

I knew it was metallic by its weight and density. And it was clear from the glint of metal in one corner of the rock that there was some sort of ore present.

I took it home, cleaned it up with a little vinegar and showed it to a friend, who informed me that it was a piece of basalt containing a sizeable quantity of native copper.

Lake Superior is a mineral-rich region. For decades, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was the source of a significant percentage of the copper mined in North America. In addition to copper and iron ore, silver and gold have been found along the shores of Lake Superior.

My mentor in the real estate business, R. E. Waide, once showed me a large chunk of native copper he found on a beach on Madeline Island. It weighed several pounds and was mostly copper, slightly larger than a tennis ball. He wound up donating it to the Madeline Island Historical Museum.

I'm keeping this one for my own collection.

A second home is an affordable luxury.

Discover why a vacation retreat on Lake Superior is the ultimate indulgence!

Contact Broker Eric Kodner today at 612.670.2539.

Eric Kodner is a luxury property specialist and real estate educator with a unique perspective on the Madeline Island real estate market. Madeline Island Realty is a member of the LuxuryRealEstate.com luxury properties network.

Posted by Eric Kodner CRS, ABR, e-PRO, CLHMS, Madeline Island Real Estate Wisconsin on 05/14/2008 04:20 PM

Comments (19)

madeline island historical museum, port wing marina, wisconsin, lake superior, upper peninsula of michigan

Originally posted at: Madeline Island Real Estate Blog: I Found a Lump of Native Copper Ore on The South Shore of Lake Superior!

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19 Comments on I Found a Lump of Native Copper Ore on The South Shore of Lake Superior!

MAY

2008

Hey, that's MINE! I dropped it the last time I was up there!

...that's why the water up there tastes so good!

Steve

Obeoman

Eric, I took a field geology course that was a five day field trip through upstate New York. I still have some of the rocks I collected. It made me look at rocks differently!

What is it about boys and rocks? (very cool Eric)

MAY

2008

Karen -- Very funny. Hey, it's copper, not gold ya know! But wouldn't it be nice if it WAS gold?

Steve -- Gee, I never thought about it quite that way..thanks!

Pat -- I've always been fascinated by geology. And the Lake Superior region has a lot of diversity in terms of mineral wealth.

I want to go beachcombing with a geiger counter sometime later this summer!

Joan -- Yes, it's true, I am a boy (last time I checked, that is..)

MAY

2008

Hey Eric, That's really cool, quite a find. Sometimes in a manufactured processed world we lose sight of the beauty of things in their natural state

Ross -- It's a bit like finding treasure. I know it's not worth all that much, if anything, but it's cool anyway.

MAY

2008

Eric: Yer just kiddin' us. You found that lump of Copper Ore in your Christmas stocking last December, and you forgot to tell us about it. Ok... so is that worth anything ?

And by the way... there are many of us... your fans out here... who say that you "rock." This just proves it. Way to go ! Or is it too much of a stretch to call this lump of copper a rock ? I dunno... .

Karen Anne -- I guess there's still more "kid" in me than I realized. I always enjoyed beachcombing and looking for agates when I was a boy.

Thanks for the kind words!

I have never seen copper in its natural state; what a cool find! I second Ross' comment above.

Rich, I was in the Keweenaw Peninsula (Michigan) area a couple years ago and I wandered into a rock shop where they had fantastic copper nuggets set in jewelry. There was a woman's necklace with a copper nugget pendant, almost turquoise in color, that was gorgeous!

Looks like a huge Shark tooth! We just saw a IMAX movie on Sea creatures and this could have come from it!

MAY

2008

Charles, if it's a shark tooth, then the shark must've been to the dentist for a copper filling! LOL

Eric: Actually... I think the more of the "kid" you have in you, the better off you are. That also probably applies to just about everyone. Take care...

Karen Anne -- Picking up driftwood and rocks on a beach is the kind of activity that takes you back to your childhood. I think some of that IS good for all of us.

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