The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-04-25
NUMBER g.,
The Great Copper Nugxet.

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The editor Of the Lake Superior Miner.
whose character as a man of veracity is
vouched for by those who know him, gives
the following account of the great copper
nugget now exposed in the Minnesota Mine,
on Lake Superior, ,soy .so;s-o s,,<...-,. .
. f THE GREAT MASS. ,..., ...r .. &.
Since our last publication, we have been
twice into the Minnesots Mine to look at
tn IS wonderful piece Of copper. A few tons
have already been taken from ii, and there
are some thirty men at work cutting it up !;
more parties win be put on soon. The low
er end of the copper was raised by the pow
der from the rock ID which il was enclosed,
the upper end being very little DISTURBED.
This leaves it inclining bnt little from the
horizon, and in an excellent position for cut
ting to advantage. They are cutting In some
ten places, two of which are Galreadyo into
where the copper is five feet thick. Anoth-
CT is four feet md quarter. Eighteen inch
es further will bring one of the cuts to where
the copper is seven and quarter feet thick.
Its greatest thickness is between 8 and 9 feet,
but the cuts driven in from the edges very
soon reach The thickness of 8, 4, Or S feet.
and its average thickness will be from three
and half to four feet. Its greatest length
is 46 feet. Greatest width 18 feet. We
made the following measurements Of its
width at several poirts-in feet and decimels
Observation-Disclosures g.
showing mean of about twelve and half
feet These dimensions give it cubic con-
tent equal to about 1900 feet, and this
amount of pure copper would weigh five
hundred ard forty-nine tons. -'e 1sss3l-
Large masses from this mine have gener-
ally been of great purity, and the exterior
Of this are quite clear of rock, and the cut
tings thus far show it to be remarkably pure.
In the five feet cuts scarcely a speck of rock
is to be seen, but the copper ID Is bright a.
new. penny. Unless it should prove to be
great she'll enclosing rock, its purity must be
very high, probably more than go per cent.
And we think there is no ground for such
an apprehension. On the contrary, its solid
ity is indicated not only by its external pu-
rity, but also the manner in which it resisted
the action of the powder, and rose from its
bed without the slightest crack or bending
at any point. There is scarcely possibility
Of its being anything else than almost solid
metal. Ifit is 81 per cent, and this is not
a high estimate for such mass it contains
about five hundred tons Of pure copper, and
will be worth, when prepared for the market
about three hundred Thousand dollars.
This, we respectfully submit, is the largest
mass of metal Of any kind ever yet exhibited
in single piece upon this planet. .,,
Indeed, it is only here on Lake Superior
that pure metals are found naturally, in con-
siderable quantities and the mechanic arts
have little use for pieces of such immense
weight. .,...
But incredible as it may appear, the great
mass is small part of the copper now in
sight in it's immediate vicinity. About
hundred feet to the east series of monster
masses of enormous size are now being strip
ped and followed into the conglomerate, the
aggregate weight of which, including the
great mass, will, in all probability, exceed
the total product of the mine for the year
1856. They have just exposed large open
ing going south into the conglornerate, which
they are about filling with powder: This
blast may make new discoveries, for which
we anxiously wait, and the result of which
we hope to give in another number. The
disclosures Of the last few days are of i'm
mense importance. 1t is perfectly safe to
say there are at least two thousand tons of
copper in sight within few feet of the
points which we have described. Minnesota
stock is getting much too low. We propose
5000 per share as the proper figure just at
present.