Field Trip: Fluorite and Secondary Lead-Zinc Minerals from Marion, Kentucky

Field Trip: Fluorite and Secondary Lead-Zinc Minerals from Marion, Kentucky

Site Description:

The Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar district is world famous for the enormous quantity of huge, gorgeously crystalline purple and yellow fluorite that originated from the now defunct mines near Cave-In-Rock Illinois. Just take a look at the amazing samples on eBay to get an idea of the current prices and selections. Many collectors do not know that despite the closure of the by far most significant fluorite localities in the region, there are still places in the area to find gorgeous fluorite. While many of these localities are abandoned mines that require deep underground exploration to retrieve specimens, the mines in Marion, Kentucky have specimen rich dumps that are easily worked by hand from the surface. While aesthetic material is plentiful, many of the workings are quite muddy and messy to dig in. It is important to keep in mind that while many gorgeous specimens can be had with minimal digging, specimens of similar quality to those seen in the nearby Ben E. Clement Museum, which features local minerals, are hard to find.

Perhaps the best central location to access all the mines in the region from is the Ben E. Clement mineral museum (http://www.clementmineralmuseum.org/). In the museum, they have many of the finest American fluorite specimens on display. Many are from the collection of the museum’s namesake- a giant in the local fluorite mining industry. It is amazing to see the near infinite color variation that fluorite possesses, especially the great diversity within the region. The museum has scheduled digs for fluorite and other kinds of minerals beginning late April through October. In addition to daytime digs, night digs for fluorescent specimens are held too. The museum can also arrange custom digs. Regardless, pre-registration is required.

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Supplies Needed:
Safety Goggles
Water
Sunscreen
Insect Repellant
Hand Lens
Crack Hammer
Chisel
Shovel
Wrapping Paper for Specimens
Bucket
Sledgehammer (optional)
UV Light (optional)

The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum
205 N Walker St., Marion, KY 42064
(270)965-4263

Mineralogy:

The following is a list and brief description of common minerals found at the Marion area mines.

Calcite: A common gangue mineral. Rarely forms crystals good enough to keep. Often fluoresces red.

Cerussite: Very nice cerussite crystals come from the Marion mines and they are often overlooked. Forms colorless to smoky gray highly lustrous crystals associated with galena and hemimorphite. They either occur singly or are twinned and reach about 1cm in size. Crystals have diverse habits.

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Image: http://www.mindat.org/photo-207070.html Caption: Cerussite- Hickory Cane Mine, Marion, KY 17x13mm Steve Bonney Specimen and Photo

Fluorite: The most sought after mineral at the Marion mines. Found in sharp purple cubic crystals with a maximum diameter of about 3cm. Very easy to identify- the only purple colored mineral at any of the local mines. Found as micro to large cabinet sized specimens. The Marion area is world famous for fluorite.

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Image: http://www.mindat.org/photo-76574.html Caption: Fluorite- Eureka Mine, Marion, KY Crystals to 7.5mm Peter Cristofono Specimen and Photo

Big double terminated orange calcite crystal on a cubic purple crystal of fluorite from illinois cave in rock district

Calcite and Fluorite specimens like this were mined right here in America by miners who wanted to save these beautiful crystals from the rock crusher. Just a few miles away, in Illinois, in the Cave in Rocks District – click here to see more amazing minerals

Galena: Small cubes of galena to around 1.5cm can be found. Often they are weathered.

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Image: http://www.mindat.org/photo-226066.html Caption: Columbia Mine, Marion KY 6x7cm Steve Bonney specimen and photo.

Greenockite: Rare naturally occurring cadmium sulfide that occurs as ochre colored powder with sulfide minerals, especially weathered sphalerite. Sometimes colors smithsonite yellow.

Hemimorphite: Hemimorphite forms druses of colorless to yellowish crystals in vugs and on weathering zinc minerals. Can cover areas to several cm with glittering crystals. Common, but often overlooked.

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Image: http://www.mindat.org/photo-172178.html Caption: Hickory Cane Mine, Marion, KY 1.7cm FOV Steve Bonney specimen and photo.

Hydrozincite: Powdery white secondary zinc mineral. Fluoresces blue under SW UV light.

Quartz: Typically occurs as small drusy or isolated crystals to 4mm. Some are smoky.

Smithsonite: Ususally forms thick, liberal coatings of colorless to tannish botryoidal material. Some specimens are crystalline and some are yellow colored due to the presence of greenockite inclusions. Cabinet specimens are known.

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Photo: http://www.mindat.org/photo-305765.html Caption: Marion, KY 7.5 x 6.5 x 5.8cm Rob Lavinsky photo

Sphalerite: Small aesthetic crystals of sphalerite to about 3mm are abundant. They are typically very lustrous and orange-brown in color.

By Jeremy Zolan

UV Light usage in mineral collecting – A Review of a dual band light under $100!

UV Kit, includes the lamp, 10 mineral specimens, safety glasses and a cd full of information.

I finally got tired of not having a UV light to use in the field. Years ago I had a nice unit with dual LW/SW and a 12v cigar lighter plug, which worked with lots of portable battery packs and in my car for those nighttime visits to classic UV locations. Sadly, this light was lost and replacing it would be a few hundred dollars.

But, you never know how much you miss something like a good UV light until it is gone. There are just so many things a UV light helps with when checking out minerals. From the visual identification to seeing if a purchased specimen is glued, a good UV light pays for itself, quickly.

I was excited to read about the improvements to UVTools.com handheld Lamp, an all in one unit with a long wave bulb and a strong short wave bulb powered by 6 watts, a decent output, for just under $100. The kit comes with the light, which requires 3D batteries, a sample of minerals to test the light with shortwave and longwave reactive specimens. Safety goggles and a cd rom with study guides and informative literature complete the package, all in all, it gives a great start to any beginner, while the advanced collector will appreciate the power this highly portable hand held unit produces. I found the LW light to be very bright and it made some of the fluorites in my collection to glow bright white/blue. The shortwave light gives a bright reaction, but typically from a distance of no more than 6 inches from the lamp. It will not light up a hillside, or even a whole flat of minerals, but it is perfect for “one on one” specimen viewing.

Below: Photos of the kit, the minerals that came with it and some UV reaction from those specimens.

UV Kit, includes the lamp, 10 mineral specimens, safety glasses and a cd full of information.

UV Kit, includes the lamp, 10 mineral specimens, safety glasses and a cd full of information. Available from http://UVTools.com

Shortwave Photo Sample two Calcite rhombs glowing bright red

Shortwave Light Sample (photo taken with Galaxy S2 Phone)

Longwave Light Sample (photo taken with Galaxy S2 Phone)

Longwave Light Sample (photo taken with Galaxy S2 Phone)

You can purchase this UV Lamp from the manufacture, directly at http://www.ultraviolet-tools.com for $99.99.

There were two interesting things I learned by using this UV light. This agate deposit near my house became that much more interesting when I found out that every single piece of agate glows bright green under shortwave light. That means there is a lot of uranium in the area, which is giving the agate that color. Then, a hill over from that agate deposit, at another agate deposit, the brown crust on some of the agates was determined to be an uncommon variety of feldspar, after it was found that these crystals, in micron size, were glowing bright pink, typical of the species. You might wonder, so what, crusts of brown on agate? Well, the sweet thing is that these agates would now glow three different colors, green, pink and orange, sometimes yellow, as well. Three color rocks are what it is all about, so being able to notice the brown crusty bits on some of the agates helps identify them for further UV evaluation! It should be no surprise, those glowing agates include the local petrified palm root and what I like to call “Manix Lakebed Agate” which is a slurry of reeds, roots, rods and roughage from the lake that got silicated into a variety of translucent gel agate in shades of clear to black with red inclusions to a thick jasper-like layered wad of organics in stripes of black, red, cream and white. All of these organic masses were ripe with uranium! Several uranium deposits dot the mountains to the south, UV light is a great indicator of “hot rocks”!

