Monthly Archives: August 2012

Greenstones on the Workbench

Isle Royale Greenstones (Chlorastrolite) are so striking with their stunning chatoyancy and handsome alligator-like pattern. People think of diamonds as rare, when, in fact, they are artificially scarce due to lack of free market sales and cartel controls.

A recent batch of Greenstones and Thomsonite turned out to be amazing. This photo has not been enhanced. I'm thinking poster!

Michigan Greenstones on the other hand are a one-source gemstone. Nowhere else in the world are Greenstones found other than in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and on Isle Royale National Park, where they are illegal to harvest. Chosen as Michigan’s State Gem, the Greenstone represents Michigan uniqueness due to this limited accessibility, but also means it is not well known outside of Michigan residents. In fact many outside of the Upper Peninsula are not familiar with it! Having said that, we are amazed at the wide range of locations across the country that order our Greenstone jewelry and cabochons for jewelry.

Recent depletion of many of the mine waste piles in the Keweenaw to use as road fill is making the Greenstone supply even scarcer. Two of my all-time favorite piles are gone now. There are very few, non-private waste piles still available for the Rock enthusiast to pick up a Michigan Greenstone. Not all piles are worthy of seeking Greenstones in. I expect a big spike in the Greenstone prices over next five years. Now is the time to buy Greenstones, especially quality ones with good patterns and coloration.

This "Michigan Miracle" Pendant is one of our popular used of Isle Royale Greenstone. Also included in this one is Datolite, Lake Superior Agate, and Jasperlite.

Our Greenstone Pendants and Greenstone cabochons are very popular and we continue to sell both on line and at art shows. I cannot say I am the largest Greenstone dealer in the U.S., but I am one of a handful of large volume dealers. I cut all my own stones. I find stones and purchase quality stones from other miners.

Michigan’s State Gemstone should be on everyone’s bucket list. You will never regret having and wearing these lovely and rare treasures.

I have been working up greenstones I just brought back from the Keweenaw, and today I have to dop up another hundred for the lapidary work. Some of these recent stones are absolute killers. I’m going back UP in the next few weeks and I’m going to search for a rumored secret spot to dig Greenstones. Unfortunately the old guy that told me the general area where he used to dig Greenstone has passed away. This will be a treasure hunt for sure.

Be assured I WILL BE watching my rearview mirror to see if YOU are following me.

Datolite Anniversary Pendant

Today was our wedding anniversary. 35 years to a wonderful woman has just flown by.
So what do you give to a jewelry maker’s wife? How about jewelry? “Man, that is a great idea Don”.(as he pats himself on the head)

Now that the decision is made, you have to look for something special amongst the tons of rock in the shop. I recall cutting an amazing piece of Datolite the other day and today I will finish it and make a nice pendant for Bonnie.

The Datolite is one I purchased while in the U.P. a couple weeks ago and is from one of the mines down Ontonagon way. That’s in da U.P. for you trolls (A troll is someone that lives below the Mackinac Bridge…get it?; as in “under the bridge), and you out of Staters. I have not been able to positively say what mine this Datolite came from, but it is just full of copper; lightning streaking around lovely pastel pink and mauve Datolite.

Datolite and Copper.

In honor of this milestone, I wrapped this pendant in gold gold, pink gold, and Argentium Sterling, the first tri-tone pendant I’ve made. Colorful Datolite with copper inclusions is always in demand (usually snapped up by Copper World in Calumet), and this piece is a stunner. Bonnie has sold many pieces off her body, but I expect this Anniversary Pendant will be in her private collection.

Guess what? SHE LOVED IT!!

Sad to Leave Copper Country

Our favorite beach to watch the sunset-just south of Dapple Grey B&B on M26 near Copper Harbor.

As the sun sat over Lake Superior on our last night in the Copper Country, we reflected on the amazing time we had. Sure there were some difficulties on the trip, and you just cannot go get everything you might need without driving 40 miles. Still, we love this place.

The same beach is scenic during the day also.

The Yoopers are a very independent species. They have to be. They have all the important things like pasties, fresh air, scenery, rocks, Vollwerth meats, Copper World, rocks, no freeways, beautiful, sunsets, snow, Monk’s Muffins, and rocks.

I have started cutting my treasures today, as well as working on some custom jobs I picked up while up there. People find rock treasures and bring them to me to cut, polish, and make into their own wire-wrapped gemstone jewelry.

We have loads of good friends in the Keweenaw, as mentioned in a previous blog. Many of our local friends show up where they are least expected. The latest was Robin from Garden Goods, the garden store we shop at in Traverse City who showed up at the campground host’s coffee hour!

Thanks for saving the crest of Brockway Mountain.

Rock hunting is not as good as it used to be. Mine waste piles are being crushed up and hauled away for logging roads. The natural beauty of the area is being threatened by all the trees being cut. Even though the Keweenaw is a National Historic Park, it seems not to matter that the mine piles are being taken away. I feel that these piles are also historical sites and should be protected.

One good sign is that money has been raised to purchase the land and save the crest of Brockway Mountain. We saw a rebuild underway at the overlook of Copper Harbor on Brockway Drive. New stone border walls and benches are expected which should make it safer.

What lovely things you see off the beaten path.

If you really want to get away you just can’t beat the Keweenaw. We’ll be headed back up for color. I expect it to be early this year. We saw trees have begun to change already. We’ll remember the good times we had in the U.P.

Art in the Park at Copper Harbor

The laid-back art show in Copper Harbor.

We love the Art in the Park at Copper Harbor. We see all our old friends and new ones. Copper Harbor in the farthest North Town in Michigan, no cell phone service, no stoplights, no national chains, and no freeway, just natural beauty.

Bonnie working in our booth.

Another historic location of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Fort Wilkins was a remote assignment for early soldiers. They were sent here to protect the copper interests from whatever they imagined the threats to be. Turns out the winter weather and remote location were the biggest threats they faced. Today Fort Wilkins has been restored to a nice historic state park where we can camp in our RV. I always tell Bonnie when it rains, “Our tent is dry”. She likes the furnace when it is cold at night too.

Just past Fort Wilkins is the end of the road, US 41. There are rocks out past that spot, but my car towed behind the RV is really not up to that rough a trail. Going the other way, the road sign in Copper Harbor helpfully helps you plan your trip in case your next destination is Miami.

Our booth on the hill overlooking the Copper Harbor Art Show.

The Michigan greenstones have been very popular at this show, just as we expected.

Copper World-Our Favorite Gift Store

Our Favorite Store is #1 according to Lake Superior Magazine.

Wire wrapping at Copper World.

Copper World is our favorite Gift Store in the U.P. and it was recently chosen a top Michigan gift shop by Lake Superior Magazine too. I may be a bit prejudiced, because they are the sole and exclusive distributors of Snob Appeal Jewelry outside of our art shows. I make a line of jewelry made from local Michigan gemstones that are a big focus on their shelves. I think it helps that Tim and Tony Basauno know the local stones, being longtime rockhounds and sellers of fine local specimens. Together we specialize in jewelry of Datolite, Chlorastrolite, Lake Superior Agate, Prehnite, Firebrick, Mohawkite, and Thomsonite.

I spent a relaxing day wire-wrapping in Copper World, and lo and behold people from our own Traverse City rock club were in the store! I am amazed at all the people we know up here and vacationers we know from our home area. We moved campsites today and while checking into Fort Wilkins State Park started chatting with the young lady at check in. She was chatty and I mentioned we would be selling at the Copper Harbor Art in the Park this weekend. She asked what we sold and her partner answered for me, “Jewelry like this” and showed the girl a set of earrings she had on that Bonnie made and she bought from us last year.

I see our jewelry all over up here; how nice!

