Raw Copper Nuggets from Michigan, USA
Individual copper nuggets from Michigan, USA. Available in medium and larger sizes.
These natural copper nuggets formed millions of years ago in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, one of the few places on Earth where copper occurs in pure metallic form.
Each copper nugget is unique, displaying a warm reddish tone and distinctive natural texture.
This native copper was shaped by geological forces and glacial movement, creating smooth yet irregular contours. These nuggets are naturally solid copper metal, not smelted or refined, making them ideal for display, collecting, or as distinctive decorative pieces.
Millions of years ago, volcanic activity in what is now Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula created vast veins and masses of native (metallic) copper within basalt rock. Unlike most copper deposits, which are sulphides (like chalcopyrite) or oxides (like malachite), this copper crystallised as pure metal, often filling cracks and voids in the rock.
To extract copper from sulphides and oxides, it must first be smelted or refined. The copper itself does not exist in metallic form.
During the last Ice Age, glaciers scraped across the region, ripping copper out of the bedrock. The masses were dragged, tumbled, and abraded within glacial gravel and sediments, sometimes over long distances. This is how they acquired their smooth, rounded, natural shapes, much like river pebbles rounded by water.
As the glaciers melted, they left behind nuggets of native copper scattered in glacial till, gravel pits, and stream beds. These nuggets are often found when prospectors and hobbyists search gravel pits, riverbeds, and old glacial deposits, usually while washing or sifting gravel.
The Keweenaw region was heavily mined from the 1800s to the early 1900s. These decorative copper nuggets are cleaned and then lightly polished to enhance their colour and reveal their metallic sheen.
We have a large quantity of these copper nuggets, so the piece you receive may not be shown in our photos.
We also have smaller copper nuggets available.
Details
8.1g 2.2 x 1.5 x 0.3 £2.50
16.4g 3.8 x 1.9 x 1.1cm £4.92
19.3g 3.2 x 2.1 x 0.6cm £5.79
23.2g 3.1 x 2.1 x 1.4cm £6.96
23.7g 4.2 x 1.8 x 1.4cm £7.11
24.1g 3.9 x 1.9 x 1.3cm £7.23
25g 3.3 x 2.3 x 1.4cm £7.50
26.2g 3.9 x 3 x 0.7cm £7.86
31g 4.2 x 1.8 x 1.1cm £9.30
31.3g 4 x 2.7 x 0.9cm £9.40
32.6g 4.1 x 3 x 1.2cm £9.78
72.2g 5.4 x 3.7 x 1.3cm £21.66
72.9g 3.8 x 2.9 x 2.3cm £21.87
74.8g 4.3 x 3 x 1.5cm £22.44
102g 5.3 x 4.3 x 1.7cm £30.60
111.1g 4.5 x 3.2 x 2.6cm £32.99
Citrine
