Phoenix Mine Ashbed Shaft

King Philip Mine Power House - Winona, Houghton County, MI

The Minesota fissure vein was discovered in 1847 when prospectors found a six-ton mass of native copper in a pit dug by aboriginal miners. In the pit was growing a hemlock nearly 400 years old by the number of growth rings. Mining began in 1848, and from 1855 through 1862, the Minesota was one of the most productive copper mines in the United States. The mine had ten shafts, the deepest of which extended to a depth of 1200 feet (366 m). In 1856, miners tunneled into a 527-ton mass of native copper, the second-largest such mass found in the Copper Country. Besides masses of copper recovered through hand-sorting, the mine ran a small stamp mill to recover finer-grained copper in ore that ran 3%.
In 1870, the rich massive copper had been worked out, and the depth of the mine shafts had reached the limit of the hoisting equipment. At the same time, the price of copper dropped to $.19 per pound, down from a high of $.55 in 1864. Rather than invest in new equipment and explore for new ore bodies, the company stopped working the mine, and turned it over to tributers, independent miners who paid for the privilege of mining, usually paying a share of the ore they took out. The mine continued to be profitable to tributers, who took out 270 tons of copper in 1870, the same year that the mine closed. In 1876, the Minesota company paid a final dividend and went out of business, having paid a total of $1.82 million in dividends, against $456,000 in assessments
Through the end of the 1800s tributers continued to pick copper out of that part of the old workings that remained above water level. Through 1888, the mine had yielded 17,352 tons of copper, as well as 533 pounds of silver, to tributers. In 1899 the property was acquired by the Michigan Mining Company, which also bought the nearby Rockland and Superior mines. In 1903, the Michigan company opened the Calico amygdaloid, which held 3% copper ore, and outcropped on the Minesota property only 140 feet from the outcrop of the Minesota fissure vein.
In 1899, the Minesota Mine properties were taken over by the Michigan Copper Mining Co. when it incorporated in January of that year. The Michigan Copper Mining Co. holdings consisted of 4,870 acres of mineral land, 1,466 acres of timber land and a 150 acre mill site. This included the sites and of the old Minesota, Superior and Rockland mines. The new workings eventually included A, B, C and E shafts. Lodes worked were the Calico, Evergreen and Ogima. The mine closed in 1910 and was worked by tributers until May of 1913. In July of 1915, work was resumed in E shaft and it was enlarged from 2 to 3 compartments. On August 11, 1923 the Michigan Copper Mining Co.  was absorbed by the Mohawk Mining Co.

Tamarack Mine, Calumet, MI

The Hancock Mine consisted of three shafts and was located in the city of Hancock. The Hancock Mining Co. was organized in 1859 and worked the Sumner (Pewabic) Lode through three shafts; Shaft No.1 was approx. 1,000 ftin depth. The other two shafts, the Dupuis and the Hill, were about 200 ft. deep. Mining continued until 1872 when the original lease ran out and the mine was sold. In 1873, the Sumner Mining Co. was organized and worked the mine until 1880, when it was sold to the Hancock Copper Mining Co. In 1906, the company was reorganized into the Hancock Consolidated Mining Co. and work resumed in the No.1 shaft. Work was also started on a new, larger shaft that would intersect the Pewabic Lode at depth. This shaft bottomed out at 4,100 ft and a crosscut was driven at this depth that intersected with the No.7 Quincy shaft. All work ceased in 1919. The Hancock Mine produced approx. 17.5 million lbs. of refined copper.