At WhereToFindRocks.com we give this product our recommendation for best starter kit for novices and backup/handheld for advanced collectors.
Just under $100.00 from a manufacturer who stands behind their product. http://UVTools.com

Big Diamonds to be Found at the Crater of Diamonds State Park

3.85 Diamond Found at Crater of Diamond State Park

3.85 Diamond Found at Crater of Diamond State Park
It has been a productive year at the Crater of Diamonds State Park. To date, October 26th, 2013, nearly 400 diamonds have been found over the span of the year, with some rather large ones, several over 2 carats. For instance, Oklahoma teen Tana Clymer found a beautifully formed 3.85-carat canary diamond on October 19th, very similar to the fine diamond that was found by the late Marvin Culver, also of Oklahoma, in 2006. That diamond, the 4.21 carat “Okie Dokie Diamond” has been featured in several books, magazines and has been on display to the public a few times. Another large diamond, a 5.16 carat diamond was found by 12-year-old Michael Dettlaff of North Carolina in August. A 2 carat brown stone was found in June and all of these stones have one thing in common…

Many of these large diamonds are often found on the surface of the digging area.

One of the things many people are shocked to see upon arriving at the park is the actual mine area. It looks like a freshly plowed dirt field, waiting to be seeded and farmed. This area is poked and prodded, pitted and flipped, in search of the small gems distributed in the dirt.
Digging for Diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park Field

Finding the park is very easy, once you are in the general area of Murfreesboro, Arkansas you will see signs pointing to the famous state park. You pay a nominal fee per person and go out into the field to search. You can dig, collect dirt and screen it, looking through the mud for a glassy pebble.
Digging for Diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park

Or, you can do what many of the people who find the large diamonds do, simply walk around the dirt field, looking for crystals that have risen to the surface.
Digging for Diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park

Either way, the Crater of Diamonds State Park is a great place to visit and try your luck at finding a precious stone. The chance of finding one of these stones is stacked against you, but if you happen across one of those rare 2+ carat stones, the Associated Press would like to acquire your photo posing with the stone.

Rock Hounding for Agates in SouthWest Texas

Agate from South-Western Texas

Rock Hounding West Texas for Agate and many other great finds
By Erin Balzrette
for Katy Rock Shop
http://www.katyrockshop.com

Agate from South-Western Texas

Above: Banded Agate from the Alpine Texas area

After rock hounding in Texas with a guide as amazing as Frank Roberts of Austin, Texas, Dawn and I felt ready to go it alone. Also, we begged Frank to come if we got lost or could not identify what we were seeing, and he emailed us all weekend to be sure we were safe. Like I said, we “went it alone”, with Frank on stand-by. We grabbed a copy of The Gem Trails of Texas by Brad Lee Cross and decided to head out.

Agate from South-Western Texas

Above: Classic Agate from the Alpine Texas area

I called Paul at Moonlight Gemstone, of Marfa, TX, (432-729-4526) Bruce Huff, of Katy Rock Shop has a great respect for his beautiful work as do I, and I could not wait to see it for myself, and meet him. The Marfa agate is breathtaking. Paul Graybeal has exclusive rights to the private property in which most of Marfa agate is found. He explained that access to for us to do some hounding would not be possible. He keeps names or locations of land owners who place trust in him to protect their land from sought after agate to himself. It is easy to see why he protects the agate he does. It should be protected, and the land owners have the right to feel their trust has been in no way misplaced. Instead, he invited us to come see him work! This was an incredible offer that I was not about to miss! Paul is thoughtful, generous, patient and kind. I was as impressed by the man, as I was by the work he did, and the agate that surrounded us. Spending the afternoon watching him work, letting us work with him, learn from him, was and experience I will not forget.

Agate from Western Texas

Above: FIRE AGATE from the Alpine Texas area

We couldn’t wait to get to Woodward Ranch (WoodwardRanch.com) famous for the beautiful red plume agate only found there. There is so much more to find at the ranch! The Labradorite is a clear yellow! Opals that are gorgeous, and what she calls “yard art” is some of the most beautiful I have seen. (Yard art … no charge!) $6.00 a person, you are given a detailed map, a quick learner’s course, and shoos you before it gets too hot! When you return she counts it out, $6.00 a lb. for agate. We each left paying 18 dollars, 2 lbs. of agate, and many more lbs. of “yard art” so beautiful I am thrilled to have found it. A few items I collected from this trip are on my website. She was a delightful woman who spoke of her late husband Trey in a way that made you want to sit all day and talk to her. I, like so many others, are so grateful that Woodward Ranch is still operating and allowing others to see the wonder it has to offer.

Terri Smith of Alpine, TX, emailed to explain that she will set up Agate “Hunts” for you, a group, or family, in the fall. THE FALL when it’s….cooler? Terri is the logical one here. And so we will go back in the fall and go to the Ranches able to be hounded at that time on the tours given. The email was very nice and suggested that we try the book I had bought for the journey. I was grateful for the advice, and that I had picked the right book! I have heard only great things about Terri and her extensive knowledge of the area and experience.

“The Gem Trails of Texas Book” by Brad Lee Cross, was for our purposes to the mile, correct and accurate in its description of findings, and location. We found beautiful Jasper at the picnic table Jasper sight 8 miles from Marathon. Exactly as the book said. Amazon is one seller that carries the Gem Trails Series.

Agate from South-Western Texas

Above: Iron Rich Agate Geode from the Alpine Texas area

The West Texas Agate was a trip we will never forget, filled with beautiful surprises showing in each piece you see from that area. While visiting the Katy Rock Shop, you will see pieces from all over Needle Peak, Woodward, Marfa, and so much more and it is all there waiting to show you the beauty of West Texas.

Please find links to Katy Rock Shop, Terri Smith, Moonlight Gemstone, Woodward Ranch, Frank Roberts, and more at my website www.treeclimbersjewelry.com. Pieces I collected during this trip are displayed on the site as well.

Agate from South-Western Texas

Above: Iron Rich Carnelian Agate from the Alpine Texas area

Here at WhereToFindRocks.com we love using Hotels.com to find places to stay while out rockhounding!
And you never know when that hole in the ground is going to require working after hours on, so with Hotels.com,
No hotels.com Change or Cancel fees on lodging bookings!
So, find a hotel around Marfa, Texas or Alpine Texas and get out and collect some Agates!

