Name/Title
Native CopperEntry/Object ID
2009.62.10Description
Chemical Composition: Cu
Crystal System: Cubic or Isometric S
Description: Common Name: Native Copper
Chemistry: Cu
Group: Element
Location: Keweenuw Peninsula, Michigan, USA
Description: Looks very thing, pieces look almost splattered on, large peice coming off the top that looks like a dragon with an underbite.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Color is copper colored with weathered specimens tarnished green.
Luster is metallic.
Transparency is opaque.
Crystal System is isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m
Crystal Habits include massive, wires and arborescent or branching forms as the most common, whole individual crystals are extremely rare but when present are usually cubes and octahedrons. Occasionally, massive forms will show some recognizable crystal faces on outer surfaces.
Cleavage is absent.
Fracture is jagged.
Streak is reddish copper color.
Hardness is 2.5-3
Specific Gravity is 8.9+ (above average for metallic)
Associated Minerals are silver, calcite, malachite and other secondary copper minerals.
Other Characteristics: ductile, malleable and sectile, meaning it can be pounded into other shapes, stretched into a wire and cut into slices.
Best Field Indicators are color, ductility and crystal habit.
Fracture: jagged
Hardness: 3 Calcite
Luster: Metallic
Occurrence: Within the state of Michigan, copper is found almost exclusively in the western portion of the Upper Peninsula, in an area known as the Copper Country. The Copper Country is highly unusual among copper-mining districts, because copper is predominantly found in the form of pure copper metal (native copper) rather than the copper oxides or copper sulfides that form the copper ore at almost every other copper-mining district. The copper deposits occur in rocks of Precambrian age, in a thick sequence of northwest-dipping sandstones, conglomerates, ash beds, and flood basalts associated with the Keweenawan Rift.
Rock Type: Igneous
Specific Gravity: 8.9
Streak: reddish copper color
Texture: Microcrystaline
Variety: Copper is usually found in nature in association with sulfur. Pure copper metal is generally produced from a multistage process, beginning with the mining and concentrating of low-grade ores containing copper sulfide minerals, and followed by smelting and electrolytic refining to produce a pure copper cathode. An increasing share of copper is produced from acid leaching of oxidized ores. Copper is one of the oldest metals ever used and has been one of the important materials in the development of civilization. Because of its properties, singularly or in combination, of high ductility, malleability, and thermal and electrical conductivity, and its resistance to corrosion, copper has become a major industrial metal, ranking third after iron and aluminum in terms of quantities consumed.Collection
RAGM Mineral CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2009.62Source or Donor
Museum Collection of MineralsAcquisition Method
DonationDimensions
Width
5 inDepth
12 inLength
10-1/2 inDimension Notes
Dimension taken at widest pointsLocation
Location
Display Case
FS-4-ARoom
Frieda Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumDate
January 4, 2024Location
Container
LeftDrawer
Bottom shelfShelf
Right, RightWall
East WallBuilding
Freida Smith HallCategory
PermanentMoved By
Steve MillerDate
June 29, 2012Location
Container
LeftDrawer
Bottom shelfShelf
Left side, Left sideWall
South wallRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
PermanentMoved By
Scott LonganDate
August 5, 2009Location
Container
LeftDrawer
Bottom shelfShelf
RightCabinet
Case #60Wall
East WallRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent