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Keweenaw week is a week of field trips to the
various waste rock dumps of mines on the Keweenaw peninsula (two field trips
each morning and afternoon for six days) and underground collecting in the
Caledonia mine; lectures on various topics of the mines, their minerals and
history (for a selection of mineral slides from Dan Behnke's talk on the Microminerals
of the Keweenaw); trips to view the historical remains in the area; a rock swap (local
collectors selling specimens) and a weekend rock show; a twilight tour of the
Quincy surface plant and underground via an adit; and a keynote address and
auction. The club is able to secure permission to enter rock piles which are
normally off limits to collecting.
The week starts out with registration at the Seaman museum (a good time to view
one of the better University mineral museums, meet old friends, and make new
ones).
The mine dumps are bulldozed to provide fresh rock to search for minerals such
as copper, datolite, and micro mineral specimens (This is at the Caledonia
mine).
The rocks at the National mine were washed off.
People would search the piles visually (here one of the minerals sought was
datolite nodules) and about two thirds of the collectors were using metal
detectors to search for the copper specimens. Connecticut mine.
The Kearsarge #4 poor rock pile is very large ( but is being rapidly processed
for gravel).
The National mine was an extension of the Minesota mine, one of the more
productive fissure mines.
Attendees of the Keweenaw week 2002 had the opportunity to collect underground
at the Caledonia mine.
Attendees could also choose to go on historically oriented trips to the remains
of mines, mills, towns, and cemeteries. The cylinder is the last section of the
original wooden pipe which carried water from the Victoria dam to the
hydroelectric plant and water powered air compressor.
Mechanical mucker - Coppertown USA museum. This machine was used in the
underground mines to load rock into the tram cars at an active drift face.
There are many lighthouses on the Keweenaw peninsula. Bete Grise lighthouse.
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