Collecting Tourmaline in Colorado – Brown Derby #1 Field Trip

‘curved’ Rubellite tourmaline crystal in Cleavelandite

The Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, Gunnison County, Colorado- An unusual LCT-Type Pegmatite with Rubellite Tourmaline, Lepidolite and Rare Earth Element Species
Philip M. Persson
3139 Larimer St., Denver, CO, 80205
perssonrareminerals.com
Exploration Geologist

When it comes to Colorado pegmatite’s, most people think of the vivid and prolific smoky quartz and ‘Amazonite’ feldspar combinations or perhaps fluorite or topaz crystals from the Pike’s Peak batholith, which can be seen in collections all over the world. Tourmaline is certainly not a species that comes to most collector’s mind’s from the Rocky Mountains, yet Colorado does contain several unusual and interesting pegmatite’s of the ‘LCT’ (lithium-tantalim-Niobium) type which contain fairly high-quality (though not ‘gem’ in the pocket sense) tourmaline crystals along with other rarer species. The most notable and certainly the most studied of these deposits is the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, located in the Ohio City/Quartz Creek District, approximately 18 miles northeast of Gunnison in the high mountains of Central Colorado. First mentioned by Eckel (1933) and later by Staatz and Trites (1955) in their exhaustive study on the Quartz Creek Pegmatite District, this locality has long been of interest to both collectors and mineralogists. In recent years, however, due to a combination of property access issues, remoteness, and a shift in focus of Colorado collecting to ‘dig’ localities for smoky quartz, amazonite et cetera, the Brown Derby seems all but forgotten. This article is not an attempt to eclipse or duplicate the already extensive literature on this locality, but rather provide a modern and collector-oriented perspective on this fascinating deposit.

Quartz Creek Pegmatite District

Gunnison Colorado, where the Quartz Creek Pegmatite District is located


Quartz Creek Pegmatite District

Close up of the Quartz Creek Pegmatite District


Figure 1: Map showing location of Gunnison in Central Colorado (‘A’), with inset from Hanley et al. (1950) showing the Quartz Creek Pegmatite District, with the Brown Derby #1 Deposit marked with red star.

The Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite is the largest and most mineralogically-complex of a group of over 5 semi-parallel, dike-like pegmatite bodies which are situated on the western slope of a fairly prominent ~9400 foot high hill above the small settlement of Ohio City, approximately 18 miles northeast of Gunnison, Colorado, and 180 airline miles southwest of Denver. (Staatz & Trites 1955). According to Cerny (1991)’s pegmatite classification scheme, these are classic ‘LCT’ (lithium-tantalum-niobium) type deposits, and contain the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of such deposits. They intrude ~1.7 billion year old metadiorite and associated metamorphic rocks of the Idaho Springs group, the Precambrian basement complex which covers a large portion of the State. Geochronology work by Heinrich (1967) and others found the pegmatite’s to be syngenetic to metamorphosis of the host rocks ~1.7 billion years ago, and they intruded as large sheet-like bodies parallel to the internal foliation and structure of the host rock. They strike N/NE and dip gently into the steep southeast hillside at 20-35 degrees (Heinrich 1967). The largest 3 pegmatite’s of the Brown Derby group all display exceptional mineralogical and geochemical zoning which is typical of most large LCT-type deposits, with the #1 Dike exhibiting the highest mineral diversity.

along the strike of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite
Figure 2: Looking Southeast along the strike of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite; large metal grate visible in center of photo is covering one of the underground drifts leading to a large stope on the core of the deposit. (Photo copyright Rudy Bolona/mindat.org)

Entrance to the #2 Tunnel, or main adit of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite
Figure 3: The Entrance to the #2 Tunnel, or main adit of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, showing the sharp contact between pegmatite (white rock) and overlying metadiorite (dark gray) at the hanging wall contact. (Photo copyright Rudy Bolona/mindat.org)

The #1 Pegmatite was developed from the early 1930’s through the 1970’s and was mined principally for the lithium content of lepidolite, along ceramic-grade feldspar, minor beryl, and a somewhat substantial production of microlite, a tantlum species, though it is unclear if the resulting microlite concentrate was ever processed (Heinrich, 1967). It is presently divided into two properties in legal terms; a large surface exposure with associated dumps, which sit on National Forest/BLM land and are open to mineral collecting, and a fairly small underground portion which is owned by a group which identifies themselves as ‘Precious Offerings Mineral Exchange, LLC’ and is based in Boulder, Colorado. They are involved in Bureau of Mines-mandated remediation work on the underground workings of the Brown Derby #1 Mine, and as their willingness to allow collectors underground is not presently known. The author does not want to encourage activity which may compromise their remediation efforts; therefore this article will focus on specimens and species which can be collected from surface dumps and exposures, of which there are many. Hopefully in the future, the owners of the underground mineral rights will allow collectors to participate in their efforts to recover specimens from this unusual deposit.

This photo is a CRAZY AMAZING Tourmaline with RICH RED COLOR and 5 big crystals standing tall and unbelievable on a bit of matrix

While Tourmaline crystals like this can not be found here, you can see plenty of amazing photos by clicking on this photo of a Brazilian Tourmaline cluster!

The Brown Derby Mine is best approached from U.S Highway 50 from a small turnoff approximately 6 miles east of the small settlement of Parlin and 17 miles east of Gunnison. Turn north here onto Forest Service road 802, also locally marked as the 44 Road. From here, continue north ~1.5 miles, bearing right at the ‘Y’ onto 802 north where some small granitic-looking outcrops start to become visible on your right. Continue on this fairly good dirt road north/northeast past a small stream crossing (may not be passable to passenger cars after recent rain or in the spring) and ~1 mile after the stream crossing, bear left at another fork up an obvious large ‘humpback’ like sagebrush-covered hill, passing a cattle fence (please respect local ranchers and close gate after your drive through!). Continue on this steepening road for another ~1.5 miles over somewhat rough terrain (4 wheel drive/AWD necessary, though high clearance is not mandatory for this section) until you reach a large flat ridgeline with small aspen trees in a grove on your left. This is a good camping spot. Continue until the road apparently disappears into the sage rush, then pick up another fairly good dirt road leading steeply downhill to the left/west towards now fairly obvious white pegmatite mine dumps below you. Continue down past several switchbacks to an eventual right turn through an open gate to a mine access road leading past an abandoned shack where core samples were stored/examined. The large dumps below you and the large gated adit to your right are the Brown Derby #1 Mine.
Tourmaline: Tourmaline is found in an impressive range of colors and several species at the Brown Derby #1 Mine. Of primary interest to collectors are large crystals and sprays of Elbaite variety Rubellite, which ranges from a dull whiteish-yellow color to choice ‘hot pink’ crystals reminiscent of Transbaikal, Russia or Stewart Mine, California rubellite crystals in color. While generally not gemmy, rare crystals to several cm. are found frozen in lepidolite and cleavelandite matrix, which do show gemmy, clear sections that could potentially yield small gems. An early 1970’s Denver Post article reported gem-quality elbaite in small amounts from the Brown Derby Mine (Eckels 1997), but the author has not seen any of this material in collections or institutions. Most impressive and aesthetic are radiating ‘sprays’ of parallel to sub-parallel pink Rubellite crystals set in coarse purple lepidolite matrix, with individual rubellite crystals up to 15 cm. or more in length. Early reports indicate that in several ‘pods’ in the core of the pegmatite, ‘logs’ of elbaite tourmaine crystals up to 30 cm. long showing ‘watermelon’ zoning with rubellite surrounding an elbaite core were found. The author has personally seen well-formed crystals up to 20 x 5 cm. in place. Also interesting are elbaite crystals which are either partially or fully psuedomorphed by lepidolite or muscovite, which are locally common. Large masses of tightly intergrowth elbaite crystals showing an amazing color gradation from lime-green to yellow to pink to reddish within a single crystal were also found fairly commonly (Staatz & Trites 1955). Staatz et al. (1955) looked at the geochemical variations within these crystals as a guide to color and color gradation, as well at petrogenesis of the pegmatite as a whole. Schorl is also found fairly abundantly at the Brown Derby #1 Mine, where it occurs in the wallzone and outer intermediate zones of the pegmatite, generally in subhedral to poor crystals, sometime radiating outward into the metadiorite.

Rubellite tourmaline crystals in quartz
Figure 4: 4 cm. long, slightly gemmy hot-pink Rubellite tourmaline crystals in quartz with partial rubellite crystals surrounding it, Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite.

‘curved’ Rubellite tourmaline crystal in Cleavelandite
Figure 5: Naturally ‘curved’ Rubellite tourmaline crystal in Cleavelandite and lepidolite. Curvature resulted from tectonic movement in pegmatite during crystallization. Scale in cm.

radiating pink Rubellite crystals to ~5 cm
Figure 6: Spray of radiating pink Rubellite crystals to ~5 cm. in fine-grained lepidolite and quartz, similar to Stewart Mine, California material. ~15 cm. field of view.

‘polychrome’ tourmaline
Figure 7: Good example of massive to coarsely-crystalline ‘polychrome’ tourmaline with gradation from pink to green to yellow, showing some translucent to slightly gemmy sections. Field of View 15 cm. across.

Lepidolite: Second after tourmaline in interest to collectors, and arguably more famous from the Brown Derby Mine is Lepidolite, the violet-colored lithium mica, which occurs here as ‘books’ and crystals to over 10” across! Books of lepidolite several inches across are common, and even 6” crystals are not unusual. Masses of nearly solid lepidolite 5-10 feet across can be observed in places in the pegmatite. Lepidolite along with other mica’s at the Brown Derby Mine were studied by Heinrich (1967), who also noted muscovite, zinnwaldite, and polylithionite, though the occurrence of the latter is questionable. In addition to the large tabular hexagonal ‘books’, lepidolite also occurs as large masses of fine-grained, equigranular crystals to several mm., which generally host more unusual species such as microlite or monazite. Finally, an unusual variety known as ‘ball lepidolite’ occurs locally in hemispherical masses up to 15 cm. composed of rounded, subparellel crystals, which supposedly have been worked into cabachons and other lapidary items. All lepidolite from the Brown Derby #1 Mine shows a handsome rich purple color and a generally bright luster.

Lepidolite to 15 cm
Figure 8: Large books of Lepidolite to 15 cm. across in quartz-cleavelandite pegmatite, hand for scale.

Monazite-(Sm): In addition to fairly common mineral like elbaite and lepidolite, the Brown Derby #1 Mine is also unusual in it’s concentration of more unusual rare earth element (REE) species. Arguably the most interesting of these is the recent discovery of Monazite-(Sm), though the possibility of this species at the Brown Derby Was first noted over 50 years earlier by the always astute E.M Heinrich (1960), who analyzed several monazite samples from the Brown Derby #1 Mine containing >10% Samarium(!) Colorado field collector and REE specialist Rudy Bolona collected several specimens of brownish-red massive Monazite associated with white Cleavelandite feldspar and lepidolite from a single boulder on the dumps in 2009, and subsequently has a sample sent to Dr. George B. Morgan at the University of Oklahoma, who analyzed it to be the very rare species Monazite-(Sm), found only at 3 other localities worldwide. While all monazite samples from the Brown Derby #1 Mine analyzed by Heinrich (1960) appear to contain enough Sm to qualify as Monazite-(Sm), Monazite-(Ce) also occurs at this deposit, so it is not safe to assume that all monazite collected at the Brown Derby #1 is Monazite-(Sm). Monazite-(Sm) occurs at the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite as subhedral masses to crude crystals up to ~6.5 cm. across, typically embedded in fine-grained lepidolite with cleavelandite feldspar and quartz. The Brown Derby #1 occurrence may represent the best locality in the world for this rare species, and new finds of this rare mineral are possible on the extensive dumps.

Monazite-(Sm)
Figure 9: Massive reddish-brown Monazite-(Sm) (analyzed) with purple lepidolite, 6.8 cm. across. (Photo copyright Rudy Bolona/mindat.org)

Pollucite: The Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite represents the only Colorado locality for this rare cesium species, which occurs as two large, ~30 cm. wide massive pods in the central core zone of the pegmatite, along with large crude crystals of opaque topaz, cleavelandite, and quartz (personal communication with Rudy Bolona, September 2009). No crystallized material is known, nor has this mineral been reported from the dumps.

Massive white crystalline Pollucite
Figure 10: Massive white crystalline Pollucite, 6.5 cm. across. (Photo copyright Rudy Bolona/mindat.org)

Stibiotantalite: Stibiotantalite is a rare Antimony Tantalum Niobium Oxide species found in LCT-type pegmatite’s and was first described from the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite by Heinrich & Giardini in 1957. It occurs as subhedral to poorly euhedral crystals generally 1-2 cm. but rarely up to 5 cm. associated with the secondary Tantalum species Rynersonite as a white to cream surface alteration of the stibiotantalite. Heinrich & Giardini found stibiotantalite on a large boulder on the dumps of the #1 Pegmatite, and thought that possibly all the stibiotantalite in the #1 pegmatite was contained in this single block, a large mass of cleavelandite, topaz and lepidolite from the core margin core. However, recent finds of small Stibiotantalite crystals by Colorado collectors on the dumps would argue otherwise.

Well-formed 8 mm. long Stibiotantalite
Figure 11: Well-formed 8 mm. long Stibiotantalite crystal on lepidolite-cleavelandite pegmatite, collected recently on the dumps. (Photo copyright Rudy Bolona/mindat.org)

Columbite-(Fe): Columbite-(Fe), the Fe-analogue of the Niobium oxide species Columbite, is found in several assemblages at the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite. In the core margin zone of the pegmatite, it is found with Cleavelandite feldspar, quartz, and mica minerals as large, crudely euhedral crystals to 10 cm. In the border zone of the pegmatite, especially towards the hanging wall contact with the metadiorite, it is found as small (<5 cm.) grains and crude crystals associated with reddish albite/perthite, Euxenite-(Y), and Monazite-(Ce). Nowhere at the Brown Derby deposit is Columbite-(Fe) an especially common nor conspicuous constituent, however it does occur through a wide portion of the pegmatite. Columbite-(Fe) in albite
Figure 12: Partial crude crystal of Columbite-(Fe) in albite, 8 x 6 cm. (Photo copyright Dean Allum/mindat.org)

Euxenite-(Y): A glassy green metamict Rare Earth species, previously identified as Betafite in some literature, is now believed to be Euxenite-(Y) (Heinrich 1967). Euxenite-(Y) is restricted in occurrence at the Brown Derby pegmatite to a core-margin albite replacement near the upper north margin of the core, but may exist in other unrecognized or mined-out zones as well. It occurs here as metamict masses to 4 cm. in weathered red albite with schorl and columbite-(Fe), and is highly radioactive.

Monazite-(Ce): Monazite-(Ce) occurs at the Brown Derby #1 pegmatite in several assemblages, making non-quantitative distinguishing from Monazite-(Sm) difficult to impossible. It is found as fairly sharp euhedral crystals to ~2.5 cm. in red albite with columbite-(Fe), probably from an analogous assemblage to the aforementioned Euxenite-(Y) zone. The Harvard University Mineralogical museum has several excellent crystallized specimens, one of which (HMM #104814) is pictured here.

Monazite-(Ce) to 2.4 cm. in perthite-albite-biotite pegmatite, Harvard Mineralogical Museum
Figure 13: Well-formed crystals of Monazite-(Ce) to 2.4 cm. in perthite-albite-biotite pegmatite, Harvard Mineralogical Museum #104814.

Microlite: Microlite, the complex tantalum oxide species, is known from several zones of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite and was one of the significant economic minerals of this deposit, though the present distribution of microlite in the dumps and in-situ would suggest otherwise. This is probably due to the fact that microlite occurred in concentrated ‘shoots’ or elongated pods in fine-grained lepidolite-quartz-cleavelandite pegmatite, a mode of occurrence similar to that at the famous Harding Pegmatite in New Mexico. These ‘shoots’ were mined selectively for their microlite content, and ~1200 pounds of Microlite was concentrated and stockpiled for processing, though it is unclear if this material was ever actually sold (Hanley 1950). Hanley also estimates that ~9,000 lbs. of microlite remained at the time of his study in 1944 at the Brown Derby #1, though it is unclear how much of that has been mined since. Mineralogically, microlite forms small crude to somewhat euhedral octahedral crystals to 1 cm. with a resinous brown to black luster and distinctive radiation ‘burn halo’s’ in the surrounding lepidolite. These crystals are often quite radioactive and may in fact be uranomicrolite.

Microlite in crude 3-4 mm. crystals in fine-grained purple Lepidolite
Figure 14: Microlite in crude 3-4 mm. crystals in fine-grained purple Lepidolite; specimen 4 cm. across. (Photo copyright John Betts/mindat.org)

Other accessory species: For the sake of brevity as well as the fact that they do not occur in ‘collector-quality’ crystals, other species such as Topaz, Beryl, Garnet, and Bismutite will not be discussed in detail here. Suffice it to say that they are present at the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, and a quick search of the already extensive literature on this deposit will yield many interesting references.

In closing, the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite remains one of the more interesting and unusual pegmatite deposits in Colorado, and unlike many similar localities, a large portion of the dumps as well as surrounding prospects remain both on public land as well being as accessible to vehicles. The Brown Derby #1 deposit is also unusual in that while it continues to yield excellent, aesthetic specimens of relatively common minerals such as Rubellite tourmaline and lepidolite, finds of extremely rare species such as Monazite-(Sm) have also been made recently. If you plan to visit from Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, please be respectful of local claim holders and property owners and exercise safety and common sense around the large dumps and potentially dangerous mine faces and outcrops. With persistence and luck, this locality should continue to yield great mineral specimens for many years to come.

References
1.) ‘Mica’s of the Brown Derby Pegmatites, Gunnison County, Colorado’, Heinrich, E.M, The American Mineralogist, Volume 52, July-August 1962.
2.) ‘A New Lepidolite Deposit in Colorado’, Eckel, F.B., American Scientific Society, 16, pp. 239-245.
3.) ‘Lithia Pegmatites of the Brown Derby Mine, Gunnison County Colorado’, Hanley, John B., 1946, American Mineralogist 31, 147.
4.) ‘Pegmatite Investigations in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah: 1942-1944’, E.M Heinrich et al., USGS Professional Paper Paper 227, 1950.
5.) ‘Stibiotantalite from the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, Colorado’, Heinrich, E.M & Giardini, A.A., American Mineralogist 45, pp. 728-731, 1960.
6.) ‘The Quartz Creek Pegmatite District, Gunnison County, Colorado’, Staatz, M.H. & Trites, A.F., USGS Professional Paper 265, 1955.
7.) ‘Paragenesis of the Topaz-Bearing Portion of the Brown Derby #1 Pegmatite, Gunnison County Colorado’, Rosenberg, P.E., American Mineralogist 57, 571-583, 1972.
8.) Mindat.org, accessed 8-01-2013 to 8-15-2013.

Cascade Canyon Ruby Crystals – A Los Angeles Hidden Gem

Ruby crystals found near los angeles glow bright red under long wave UV light.

Cascade Canyon, located exactly 1.7 miles southwest of Mt. Baldy, is the home to many interesting, if small, minerals and veins of interesting polishable minerals. Collecting around the top and bottom of the canyon, we have found various qualities and sizes of corundum var. ruby along with small veins of beautiful, if hard to come by, pieces of lapis. In addition, we have found minerals that the area is not well known for, including small dravite crystals, epidote, diopside and uv reactive calcite.

1.7 miles from Mt. Baldy, on the south side of cascade canyon, ruby crystals are found.

The lapis deposit is near the top of the mountain, with no access that would be considered even reasonably obtainable by anyone who is not well versed in mountain climbing. In addition, the area of the deposit was covered in an avalanche years ago. Anyone attempting to reach this deposit would be doing so at risk of life itself. In the upper streams of cascade canyon, before it turns into what would be impassible for most, bits and pieces of lapis can be found. Most people we have interviewed who have collected there in the past are happy with one visit to the location.

On Barrett-Stoddard Road, though closed to vehicle traffic, you can find interesting mineralization along the roadside, which is now a popular hiking/biking trail. Calcite veins with Diopside crystals have been located, however, the diopside is not crystallized well, with a melted appearance. The corundum locations along the roadside give the viewer a understanding that the deposit of “ruby” stretches along the entire mountainside.

Along the bottom of the canyon, on the south side of cascade canyon, along the area where the mountain follows the river on the lip of the eastern mountainside. While boulders of ruby bearing matrix can be found EVERYWHERE along the mountainside, the most popular collecting location is a small canyon that dumped out the contents of several rockslides into the valley below, creating a field rich with broken chunks of rocks with small ruby crystals inside.

Ruby crystals found near los angeles glow bright red under long wave UV light.

We were delighted to read Natalie Weisiger’s article about her trip to Cascade Canyon with the Gem and Mineral Council of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. You can read about it, right here at http://omigems.com/blog/2013/07/california-corundum-from-the-ground-to-my-finger/ It is very interesting to read about the California ruby coming from the ground and into a piece of jewelry. You can certainly believe that is one unique piece of jewelry!


Natalie Weisiger in front of the landslide pile of ruby bearing rocks on the south side of Cascade Canyon

When the weather is warm, St. Lawrence County is one of our favorite New York Locations for collecting!

Find more about Weather in Potsdam, NY
Click for weather forecast

Thinking about the East Coast quite a bit, our minds are set on the display cases for the NY/NJ mineral show in Edison New Jersey, April 12-14. We found ourselves involved in organizing all of the cases, nearly 50 six foot tall wall cases, filled with great minerals from the NorthEast, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The trees are blooming here in Southern California and it makes me wonder what it is like in St. Lawrence County, one of our favorite collecting regions in the United States. Well, as of the end of March, 2013, it looks like Potsdam is still getting the occasional snow flurry. So, keep an eye out for days of sunshine and take a trip to St. Lawrence County, a real wonderland of minerals.

The-Vug.com published an issue of their printed magazine on St. Lawrence County and Chester County Pennsylvania, two diversely mineralized areas popular to collectors of the 1800’s. Because of the remoteness of St. Lawrence County, many of the locations for collecting are still available to collecting. Specifically, the deposits on Selleck Road and Power’s Farm, located a short distance from the college town of Potsdam, offer interesting crystals to those who make the trip.

Selleck Road Tremolite Collecting
Tremolite from Selleck Road

map to collect tremolite and uvite at power's farm and selleck road in st. lawrence county, new york

The Tremolite is abundant and easy to collect, you can simply roam the forest floor and find several different styles of crystals. The more uncommon find at this location is the brown dravite tourmaline crystals. Either way, I would enjoy spending another day or three at this location.

