Trips & Meetings
Program Meetings are held at the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum in Ishpeming. Doors open at 1:00pm to allow visitors time to check out our mineral collection displays.
Zoom participation in program and business meetings will be available in 2025! Invitations will be sent to club members by email.
Important notices for all Field Trips!
We love including everyone on our trips. However, field trips can be dangerous if participants are not careful. We do not want anyone to get hurt or to lose our visiting privileges to private sites.
You are strongly advised to read and follow the full Field Trip rules:
Here are some key highlights:
- You don't need to be a member to attend our trips. Trips are $10 for non-members and $5 for members - except for the Annual Show Field Trips (then, everyone is $10).
- Children must be 7 years of age or older and must be closely attended at all times. Children under 7 are not allowed on any field trip properties, period. One adult per child. They cannot be wandering off.
- Bring safety glasses. We may have extras available - but if you do not have them, you will not be able to join the trip. They should be on at all times.
- Wear real shoes and long pants. Sandals, flip flops and shorts are not acceptable - dress for the dig!
- Always be careful. Especially watch out above and below you on rock piles, and around you if you're breaking rocks.
- No drones and no smoking. We do not want fires or other dangers on our trips. Yes, rock piles can be flammable!
- Follow all directions given by field trip coordinators and helpers!
- Have fun! If you don't know what it is you picked up, ask a senior club member. Or go straight to Dan.
The rules will be presented again in full before any trip begins.
Upcoming Meetings & Events (2024)
December 8th, 2024 - IRMC Christmas Party and Annual Officer Elections
River Rock Lanes Banquet Center in Ishpeming, MI @ 5pm: Exact details may be subject to change. There will be a dinner, officer elections, and a presentation.
Sign ups have closed; this event is only open to club members who have signed up.
Upcoming Meetings & Events (2025)
The details presented are subject to final review. However the dates should be final.
January 19th, 2025 - Program Meeting
Cliffs Shaft @ 1:30pm: Dan Fountain, Avocational Historian, Shipwreck Hunter and IRMC Member will tell us the story of "The Discovery of the Steamer Arlington," a shipwreck he and a group of shipwreck hunters discovered in Lake Superior in 2023.
Dan has been diving, researching and searching for the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes for more than four decades. He is the author of Michigan Gold and Silver: Mining in the Upper Peninsula, and is the co-author with Frederick Stonehouse of Dangerous Coast: Shipwrecks of the Pictured Rocks.
A business meeting will follow the presentation.
February 16th, 2025 - Program Meeting
Cliffs Shaft @ 1:30pm: Dale Thomas, Senior Underground Geologist at the Eagle Mine and IRMC Member will present his "Journey in becoming a Geologist". Dale will take us on a visual tour (through pictures) to geological sites and mines he has worked with and visited in his career. He will also show us pictures of the specimens he encountered in his journey.
A business meeting will follow the presentation.
March 16th, 2025 - Program Meeting
Cliffs Shaft @ 1:30pm: TBD
A business meeting will follow the presentation.
April 27, 2025 - Annual Silent Auction Meeting
Cliffs Shaft @ 1:30pm: Silent Auction! Mineral Specimens from the local area, the Upper Peninsula and beyond will be available to purchase through the Silent Auction process. All are welcome.
A business meeting will follow the presentation.
May 18, 2025 - Program Meeting
Cliffs Shaft @ 1:30pm: TBD
A business meeting will follow the presentation.
August 2nd, 2025 - Annual Upper Peninsula Gem & Mineral Show
Elks Lodge in Ishpeming, MI: updates will be posted on the show page.
Only the date is set at this time.