DELAWARE MINE
Delaware, Keweenaw Co., MI
August
4, 2003
Entrance
to the Delaware Mine tour
Delaware
Mine dump
After
leaving the Humboldt mine, I proceeded to the site of the next field trip, the
Delaware mine. I hadn’t originally signed up for this one, since I had been
there previously (in 1983). I had signed up for the Drexel mine, but the
organizers had to make a last-minute change due to logging on the road to the
Drexel.
The
Delaware is one of the better-known mines in the area because of the commercial
tours conducted at the mine site. There is a large sign on US 41 for the mine.
After turning at the sign there is a bend in the road. A sign points straight
ahead for the mine tour, and if you bear left, the mine dump is on the right,
0.3 miles from the highway. For reference, the GPS coordinates of the dump are
lat. 47 deg. 25.408’, lon. –88 deg. 06.128’.
This
dump is low and easy to climb on. It appears that the county highway department
has been removing rock for road ballast. The picture above was taken the day
after the field trip, after I bought a new camera. In the picture, the highway
department was back to remove rock already.
At
this mine, most of the crystallized copper is in vugs in prehnite. The prehnite
is crystalline, forming radial groups. I also collected microcline, var.
adularia in red-orange crystal groups and pumpellyite in radial groups and
massive “greenstone”. Silver is also known from this mine, but I didn’t find
any.
All
in all, a worthwhile trip, but not as good as 20 years ago.
On to the next trip, the
Knowlton mine