Selleck Road Tremolite Collecting

Selleck Road Tremolite Collecting

Selleck Road Tremolite Collecting

To the north a few miles, Power’s Farm is the home to one of the most famous New York locations, the classic black Uvite tourmaline crystals are found.

Collecting at Power's Farm in New York

You can read more about it in the book reprint of The-Vug.com Magazine, which is available for purchase at this link, it is very colorful and inexpensive!

You can read that issue, online, hosted by WheretoFindRocks.com by clicking the magazine cover.

#6 1

Hotel rooms in Potsdam are available on Hotels.com, a great town to visit!

Rockhounding 101 – How to REALLY FIND minerals and rocks!

Rocky Rockhammer MascotOn this website we are sharing information about locations that some of the various contributors to this site have gone to. All of us find out about these mineral locations from various sources. Many locations have been talked about in every media format available, some published locations are so well known it is common to run into another collector at any time, some of the locations published are visited less than a couple times a year, if at all. By media, I mean, printed in magazines, books, club newsletters, posted online in forums, websites, on homemade video, on professional video and on television. Some collectors will grumble that all this publicity will make the location run dry. It makes local officials either look forward to increased tourism, or look for ways to restrict access, as if rockhounding was a hobby that allows one to retire early (on public gains!), rather than typically be retired to enjoy! Mineral collecting is a truly patriotic hobby! Knowing and understanding minerals and the deposits has always been a matter of national security, public knowledge and scientific outreach.

While many websites will tell you about what tools you need and speak of rock hammers, backpacks and boots, our #1 tool is knowledge. First hand, published and in modern mythic tales, obtaining information about locations is something that is the first step to find out as much as possible about a location before ever visiting it.

Field Guides are a great resource, as well as magazines focused on rockhounding, from now all the way back into the beginning of the 20th century! Old magazines like “Rockhounds” and “The Mineralogist” are great resources, as well as old and current issues of “Rocks and Minerals” and “Rock and Gem”. All of these can be found for sale on eBay and at various mineral shows around the united states. You never know when you are going to come across a great article about a location you had JUST heard about! One of the most amazing online databases is the complete run of “American Mineralogist” on http://www.minsocam.org/msa/ammin/toc/
The older issues have articles that have lead me to locations that might have been completely forgotten about.

Mindat.org is an amazing database that many of you are already familiar with, however, we often forget to think about just how amazing this database is, including lists of references for corresponding articles and books about the subject.

Geology Departments of the state you live in or adjacent to you, has produced several state reports on mines and minerals, which will often include information that can be very useful now. In the early 1900’s, feldspar was an important commodity, unlike now. Knowledge of mineral deposits will tell us commercial feldspar deposits also had garnets and schorl tourmaline, sometimes quartz or even topaz. Often an entire hardcover book has been produced, detailing the minerals and the locations they are found, across the state. California has at least THREE editions of this kind of text and I’m sure there are several people planning the next edition.

Road Atlas are great to have when you are planning and while you are en route. I personally love the DeLorme series, nice large print maps that have helped guide me to countless locations. The BLM has a program you can use, the LR2000, but my personal favorite database is the MRDS, Mineral Resource Data System, detailing the principal and secondary ore and location of all working, placed and closed mines and mineral locations. Just load the map and locate your location. I think you’ll be surprised what you might not know about the mines in your proximity. While traveling through Utah and Colorado, our Road Map was invaluable, showing BLM land that was open for public camping.

Clubs are a real mixed bag, but as such, you will inevitably come across information from all directions. Both of my favorite beach and fossil collecting spots were told to me by a lady at the Searcher’s Rock Club in Anaheim California. Right now in 2013, I’m cleaning minerals and going field collecting with a friend I made from attending the Culver City Club back in 2004. That is a collecting friend who has gone on dozens of collecting trips with me over 9 years. I’ve learned about so many parts of this hobby from mineral clubs and it has been an enlightening experience in many ways. You can get a complete list of mineral clubs here.

We loved this idea so much, we made it. The Mineral Search Page located Right Here on WheretoFindRocks.com, is something that we made from our LOVE of the general searches for states, countries and forms on eBay. The idea behind this is that if you check out the eBay results for your state, or general area, you’ll come across people who have gone out collecting at public locations and put something on eBay. This can easily lead you to general areas to collect minerals. It is a great first step in researching current producing locations.

Museums and local collections are great resources. You’ll find the museums thing to be easy, if not a long term task. Searching out collections, both old and current, are wonderful sources of information. For instance, if you wanted a good run down of California locations, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles has an entire wall devoted to very beautiful representations of our state, as well as the California Mining Museum in Mariposa. I LOVED the Wagner Free Institute which had this amazing OLD collection, untouched for a century. In the same vein, the Natural History museum of Prague featured minerals that had not been updated in decades, revealing a great deal of history that is so often removed from the more mainstream commercial museums. Local collections require a bit more finesse and luck. For example, getting to visit private collections can be mind expanding, as many long time private collectors have seen things that were so common for a small amount of time and now virtually unheard of. However, without some sort of recommendation from someone of some sort of personal relation ship with a private collector, most of them are not exactly looking for random visitors. However, if you had been a member of the Mineralogical Society of Southern California, you would have had the chance to visit with several outstanding collections belonging to members of that club. Which takes us back to Mineral Clubs, and why it is a wise idea to be involved with at least one of them.

Going to mineral shows is a great source of information, as the display cases often reveal locations that are open to collection. In fact, the name tags in the cases often match up to the club member’s name tags, the people running the mineral show, and often you can strike up a conversation about their display case.

Libraries all around have lead me to some wild collecting adventures. Your local library is going to have a couple things for sure, often books about the geology of the area, as well as a collection of the state’s publications on geological topics. A great for instance is back in the very beginning of my collecting days, some friends of mine discovered the 1962 edition of “Mineral Collecting in Pennsylvania”, which drove us in a search for the “Azurite” included quartz crystals of Kunkletown. The book was wrong, but there is nothing wrong with Anatase included Quartz, which we found. My most recent discovery of Lawsonite on the beaches of Southern California due to a geological sand sample report. You can read all about that in my upcoming blog entry.

Google Maps and Google Earth are to powerful tools that everyone has at their fingertips. You can do amazing amounts of research with both of these tools, locating mineral locations right down to their visible mine tailings! Understanding the various uplifts, errosion patterns, depressions and faint roads to nowhere are very useful for today’s mineral collector. A simple test, pick your favorite collecting area and look at it on google earth. You will see things you might have never noticed on foot.

Now, my secrets are revealed to you. I hope you use them wisely!

I want to leave you with this note, written by Rock Currier in the publication, “About Mineral Collecting” released by the Mineralogical Record.

Field collectors are a remarkable and accomplished breed. They are perhaps the rarest and purest kind of mineral collectors. They hearken back to the very beginnings of what we now call the earth sciences, and in many ways they embody the simple thrill and youthful joy of the treasure hunt. If you look you will find them “out there” trekking over just one more mountain, digging down just another foot, and hoping for just a little bit longer that they will find something. But remember, the first law of field collecting states: “The best to be found is still in the ground and the best that has been found has be ground!” (that is, ground up into powder in the mill and processed into metal)

Collecting Howlite an hour North of Los Angeles

Mineral Club collecting at Tick Canyon in 1957
VGMS collecting at Tick Canyon back in 1957
For decades rockhounds have collected tons of howlite from the dumps of Tick Canyon.

To this day, tons of howlite still overflow at the mine dumps, dormant for over 100 years.


