1

Copper is found in two forms in nature:

1. "Native" or pure copper is soft, malleable, ductile, allowing it to be fashioned into shapes.
2. Chemical compounds we think of as minerals. These are hard and brittle and require elaborate milling and refining to enable the copper to be extracted.

2

Copper was very important after the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. It was utilized in vats used for brewing, boilers in the locomotives, and was found to be resistant to corrosion. The chemical properties of copper made it valuable in water lines, roofing, cookware, and sheathing in the hulls of wooden boats. In the early 1800's, England was producing approximately 100 tons of copper and in its search for a more lucrative supply she looked to her colonies around the world, including Canada, Africa, and Australia.

3

As early as the 1600's, rumours of copper having been found in the North Channel circulated in the more populated areas of Upper and Lower Canada. First Nations people would use pure copper, believed to be found on the shores of Lake Superior, for cooking vessels, knives, and trade with other tribes for tobacco. It was malleable so it could be stretched and manipulated, or melted and spread in sheets. By the 1700's these reports of copper would be proliferated by Jesuit missionaries and adventurers in the area.