Wolverine Mine

Copper Country Heritage Guide - Types

The Wolverine owes its roots to a small mining venture that lasted for only two years between 1882 and 1884. After the discovery by the neighboring Kearsarge Mine of the highly copper rich Kearsarge Lode, the mine was reorganized as the Wolverine Copper Mining Company in 1889 and began work on its own extension of the Kearsarge lode in 1890.

The Wolverine consists of four shafts, numbered from the north to the south. The first shaft missed the lode and was abandoned. The remaining three shafts each reached depths of nearly 4000 feet on the incline. The mine built itself a large surface plant and erected a small inland stamp mill nearby before patterning with the Mohawk to build a modern and more efficient plant on the shore of Lake Superior at Gay. The mine was first served by the Mineral Range railroad, but would later utilize the Copper Range for its copper haulage.

The Wolverine would become a highly successful mine, absorbed fully by the Mohawk Mining company in 1923. It would be closed just a few years later, however, in 1925.

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Upper Gay Sands

Gay Sands

Gay – Sprawled along Lake Superior for several miles this 300 acre desolate landscape is entirely man-made, a result of several decades of milling operations from the Mohawk and Wolverine mills.

Wolverine Superintendent's House

Wolverine Superintendent’s House

Kearsarge – This large house served as the home for the Wolverine Mine’s superintendent.

Wolverine No.3

Kearsarge – This successful mine opened a total of four shafts along its rather copper rich section of the Kearsarge Lode, prompting the establishment of the nearby community of Wolervine.