The Gould Copper Mine

Photo: Courtesy of E. Jane Mundy

    This is a picture of the Gould Copper Mine. It is no longer in production as you can see the barricades over the opening of the shaft. Gould Copper Mine began in 1966-67 when a 40-foot wide vein was discovered on a 25-foot high cliff. The 10-foot square opening which lies on a 6-foot wide zone of the best mineralization in the vein was mined intermitently from 1971 until December of 1985. The rest of the vein carries too low of a grade to profit on so it wasn't mined. However, a grab sample of high grade material yielded 26.5 percent copper. The types of minerals extracted from the mine were quartz, pyrite, chalcopyrite and epidote, but copper was the chief metal mined. Samples of each can be found on the surface in sparse to abundant amounts. The mine was shut down as of December of 1985 because it was too cold to operate in the winter months, and it never re-opened. The shaft is now inaccessable but you can see where it is, and what the site looks like. Recently the equipment was moved out and the buildings were taken down for the final shut down of the mine.