4500-Year-Old Copper Abyss - Minong Mine

Minong Mine, Michigan, USA, reveals a long history. About 4500 years ago, Native Americans dug pits 30 feet deep to mine copper. In 1872, operations started again. In 2021, Minong Mine became a National Historic Landmark. Today, old mining pits, 19th-century ones, and tailing hills still linger. The town was Cove, complete with a railroad, post office, dam, stamp mill, dock, and blacksmith's shop.

Modern copper mining began on Isle Royale in the 1840s and 1850s, not at Minong Mine. In 1874, the Minong Company was born in Detroit. They bought the land from the North American Mineral Land Company the next year. Mining was mainly open pits but had two shafts, one over 300 feet. In 1875, about 50 Americans worked at Minong Mine, living near Cove, McCargoe Cove's end.

Later, during the mining's peak, around 150 miners were employed. By 1885, mining activities ceased at Minong Mine, but the mine remained active for some time afterward.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons