One of my wives best friends (Dennis) lives in Michigan and he always tells us about the great fishing there. If I were him, I would do a little prospecting while I was fishing. While gold mining in Michigan will never rival automobiles as an industry, it has produced over 29,000 ounces of gold mostly form low grade ore. It is questionable if any significant amounts could be recovered today, but even small specimen from this state would commend a high premium from a collector. The first state geologist discovered gold in the Upper Peninsula sometime in the 1840’s. About 1880 a quartz vein with gold was discovered and mined until 1897. That was the extent of the gold mining in Michigan. The general area is considered to be between 3 and 5 miles northwest of Ishpeming. Local inquiry is advised for very little in mining books covers this area. It is known that there were several mines which had very shallow ore, that it was free milling type and it was about .25 ounces per ton.

Reported By: John Freiheit

I asked for rules and required permits at the St. Ignace station and was informed by Ranger Joe Hart, who is in charge of special use permits, recreational panning and prospecting is allowed with no permit required, but he would like to be informed before any dredging operations are undertaken. This applies to all of Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula. At the local DNR post none of the officers knew of any permit requirements. Of all the state and federal officers and employees only Ranger Hart was not astonished that I would even ask about prospecting for gold in this area. I have only found a very small amount but with more time in the field and metal detecting. Like all other prospectors I have high hopes.