Port Wing, WI

This was pretty cool.

I was "beachcombing" near the Port Wing Marina in northwestern Wisconsin a couple weeks ago. I'm like a kid when I'm walking the beach up here. There's the usual assortment of nature's unique driftwood sculptures, twisted by the blustery winds of Lake Superior and polished by waves. There are flat sandstone slabs, agates and miscellaneous rocks shaped by the action of sand and water.

But what caught my eye was the gleaming edge of a piece of rock embedded in the sand.

I knew it was metallic by its weight and density. And it was clear from the glint of metal in one corner of the rock that there was some sort of ore present.

I took it home, cleaned it up with a little vinegar and showed it to a friend, who informed me that it was a piece of basalt containing a sizeable quantity of native copper.

Lake Superior is a mineral-rich region. For decades, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was the source of a significant percentage of the copper mined in North America. In addition to copper and iron ore, silver and gold have been found along the shores of Lake Superior.

My mentor in the real estate business, R. E. Waide, once showed me a large chunk of native copper he found on a beach on Madeline Island. It weighed several pounds and was mostly copper, slightly larger than a tennis ball. He wound up donating it to the Madeline Island Historical Museum.

I'm keeping this one for my own collection.

A second home is an affordable luxury.

Discover why a vacation retreat on Lake Superior is the ultimate indulgence!

Contact Broker Eric Kodner today at 612.670.2539.

Eric Kodner is a luxury property specialist and real estate educator with a unique perspective on the Madeline Island real estate market. Madeline Island Realty is a member of the LuxuryRealEstate.com luxury properties network.

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