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VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP TO THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA, MICHIGAN - KEWEENAW WEEK 2004

     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; a reception at the Seaman Museum; lectures on various topics of the mines, their minerals and history; trips to view the historical remains in the area; a rock swap (local collectors selling specimens) and a weekend rock show; and a keynote address and auction. The club is able to secure permission to enter rock piles which are normally off limits to collecting.


Mineral sale at Seaman Museum reception at beginning of Keweenaw Week. Seated at left is George Robinson signing copies of his new book "Mineralogy of Michigan" and at the right is Larry Molloy signing copies of his books on the history of copper mining in the Upper Peninsula.

 


The Wednesday evening rock swap/sale at the Quincy is one of four opportunities to buy specimens.


Datolite from the Delaware mine. This specimen was found a few days before the field trip to the Delaware mine. Some local collectors had been following dump trucks taking construction gravel from the Delaware dump to a road where it was spread out. They searched the material and found this very large datolite nodule partially sticking out of the ground. It is one of the larger nodules that has been found from this mine. Participants in the field trip found some smaller nodules of datolite.


The Delaware dump being dug for datolites.


People would search the piles visually and dig (here one of the minerals sought was datolite nodules). Delaware mine dump.


Lake of the Clouds in Porcupine State Park. Copper mining was attempted in the area, the the general low grade tenor of the ores did not result in any successful mines in the area. Some of the mines in the area still have remains of their mineral processing facilities.


Remains of the mill building at the Nonesuch mine, Porcupine State Park. Site was on the itinerary of one of  Larry Malloy's guided bus trips on the history of mining in the area.

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