Mac Copper Mining Co. - Wyoming Mining Stock Certificate

Stock printed by W.H. Kistler Stationery Co., Denver. The Old Copper Complex in North America has been radiometrically dated to 9500 BP—i.e., about 7480 BCE—making it one of the oldest known examples of copper extraction in the world. The earliest evidence of the cold-hammering of native copper comes from the excavation at Çayönü Tepesi in eastern Anatolia, which dates between 7200 to 6600 BCE. Among the various items considered to be votive or amulets, there was one that looked like a fishhook and one like an awl. Another find, at Shanidar Cave in Mergasur, Iraq, contained copper beads, and dates back to 8,700 BCE.

One of the world's oldest known copper mines, as opposed to usage of surface deposits, is at Timna Valley, Israel, and has been used since the fourth millennium BC, with surface deposit usage occurring in the fifth and sixth millennium. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_extraction