View Tick Canyon Howlite Collecting in a larger map

This location, clearly seen on the map above, is amazingly easy to find, park, and collect. The borate mine in Tick Canyon is called the Stearling Borax mine, which had its own mini railroad, a “dinky” sized rail, hauling borates out of the canyon to the station in Lang. The by product of colemanite mining at this location was an odd soft white material, with thin black spiderweb like inclusions running throughout. This material, Howlite, has no economic worth, as it is not an ore of borax, it is found littering the mine dumps.

Brandy Zzyzx collecting Howlite in Tick Canyon
The old mining area is now fenced off with no trespassing signs. Years ago, this main area was a common field trip location for clubs from all over Southern California. Uncommon minerals like Priceite and Veatchite could be found on the dumps, along with softball sized cauliflower shaped howlite nodules. You would think that with the original mine dump off limits, collecting would be impossible.
Howlite cut in half
This howlite nodule was cut in half, then mounted in a block of plaster. Photo by MiddleEarthMinerals.com
Something wonderful for mineral collectors, a large amount of the dump was pushed to the other side of Davenport Road, into the canyon below. This huge dump pile is full of howlite, as we found out visiting this location on December 23rd, 2012.
Howlite found in the dump material of the Stearling Borax Mine
Chunks of white Howlite can be seen in the dark gray dump
Forty pounds of howlite was gathered in what seemed like no time, with no digging required. The howlite was everywhere, even down the wash dozens of feet from the main dump pile.

Howlite is soft enough to carve easily, yet hard enough to be a popular lapidary item for cabbing, tumbling, and polishing.
Howlite chunk in Concrete block
You can see that the material was so unwanted, they would use it as a filler rock in concrete.

This location is a perfect place for anyone, it is easy, interesting and filled with desirable minerals!
Article from The-Vug.com Fakes Issue about Howlite
The article above is an excerpt from The-Vug.com Quarterly Magazine Fakes Issue, which was reprinted in the compilation book, available for sale directly from the publisher!

Garnets in the Fairmount Park area of Philadelphia Pennsylvania

We just love the city of brotherly love and you can discover a beautiful feature of this area, the mica schist deposits running through this area, outcropping all over the Fairmount Park area and beyond. There is Wissahickon formation schist all over the place, not all of it has garnets and they never get big, but having one as a reference sample and visiting this area are well worth the time spent.

ducks in fairmount park
Ducks lined up by the Wissahickon Creek

While we have visited many outcrops of rocks around the area, the one where we took these photos is by the wissahickon creek, just north of the free public parking area by the Vallery Green Inn.

View Fairmount Park Garnet Deposit in a larger map

This area is beautiful and you can see blocks of Wissahickon schist used for building stone, with garnets poking out of some of the blocks. There is a beautiful stone bridge there, along with all sorts of birds, small animals, providing a beautiful setting just outside the city. We went down to the wissahickon creek, descending on the west side of the bank. Trails form around the creek, revealing water worn mica chunks with garnets sticking out. The red color is interesting, but few if any are of any gem quality, they are simply a mineralogical interest item and a beautiful example of a mica schist. Philadelphia is a beautiful city and this deposit of Kyanite is just one more great reason to visit! Check out Hotels.com for great deals on hotel rooms in Philadephia!

down by the wissahickon creek
A view from the trails by the Wissahickon Creek
Friends of Wheretofindrocks.com collecting garnets
Looking through the rocks down by the creekside
a tiny gemmy red garnet in matrix
A tiny gem red garnet in matrix
typical size of mica and garnet specimen
A rockhammer to show you the typical size and color of the garnet baring mica schist
flipping over rocks at the wissahickon creek
Finding a good specimen takes luck
Having fun looking at rocks in philadelphia
A beautiful setting for a nature outing, the mica schist of the Wissahickon Creek is a great way to spend an afternoon!

Collecting minerals from “Cross Hill”, Nuevo California

A friend of mine asked to go visit the feldspar mine on the mountain in Nuevo California, about an hour and a half outside of Los Angeles, toward Riverside and on the way to San Diego. I had not been to the location in five years and I had heard that there was a lot of activity in the area with houses being built. As this has been a classic collecting location, along with the possibility of general prospecting around the area, I wanted to see what was going on.

View Nuevo Quarry pinpointed in a larger map
First I heard there was a gate up. That did not seem to bode well, but it looks like the Korean Church at the bottom of the hill put a gate up at the beginning of the road. It was open (and public land!) so we drove through. Going up the hill was no problem, just like in the past. The odd thing was, going up the hill, the graffiti was out of control on those rocks, empty ammo cases littered the ground alongside empty beer bottles. In addition, these signs saying that the road was PRIVATE were sprayed on the boulders, which is just plain nonsense! This is a road. You can not simply buy the rights to some land and close off a public road. There were work crews, lots of construction going on and shockingly, houses were springing up in this area. The turn off to the quarry was way worse than I remember, as they graded the dirt road down, down, down, so that the turnoff was a six foot climb in the Jeep, which was a little shocking. But, then the road seemed fine, as I remember, and we pulled into the parking area to start our walk to the quarry and dump pile. Seriously, nobody is going to tell me that, as a citizen of California and America, that I am not allowed to go on a public road, to an abandoned quarry to collect some worthless rocks that nobody will miss. Just because some chumps want to spend millions of dollars to build their secluded homesites doesn’t mean they can keep me from the public road outside their house. Keep those ATVs, the gun nuts and the teenage drinkers away, I’m here for some science and some nature.
Smithsonian Nuevo California Garnet
Here is the photo that got me interested again, a photo from the Smithsonian of a nice garnet from this location.

The quarry is very interesting, mainly feldspar and massive quartz, with huge crystals of schorl tourmaline embedded inside the feldspar. Along with this are garnets, most always forming in one thin layer on the outside of the feldspar blocks, the rare find of a scrap of aquamarine is possible and uncommon radioactive crystals of monazite and thorianite. I wanted to try and find some of the radioactives and nice garnet plate, my friend was looking for schorl chunks to put into reference kits for the kids. We found everything that you could expect to find from the quarry and spent about 2 hours collecting before hitting the road back to Los Angeles, with a wide open freeway, pre-rush hour, it was a great trip. If you are in the Southern California area, this is an interesting place to check out and I hope you make it without any problems and who knows, maybe in a few years the road will be paved! (and gated, to keep you ruffians out) This is BLM land, no person should DARE to stop entry to that land. Access to this area has been served by that road which far predates the church or the houses being built up there. It is absolutely shameful if anyone tries to stop you.

Overlooking the felspar quarry in Nuevo California
Overlooking the quarry from the parking area.
Huge Crystals of Schorl in feldspar
For size reference, here is my hand.
Nuevo Quarry with John
A human for size reference.
Another view of the schorl wall at Nuevo
More mouth-watering schorl!
Schorl Crystal in Matrix
This schorl crystal would fall to bits if we tried to remove it from matrix.
loose schorl crystal
A typical scrap of Schorl Tourmaline found on the dumps.
Garnet crystals on feldspar matrix
Commonly seen are the blocks of feldspar, more uncommon is a coverage as rich as this with well formed crystals.
Unidentified radioactive minerals
You can tell these are radioactive due to the radiation rings discoloring the quartz/feldspar matrix.
leaving the quarry with some kid rocks
Leaving the quarry with some rocks to share with the kids.

