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Victoria Mine, Victoria, Ontonagon County, Michigan, USAi

Regional Level Types
Victoria Mine	Mine
Victoria	Unincorporated Community
Ontonagon County	County
Michigan	State
USA	Country

The Victoria Mine has a long and somewhat convoluted history. The mine first opened in 1849 as the Cushin Mine after an 1,860 pound mass of copper was found in an ancient mining pit. Several additional masses of copper were found in nearby pits as well. In 1850, the Cushin, along with most of the Ontonagon Mining Company lands, were merged into the Forest Mining Company. A shaft was sunk on one of the ancient pits and by 1852, a second shaft was sunk. The Forest set aside 1,280 acres of land and organized four separate companies on 320 acres each: the Glenn, Shirley, Tremont, and Devon. In 1853, the company produced 42 tons of copper even after fire destroyed the mill and other buildings. The mill was rebuilt, but a severe flood in 1855 destroyed many of the Forest buildings and forced the mine to close.

In 1858, the Victoria Mining Company was formed and took over the Forest Mine operations. Many new buildings were erected as the new company was more focused on its surface operations rather than the underground workings. Small amounts of copper were produced until 1881 when the company allowed water to fill some of the workings. The mine was leased on tribute until 1899.

In 1899, the Victoria Copper Company was organized to work the "old" Victoria workings, as well as absorb the nearby Glenn, Shirley, Sylvan, Oneida, and Arctic mines. The new companies focus was to de-water the mine and clear cave ins that had occurred. The first to be cleared was the No. 3 Shaft which was later used as an air shaft. The No. 2 Shaft was then re-timbered and modified to follow the dip of the lode. Shaft No. 4 was abandoned as it was too caved in to be of use. Shaft No. 5 was also cleared. In 1901, a new shaft was sunk. By 1902, the mine reached the 17th level. In the same year, a new steel and concrete dam was constructed across the Ontonagon River to supply power to the mine. In 1904, all work at the mine ceased to focus on improvements to the dam and water-powered compressor system being installed. By 1906, the compressor was put into operation, but labor shortages at the mine forced the company to scale back operations. A major drought struck the area in 1908 and lasted for three years, forcing the mine to further scale back operations due to a shortage of water. Further problems affected the mine through the 1910s and by 1919, the mine was only working one shift. The drop in copper prices at the end of World War One was the final blow to the mine and the Victoria shut down operations in 1921. The mine was kept de-watered until 1924 in the hopes of reopening, but it never did. Between 1850 and 1921, the Victoria Mines produced approximately 20 million pounds of refined copper. The mine piles that remain have produced copper and silver crystals, and a few datolite nodules.

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References

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