Monthly Archives: August 2011

My Best Datolite Ever

The faithful husband encouraging Bonnie to "did faster".

The faithful husband encouraging Bonnie to "dig faster".

The pitter patter of light raindrops was my alarm clock. Bonnie & I were up and off before dawn’s light. Only a thermos of coffee and a portable monk’s muffin went with us, as we hurried to our destination. The goal was to get there before “The Badger” got there. .(Why? I don’t know—a point of honor I guess.) We had seen him digging a hole the other day, and knew he was attacking the rock pile with a sense of purpose. We saw evidence of his success and wanted to be successful too.

Don's BIG hole.

Everybody was digging BIG holes

Chrystal's odd find while metal detecting

Krystal's odd find while metal detecting. Would this be a "float hammer" just because she was looking for "float copper"?

At 6:00 am the traffic is pretty light on US 41 in the Keweenaw, but low and behold a car appeared and turned into our very own destination rock pile. I knew who it was! Yes, the Badger, a vigorous and determined datolite digger had arrived moments before us. The bad news was that the rain disappeared, and had not been sufficient to clean off the rock recently moved around there, so there was no datolites washed out. At least the dawn had come on enough that we could see.

We watched the experienced work of the Badger (this is not his real nickname, I just called John this because of his digging skill) and joked around with him. He is a recently Tech grad in geology engineering and is goofing off this summer gathering datolites and other rock treasures. John Dezelski dug and looked. He ended up the day with around a dozen. Bonnie & I dug and between us finally got 3. You have to develop an eye, because otherwise they are camouflaged.

"Don"atolite

I have been hunting minerals in the Keweenaw for years now, but I always focused on greenstone and “cutting material”, a vague term used to cover pretty rock found in this area–Patricianite, Prehnite, and others. I have dug for datolites before, but I don’t recall finding many! Luckily sometimes when you’re digging you find other stuff to please you.

Greenstones seem to be getting harder to find as the years go by, especially real nice big ones. All my old glory holes have been hauled away for road fill. We used to get Greenstones and Datolite at many locations and now those piles are gone. It’s not like the good old days. If you want a greenstone or datolite at a reasonable price, act now. Less supply means higher prices.

Aliens and Salamanders

Copper Harbor (left) with sheltered harbor and Lake Superior on far left. Lake Fannie Hooe on the right. We are camped on the west side of the lake.

Today was a wonderful 75 degrees with a nice breeze. It rained during the night so we thought maybe some Greenstones would be washed out at the Central Mine. We headed out with our rock buddies Chris and Krystal, but had limited luck. There was not enough rain to wash the stones out.

It's a long way down US41 to Miami from here.

I found a rock with a drill core hole in it and forgot to take it when we left. I stashed it so I’ll get it tomorrow. I thought it would make a great planter for Bonnie. We all got a few things, but nothing to brag about. We left the Central and headed out to the logging road where Chris found his float copper the other day.

Chris again was the star, with a nice Lake Superior Agate he found where the bulldozer tracks were in the logging area. He also found a couple small pieces of Float Copper and Crystal found a small piece of float also. I hiked back into the bush and found an exposed Prehnite outcrop where I picked up a couple pieces to cut later.

These guys were digging so fast they were just a blur.

After we had lunch Chris, Bonnie, and I hiked back to the Prehnite area to dig. Krystal rested in the car as she got little sleep due to a bear roaming around their campsite during the night. We all dug, but the holes produced little except the blue spotted salamander Bonnie unearthed which was interesting to examine. It emitted some sticky substance from glands in its’ tail onto Chris. We released it so it could crawl back into a hole.
Just after that wildlife encounter the strangest alien looking bug landed on Chris. It stood still long enough for we to get a great shot of it. If anyone can ID either this Salamander or the bug, please let me know.

The Salamander. When we sprayed water on him he really was excited.

We think the "alien" is a moth. Does anyone know about this chartreuse bug?

We split up and Bonnie and I checked some outcrops on Brockway Mountain Drive for rare agates, but found none.

I think after some burgers on the grill we will go downtown Copper Harbor and be tourists tonight.

Where in the world is Copper World?

Copper World

In historic downtown Calumet, Michigan, lies the finest gift shop in the Keweenaw. Yes, I speak of Copper World. They retail my jewelry as well as items from many other top-of-the line artisans, most from the Copper Country. I specialize in gemstone jewelry from the Copper Country that I find myself, cut, and wrap. My jewelry is a great fit for this store.

