White Pine Mine, White Pine, Ontonagon County, Michigan, USAi

Regional Level Types
White Pine Mine	Mine
White Pine	- not defined -
Ontonagon County	County
Michigan	State
USA	Country

Commodities (Major) - Copper; (Minor) - Silver
Development Status: Producer

The White Pine Mine can trace its history back to 1880 when Capt. Thomas Hooper discovered copper mineralization in an outcrop of Copper Harbor Conglomerate along the Mineral River on land owned by the St. Mary's Mineral Land Company. The location was named "White Pine" because of the stands of pine trees on the nearby hillsides. Mining began in 1880 when a shaft was sunk to 60 feet, but because of insufficient funds, work was halted. In 1881, a second shaft 170 feet deep was sunk to intersect the lode. In addition, four shallow pits were dug to explore the lode. By 1882, investors had become disinterested with what they had seen and without operating capital, the mine closed.

In 1907, Calumet and Hecla renewed interest in the locality and began an exploration program. By 1914, C&H had deepened the original No. 1 Shaft and stockpiled approximately 5,000 tons of ore from exploration work. In addition, three additional shafts were sunk by 1917. That same year, C&H began to experiment with chemical ore processing using floatation. All work was halted in 1921, for unknown reasons, and by 1929, C&H let the mine go for back taxes. During this time, approximately 18 million pounds of copper and 200,000 ounces of silver were recovered.

In 1929, the Copper Range Company purchased the property but did not actively mine the orebody. Instead, the company focused on ways to extract and process the rich chalcocite orebody that company executives felt was the key to operating White Pine at a profit. After World War Two, Copper Range began an extensive drilling program to explore the orebody, which it found to be approximately five miles long and two and a half miles wide! As ore became available, it was shipped to the Company's Champion Mill for testing. In 1946, ore from White Pine was found to have an 85 percent recovery rate due to finer grinding and improved floatation processes. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Copper Range received a grant from the federal government to begin a construction project at White Pine. The project began in March, 1952 and by early 1955, the White Pine Mine was pouring its first copper.

Mining continued through and after the Korean War with the mine reaching its peak production in 1974 when the mine employed 3,000 people and was processing as much as 15,000 tons of ore per day. In the early 1990s, the company was looking into an in-situ solution mining method to keep the mine operating, but this was strongly opposed by environmentalists and local Native American tribes. By 1995, the mine could not stay operating at a profit and was forced to halt operations, thus ending 150 years of continuous copper mining on the Keweenaw Peninsula. By 1999, the equipment was sold and the mine was allowed to flood. Total production from the White Pine Mine amounted to approximately four billion pounds of copper and 45 million ounces of silver.

For the collector, the site is off limits; however specimens from White Pine are readily available on the market. A prized possession are chalcocite specimens from the White Pine. Since they were the primary ore mineral for many years, not many survived the crusher.

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References