We are overlooking Lake Fanny Hooe, and guess what? We have satellite TV. Life is good.

I think we will go see the sunset, making life better.

Thomsonite Salvaged from the Road

It’s always a dilemma to know what rock to go hunting for in the Keweenaw. The choices include scouring the rock piles Chlorastrolite (Greenstone), Datolite, Prehnite, Thomsonite, or walking the beaches for Lake Superior Agates. All of these Michigan stones are good for jewelry, so it is a pleasure to add any of them to my supply piles. Just as a lark, Bonnie & I decided to wander north in search of something, and ended up on a two-track where we had previously found Prehnite and Thomsonite.

Too bad I chipped this one.

As is my usual habit, I drive slowly down the track, and peer out the window. As I was looking out the window, I saw a small white rock nodule lying in the middle of the road. If you have ever hunted Thomsonite or Verigated Prehnite (U.P. Thomsonite), you would know to look for white bleached out nuggets of rock in the banks and the trail. I took my pick and without completely getting out of the car, hit the end of it, exposing a wonderful eyed Thomsonite. I should never have his this stone, but fortunately I just chipped it. I don’t believe I’ve ever found a nicer Thomsonite. These are so very rare when they are beautiful colors with eyes.

All day long we looked for similar pieces, but never even came close. Some days are like that, you find the best thing first, and then all the rest fails to deliver that same excitement. I can’t wait to get home and put that stone under my grinder. It will surely be the best drive-by road hunt I’ve ever had. And it was shady too. A “Cool” rock hunt in more ways than one.

The finest piece of Pink-eyed Thomsonite I ever found in the Keweenaw,

There will be more on this stone when it is finished and in a pendant.

Blazing Fingers on Lake Superior

McLain State Park is noted for it’s beautiful sunsets. While waiting for the sunset I sat on the shores of Lake Superior wrapping a lovely pink Datolite that I cut last winter. How great that I can take my work to remote locations and be so inspired.

Superior Serenity Pendant

This guy is happy on the shores of Lake Superior.

There is something about Lake Superior that is so serene sometime, while other times the lake can be so dangerous. Tonight’s serenity inspired my wire wrapping and I think I’ll name this piece of jewelry “Superior Serenity”. I hope you like this one. I’ll throw this up on the website if it doesn’t sell in the next couple weeks.

Fingers ablaze as I create a Datolite pendant.

Cliff Mine-Prehnite Hunting

The hounds are released on the Cliff Mine Pile.

The pile was bulldozed and the Copper Country Mineral Retreat hunt at the Cliff Mine began at 9am. A good crowd of eager hunters attacked the pile. A nice trench was excavated and some entered it while others, like me hunted the surface. The Cliff, even though hunted for over a hundred years by rockhounds, still produces some fine copper specimens as well as other copper associated minerals. Native American Indians hammered this copper in prehistoric times, and chisel chips left from their mining are found at the Cliff today.

A nice trench was excavated and our buddy Keith from Baltimore found his way into it.

A great view of the Cliff mine showing the trench that fellow rockhounds were searching.

Since I already have so much native copper, Bonnie and I spent the day hunting for gem Prehnite for our jewelry. The Prehnite at the Cliff formed in small veins maybe a few inches thick and is apple green and speckled with copper. We were quite successful and found good pieces with some help from Pam Hecht who is a good buddy and led the hunt.

Prehnite comes in various forms and colors in the Copper Country. One of my favorites is referred to as “U.P. Thomsonite” and is verigated, often with eyes. Prehnite comes in assorted pastel colors, the most common being pink and green.

A seam of Copper bearing Prehnite from the Cliff Mine.

Here is some of that Prehnite on my workbench. Notice the copper?

The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country of the state of Michigan. 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 was a fissure mine where the seams of copper were vertical.