Snob Appeal Jewelry is exclusively featured at Copper World

I love their exclusive line of clothing items promoting the Keweenaw Peninsula as well as their full line of the famous Stormy Kromer hats “made in da U.P. eh.” They feature all the finest books on the history of the area as well as the rocks and minerals of Copper Country. I could go on and on about all the cool things they have, but I want you to go there or check out their web site: www.calumetcopper.com

My buddies Tony and Tim

The store is owned by my good friend Tony Bausano, and is most often staffed by his son Tim, and daughter Chris. Behind the scenes is Tony’s wife, Joyce, who really runs the business end of things at the store, as well as the online business and all the shipping. I love a family business and this is one of the best examples.

I have been exclusively retailing at Copper World for four years, and thanks to Tony and Tim our business and products have a great following up here. Whenever I do wire-wrapping demonstrations at Copper World many locals come in to chat and see what new things I’ve done. Working in Copper World also allows me to talk about my favorite subject (rocks) to those interested. The best sellers are Lake Superior Agate, Datolite, and Chlorastrolite pendants. Other stones of interest are Prehnite, Thomsonite, Firebrick, and Mohawkite.

I'm in deep concentration making jewelry in Copper World.

They proudly offer the work of many artists’ products, many associated with the Copper Country. Besides the “Kromer’s” I just love the Thimbleberry jam they sell.

Tony is the biggest promoter of Calumet that I know of (and longtime mayor) and steers the “Trolls” (this is the nickname for we who live south of the Big Mac Bridge) to historic places and local sights. He is proud of Calumet and it’s history. The building itself was a big restoration project and is a welcoming beacon to the historic downtown area.

Make no mistake this store is a very busy place during tourist season, with a constant flow of walk-ins, both local and from far and wide. They come looking for that perfect souvenir or gift, and are seldom disappointed. When you come to Calumet, be sure to visit Copper World.

Chris Cooper’s Day Off

August 15th

Beautiful sunset from the top of Brockway Mountain.

Bonnie and I went out rock hunting with our friends Chris and Crystal today. We started at an old mine that is not on any map where we found U.P. Thomsonite (Prehnite nodules and nice Patricianite which is a mix of pink and green prehnite with bits of copper. It is a wonderful cutting material. Crystal found a few Greenstones.

It was quite sunny and hot on this first pile so we headed to Thomsonite Hill near Eagle Harbor and dug a bit of Prehnite under and old pine tree. I was not real excited and we all bailed out of there and found a logging road a couple years old. I hunted the road for small prenite nodules and Datolite. The road was constructed from tailing out of the Delaware mine so there is always the possibility for datolite. Bonnie and I each found a Datolite. Bonnie’s Datolite was much nicer than mine. I can see I’ll have to make her another pendant (but that’s what I do).

Chris with his first piece of Float Copper. I'm surprised he stood still for this picture as excited as he was.

Chris' float copper after preliminary cleaning.

I told Chris that these logging operations are often times great for finding float copper. Float copper was gouged out and carried by glaciers in the area. Pieces have been found weighing several tons. Chris grabbed his trusty White and headed into the bush. Within 10 minutes he had a nice two to three pond piece of float copper. Finding a nice piece of float copper has been Chris’ goal and I really have never seen him so excited. So, in honor of Chris’ first “floater” I dedicate this blog to him.

Later he cleaned the copper up and brought it to our campsite at Fort Wilkins State Park. What a great find! We have to go back to the bush Wednesday and find some more. I forgot my detector today, but I will have it Wednesday. I’ll keep you all informed.

The NEW Seaman Mineral Museum.

The NEW Seaman Mineral Museum

The new Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Technological University opened not long ago with their first display from the Keweenaw set up.

Museum cases ready to be filled

The new building has slightly less floor space than their old location in the Engineering building. I think with careful planning they can get all the old material back in plus maybe a little more. The new building was designed to be added to and it really needs to be twice as big at least.

Some of the Keweenaw collection minerals

A generous donation from Thomas D. Shaffner and supporters of the Seaman and the University funded the building. Construction began auspiciously when an old mine shaft was struck under where the building was going to be replaced. This added costs to the building as that hole had to be filled. I thought that it would have been a great asset to just leave the hole open and charge for mine tours (OK, just kidding). Another option would have been to put the Fluorescent collection down there (you need dark don’t you?).

Lakers

Copper history display

Our good friend and famous artist, Susan Robinson, took Bonnie and I on a wonderful tour of the future museum. Susan’s husband Professor George Robinson has done a wonderful job coordinating the reestablishment of the museum exhibits. Susan is to be commended as chief specimen wrapper and unwrapper.

The gift shop is open and was busy. The biggest areas of the exhibits are still to be unwrapped and displayed, but they did get Keweenaw minerals out to make all of us drool over what we wish we might find this week.

