I'm sharing these photos from my archives after being told they may be of interest to the @silvergoldstackers community. Some of them were posted years ago.
This map shows the top part of Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. There is a star on the area where these photos were taken. The dark line is the Canadian border
There are thousands of abandoned pit mines in the Keweenaw Range. I found this pre-historic copper mining mystery quite interesting. Mystery
Champion #4 copper mine.
Operated by the Champion Mining Company this mine operated for 60 years and became the predominate copper producer in Upper Michigan until it closed in 1967. Other mines in the region closed down in the 30's.
I believe tours can be arranged, but we just drove through on our own and were able to enjoy a solitary time taking photos
Most of the buildings on the site have been demolished or are completely overgrown. The only shaft house remaining is that of No. 4 shaft. It is an 83-foot-high structure currently being used to supply the township with water. Water is pumped from the mine shaft and piped all through the township.
If you wanted to apply for a job in the mine you would need to go here, to the mine captains office
Painesdale was built by the Champion Mining Company between 1899 and 1917. The town was located near the copper load, and contains rows of identical saltbox workers' houses.
These piles of waste rock are approximately 100 feet
high. The rock is used for base in road construction.
Quincy Mine Ruins in Hancock, Michigam
Is now the site of a museum and operates tours and a gift shop that has splash copper specimens for sale.
Operated by the Champion Mining Company for 99 years, Quincy produced 424,000 tons of native copper from the underground mine. This mine also produced a large amount of silver,
The HOIST was needed at the mine. Quincy is the deepest mine in the US and one of the deepest in the world.
These photos were taken during a trip to the UP in 2017. The discriptions are mostly from notes I made searching online while touring the mine sites to try to understand what I was looking at.
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