Fissure mines are always interesting to search. I spent the day looking for gem quality Prehnite, and Bonnie and I found many nice pieces. These veins of Prehnite are commonly no more then an inch or so wide with a split down the middle as the Prehnite formed in from the outside of the vein and met in the middle. Much of this Prehnite is loaded with specks of Copper and is a pleasing apple green color.

Although amygdaloid and conglomerate deposits of the Keweenaw tended to be lower-grade than the fissure deposits, they were much larger, and could be mined much more efficiently, with the ore blasted out, hoisted to the surface, and sent to stamp mills located at a different site. Amygdaloid and conglomerate mining turned out to be much more productive and profitable than fissure mining, and the majority of highly successful mines were on amygdaloid or conglomerate lodes. The first mine to successfully mine a strataform ore body was the Quincy Mine in 1856. The most productive deposit, the Calumet conglomerate, was opened by the Calumet and Hecla mining company in 1865. (Mine information from Wikipedia)

I’ll be excited to cut this Prehnite and make some attractive pendants.

Copper Agates and Brolling

I got an opportunity to use my new rock-hunting tool, the Broll (I think it’s an abbreviation for a bucket roller). The Broll has recently come on to the market and is a wonderful, work saving device. I saw it advertised in Rock and Gem magazine, and my wife got it for me as a gift. It has large wheels and a ring that holds a five gallon bucket. I tried it a few times at home and found the only issue I had with it was it only had a grip handle.

Brolling on the rock pile.

Being a tinkerer I added a wagon type handle, making the Broll more towable. I mounted the handle vertically. This is my natural position for towing it. I had the opportunity to use it on the rock pile and on the beaches of Lake Superior. The bucket swings in its ring making it swing back and forth as I pull it across the very uneven terrain of the mine dumps! What a verstile tool!

A Broll on a stroll.

It easily holds my hammers and small tools as well as a load of rocks. Get one; the Broll is really great. No–I do not hold stock in the company!

How can you have so many rocks and no agates?

I found one very nice Copper Agate that really set off my pinpoint detector. It is in its ugly stage in the rock so I’ll show you later when I cut it out.

The beach produced a couple small agates, some Unakite, Quartz Crystals, and assorted “pretty” rocks for Bonnie’s gardens.

Today we are going to our first organized hunt at the Medora Mine. Looking for Greenstones!!

Loads of Fun

Lots of potential customers here.

I had to get a blog out today to keep you all up to date on the exciting times we have been having. After the World of Agates Show, we headed for the U.P. and I had three wonderful demo days with good sales at Copper World in Calumet. It’s hard to beat making wire-wrapped gemstones in the Keweenaw Peninsula, home of chlorastrolite, datolite, prehnite, and other copper-related gems.
It is especially nice when the cruise boat Yorktown docks in Houghton and brings several tour buses up to Calumet.

Two Greenstone pendants done and one Fordite pendant started.

A new Fordite pendant now for sale at Copper World.

A new 13 million dollar copper history museum has been opened in a historic building in Calumet and this also brings in tourists. The Keweenaw Peninsula is all a National Historic Site and the new museum is a classy addition to the Quincy Mine and other copper country sites. If you go to the museum, which you should, do not miss the 14 minute film on copper country history. It is in a separate little room and easy to miss, but very thought-provoking on historic preservation or destruction.

Ashley likes the Druzy Quartz Pendant while Tony looks on at Copper World. Copper World is one of the top rated gift stores (according to Lake Superior Magazine) in the Lake Superior area.

I made several new pieces at Copper World and I especially liked a new Fordite one. If you do not know what Fordite is review my older post on the subject. Just put into the search box “Fordite”.

I am going to finish a piece on the workbench while having loads of fun at the Loads of Fun Laundromat in Houghton; one of those necessary evils of camping.

There are unlimited rocks here to look through! Krystal Kauffman photo.

We had our first hunt yesterday morning. Very limited success was had in mining Copper Included Agates, but we know they are there at the Kearsarge and will dig again.

That’s all I have time for today as the clothes need to be in the dryer. We wish all of you were here.