Datolites

A Treasure from the Historic Cliff Mine

Advertised as the “last hunt at the Historic Cliff Mine”, rockhounds paid a generous fee to have this tailings pile moved around so they have a better chance to uncover a long-ignored piece of copper. I found a different treasure there which I’ll tell you about, but first some basic history.

Everyone waits with anticipation to be let onto the rock pile.

The backhoe was busy at the Cliff digging trenches for us to hunt.

The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country. The mine is at the now-abandoned town of Clifton in Keweenaw County. Mining began in 1845, and the Cliff was the most productive copper mine in the United States from 1845 through 1854. Large-scale mining stopped in 1878. The cliff mine was a vertical lode (the vein ran almost straight down). I can only imagine how much trouble mining was at this location.

View from the top of the Cliff pile.

Diggers on the rockpile.

There are tailings piles remaining at the Cliff. One of the piles has been re-worked for copper in the 60’s but still contains small specimens. The backhoe was in constant operations on these piles and we are happy we pid for that extra deep digging. The cliff has not been dug this deep in recent years. Everyone was getting small chunky copper pieces. There could be copper crystals on a few I found, but I have to clean them up. The Cliff Mine area has been worked for copper by natives since prehistoric times. Chisel Chips from these prehistoric mining operations can still be found at the Cliff and most people found a few using sensitive metal detectors. I found a couple, but they were small. Valuable ones can reach 12″ or more. I saw no one that found one that size.

There are also silver and copper crystals at the Cliff and silver-copper “halfbreeds”. I might have some of these, but I need to acid off the Calcite from the specimens I found. It was a very pleasant day on the rock pile.

OK, since you have patiently read this far I’ll tell you what my best find was. I was searching with the metal detector, but I still look around for other minerals I can make jewelry out of. I saw a gorgeous apple green Prehnite just sitting on the surface. Other searchers were so concentrating on copper and listening to their metal detectors, that they totally missed this treasure. Of course not everyone makes jewelry, but it still was the finest piece of gem grade prehnite I have ever found in the Keweenaw. I just can’t wait to get it home and make something from it! Stay tuned for the cutting and wrapping!

Next blog: Last night we went to the new Seaman Museum’s open house and picnic. This will be reported later. We are having a real problem finding Internet Hot Spots up here so I can get this blog done. But even though these may be a couple days late I hope you still appreciate these reports.

The Swap Meet

The Quincy Mine's Gift shop is in this building and the tours start there also.

Wednesday August 10th

One of the highlights of the Copper Country Mineral Retreat is the swap meet that takes place at the Quincy Mine’s parking lot. Dealers from all over the area bring in their local stuff and set it out on tables for the many rock enthusiasts to drool over and purchase.

Mine Hoist Building at the Quincy

Bonnie liked these mine related relics.

By carefully searching the tables, bargains can be located. A savvy and knowledgeable rockhound can make some great deals as all the dealers enjoy bargaining. Prices can vary for the same item dealer to dealer, so a quick go-round is in order, then a more careful look and the games can begin. After attending the show for many years, I know most of the dealers. I consider many of them friends as we also hunt on the same rock piles.

The most fun is meeting up with old friends that are there to look and buy. We have good friends from Wisconsin, Maryland, and Michigan that we saw and chatted with.

I bought some great Lake Superior Agates, Mexican Fire Opal, Datolite, and Pink Opal from out west. I am always looking for different colors, great banding or patterns, crack-free, and jewelry potential. My spending was limited, but I’m like a frog when a bug flies by–he just can’t resist snapping it up. When I see high quality stuff that my customers would like, I snatch it up quick.

There were also some dealers geared for the history buffs. Books on the copper mines, documents of share ownership, lights, and paraphernalia from earlier copper mining days were available along with great copper specimens.

Some "Lakers" for sale.

I love this colorful Datolite and even bought some for future jewelry.

some of the rabid rockhounds at the swap meet.

This swap meet is open to anyone, and is a great tourist attraction. Rock shows are a great training place for newbie rock enthusiasts, with such friendly people and a wide variety of stone and minerals. Rockhounds at a swap–we’re in heaven!

Next I will report on the hunt at the historic Cliff Mine.

The Hottest Item in the Keweenaw

Most rockhounds flock to Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula to find copper, but there are many other rocks and minerals that are much more rare. Any rocks and minerals that were not native silver or native copper were thought of as “Trash” and ended up on the mine rubble piles. Today we are aware of these rare treasures and dig through these old piles to find them. Unfortunately many of the spoils piles have been hauled away for fill or crushed and put under roads. Just imagine the treasures that could be found under the pavements in the Keweenaw!

I found this one inch beauty within minutes of sitting down to dig. I just had to pluck it out with my fingers.

The current hottest gemstones in the U.P. are copper-included agates. Copper has replaced some of the banding in these agates. They are generally pink and often include green. These agates are found only in a few of the mine spoil piles here in the Keweenaw, and I do not know of any other place in the world where you can get them. They generally sell at premium prices (if you can find them). Some of these agates do not include copper, but are rare none-the-less just because they are associated with the copper mines.

Chris "slams" a rock containing agates.

The business end of Chris' slammer.

There are two ways you might find these rare beauties. One is finding a “floater”, or an agate nodule that has broken free of any matrix. On a huge pile of rock, you could wish for a better strategy. The second way to find these agates is to find a rock with nodules and break the rock open to expose the usually small agates. The agates can be easily fractured, so care and a lot of finesse are required to extract them. Yes, they do show up on a sensitive metal detector.

My friend Chris has a custom built “slammer” that has a chisel on the end and virtually “slams” the rock apart. However, most of us break the rock with a heavy hammer and a strong arm. One rock I found and Chris broke open contained several copper agates, but it took some time and effort to get them out. A couple agates were sacrificed in the extraction, and Chris somehow bisected one agate perfectly in half.

Those that know (me) know that if I cannot make a piece of jewelry from a rock, I probably don’t need it. I am not a specimen collector, but I sometimes find specimens, and usually keep them for barter. I found a few “traders” already and look forward to a few more as the week goes on. I think that another Copper included agate hunt may happen tomorrow. I really had fun today.

Two perfect agate halves.

They used to have convicts break rock as punishment, and we were out there doing it for fun. But we did get to leave at our choice, just about lunchtime! Smashing with the crack hammer is serious work, and Bonnie’s arm is still sore. I think IF I can keep her hammering for a few more days, perhaps her arm muscles will strengthen (good luck with that, Don).

By the way, Chris found the largest agate today, but Bonnie was a close second.

Prehnite Adventure

Monday, August 8, 2011

When you’re rock hunting you don’t always know how good the pieces are that you have found. But I spotted a promising prehnite piece today while “driving by”, that I think might be a highlight. Here’s what’s been happening.

The famous (or infamous) lift bridge separating Houghton and Hancock.

We arrived and got settled at the Houghton Campground last Thursday. The campground that the City of Houghton owns has 22 campsites for non-tent camping located right on the channel. This is a very scenic area and it is wonderfully tranquil with the occasional boat or jet ski traveling by. The channel bisects the Keweenaw Peninsula and is a shortcut from the east side of the peninsula to the west side.

Ships can pass thru the channel and when they do the lift bridge is hoisted, causing what the locals refer to as a “traffic jam”. We have been here when the lift bridge got stuck open and it really causes havoc. There is no other way to the north and the hospital is on the Hancock side, so if there is an emergency on the Houghton side (South) there is no way to get across except by boat.

U.P. Thomsonite is really ugly, but surprises await inside the ugly shell.

Today we headed out seeking U.P Thomsonite (which is pink and green Prehnite). This makes wonderful jewelry and often shows chatoyant “eyes“. When you find the stones, they are an ugly brown or bleached white and you cannot know what is inside until you cut the rind off. Picking up the right white/brown stones is the tricky part! Lots of calcite and granite show up as little white stones, but they are not of interest and I had to keep throwing them out of Bonnie’s bucket!

I'm looking for the eroded out Thomsonite.

We were with our friends Chris and Crystal. Prehnite fills voids in basaltic material, that over the years rots away and the Prehnite nodules drop out. You can dig for them in the rotted basalt, or sometimes find an eroded bank where you can simply pick them up. We filled a small bucket in short order from mostly eroded stones. We said goodbye to Chris and Crystal and decided we were done hunting for the day.

But, before we went back to the RV, I decided to explore an old logging road. I poked my head out the window, hoping to see a large agate. Chris got a big one today, and I was hoping to catch up. I saw a large seamed rock in the road and dug it up. A fantastic large seam of eyed Prehnite appeared in the rock. This was the find of the day and I think it will make some great jewelry.

A wonderful Prehnite seam.

While hunting today we found good patches of wild raspberries and Thimbleberries. No bears were about so we ate our fill. YUM!

We have not decided what is on tomorrow’s agenda yet, but we will keep blogging on our adventures here in the Keweenaw. The weather here has been ideal in the mid-70’s, but our best hunting is in the rain, so we are hoping for some soon. It has been very dry here all summer, but there was a nice shower the other night. That’s all for now.