Agate Collecting in Colorado – Wolf Creek Pass Zeolites

Near the border of Archuleta County in Colorado, Wolf Creek Pass and Treasure Mountain contain a deposit of silicates and zeolites that have made their way into mineral collections around the world. The collecting area, spread out over the rocky mountainside, is often referred to as Wolf Creek Pass. However, Wolf Creek Pass is actually a 10,000 foot mountain pass that wraps around Treasure Mountain and follows the Wolf Creek. The mountain does not bear gold or jewels, but the volcanic basalt deposits are near a very photogenic waterfall, Treasure Falls. Surrounded by scenic views, this basalt deposit is one of the most thrilling areas of Colorado. Hotels.com has great deals on hotels around Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado

Quartz specimen with banded agate and a crystal center with a slight purple hue.
Quartz specimen with banded agate and a crystal center with a slight purple hue.
Photo by Mathew Marulla (marulla.com)

Treasure Mountain is named after the legendary stash of gold, left behind by a French expedition in 1790. Several search parties have tried to find the fortune of gold bars acquired from a gold deposit near the Peak of Treasure Mountain, but none have been successful in finding the bars or the deposit.

Much of the collecting area is adjacent to highway route 160 and in the boulders and exposed rock of the mountainside just north of the falls. The mineralized area is fairly large and boulders containing the material have been distributed across the area, both naturally and due to the construction of route 160 and Wolf Creek Pass. In fact, due to the close proximity to Archeuleta county to the south, part of the deposit crosses this manmade border separating the counties which only serves to cause confusion in geographic labeling of specimens from this deposit.

Map of the Treasure Creek Agate and Zeolite location
Map of the Agate and Zeolite locations around Wolf Creek.

Rounded amygdaloids fill the voids in the volcanic deposit of basalt, as with many occurences. These host crystals of quartz and about half a dozen zeolite minerals.

The quartz and agate are similar to that found in many other volcanic silica deposits. The agate is typically clear, white and/or shades of blue, often with alternating layers that make it desirable for lapidary use. Some have crystallized centers. Typically the crystals form on a layer of agate, which varies in thickness from miniscule shells to thick rinds. Sometimes the crystals are amethyst, making attractive specimens on dark colored volcanic matrix. Though the agate and quartz found here do not rival that found at many other locations, it is one of only a few still open for collecting.

Of course, the zeolite species are what makes the location a true Colorado classic. Analcime is typically found as very small crystals usually below 1 cm in size. However, at one location, analcime is found up to 3.5 cm. Chabazite occurs here, but not in crystals larger than a few millimeters in size. Heulandite is sometimes found as crystals up to 5 cm across. However, typically the crystals are only millimeters in size, lining the cavities and serving as matrix to other minerals. One such mineral is mordenite, which is found as well formed clusters of white fibers. These clusters, up to a few centimeters in size, were referred to as being one of the best locations for the species in the United States for many years.

Mordenite crystals in a vug of basalt
Mordenite crystals in a vug of basalt
Photo by Mathew Marulla (marulla.com)
Mordenite Crystals up to 2 cm long can be found at the location
Mordenite Crystals up to 2 cm long can be found at the location
Photo by Mathew Marulla (marulla.com)

Other associated minerals include globular common opal, small rhombs of calcite, and small pyrite crystals. The locality is also a classic locality for the clay minerals celadonite and nontronite, which form in abundance. Laumonite, natrolite and wellsite also occur in the deposit, but they occur rarely and only as small crystals

Isolated Heulandite crystal on matrix.  Specimen size is 6 millimeters
Isolated Heulandite crystal on matrix. Specimen size is 6 millimeters
Photo by Luigi Mattei
Several voids filled with celadonite
Several voids filled with celadonite overall size 10 x 5 x 3 cm.
Photo by Martins da Pedra

Due to the vast deposit and mountain conditions, this source of colorful quartz, agate and zeolites will always exist in the mountains of Colorado. Maybe the lack of gold is a bit disappointing for a mountain with such high aspirations, but to many mineral collectors around the world, the real treaures are the mineral collecting opportunities and the often-visited Treasure Falls.

If you enjoyed this article, it was originally printed in The-Vug.com Magazine, which was released as a hardcover coffee table book, collecting all 16 issues of the original magazine. It is 324 pages, hardcover and full color, available directly from the publisher at FortySevenPress.com For $34.95, it is full of great photos, articles, collecting locations and more! Get your copy to add to your mineral book library!

Cummingtonite – We know you were looking for iron rich amphiboles…

As mineral collectors on the internet know, the jokes can often lead back to one mineral.
Cummingtonite. Eliciting snickers in a room of freshmen geologists (and honestly, still getting chuckles from aged field geologists under the right conditions). Lately it is the most popular iron rich amphibole mineral to be searched for on Google. We all know when we see that fact it is not because people are looking for their favorite ugly brown rock! Most minerals are searched for their beauty, this mineral can only claim its name as the claim to fame.

Cummingtonite is a rather uncommon mineral, hailing from the riverside on the far western edge of Cummington, Massachusetts. Here is a sample of the mysterious brown crusty amphibole they were mining. Scratching their heads, someone noticed this as an unknown mineral and dubbed it Cummingtonite, in honor of the town it was found. This is often the case, such as Elbaite, Annabergite, and Boleite.
Thick vein of Cummingtonite
Cummingtonite with label from original find
Cummingtonite Specimen
Garnets and Cummingtonite
This specimen pictured is from the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. It shows a chunk of brown radiating crystals with embedded garnets. Donated by a prominent American Mineralogist Charles Upham Shepard, a man who submitted the approvals for Danburite, Microlite and others. He had one of the largest collections of minerals in the United States, donating specimens to various museums in life and death. He was a well respected lecturer on subjects of Natural History. Charles Upham Shepard graduated from Amherst College in 1924, the same year that Cummingtoite was accredited.

1824. Cummingtonite. (Dewey.)
“I have here given this name to a mineral found by ‘Dr. J. Porter in
Cummington. It appears to bo a variety of epidote. Its color is gray,
sometimes with a faint reddish tinge, unless when acted on by the
weather, when its color is yellowish. It is in distinct prisms, with oblique
seams like’ zoisite, and in radiated or fascicled masses, which are com-
posed of slender prisms. Luster somewhat shining or pearly. It is nearly
as hard as quartz, and sometimes makes a slight impression upon rock
crystal. Before the blowpipe it blackens, and a small portion melts, when
the heat is very great, into a black slag, which ik attracted by the mag-
net. With quartz and garnet .it forms a largo mass in Cummington.”
C. Dewey : Geol. Min. Mass.; Am. Jour. Sci., 1st series, Vol. VIII, p, 59.
1824. Cummingtonite. Lies by the roadside in the east part of
Cumnimgton.
Known to the common people for several years under the name.of copperas
rock; occasionally used in dyeing as a substitute for sulphate of
iron.
J. Porter: Min. Loc.; Am. Jonr. Sci., 1st series, Vol. VIII, p. 233.

Cummingtonite, the inspiration for snickers, memes and lame t-shirts, has a much more benign beginning!

With your knowledge of what Cummingtonite is, beyond a cleaver play on words, now I will tell you how you can go collect your very own specimen, along with brightly colored Lepidolite mica, UV reactive opal hyalite and shiny Hematite crystals. Far off in the desert of Arizona, nobody will hear your terrible off color humor besides your collecting partners. If you’ve ever been collecting petrified wood with a group of geologists who loudly exclaim “I’VE GOT WOOD!”, you have an idea of what to expect.

The location to collect Cummingtonite is just off to the north of the BBC Mine, a half hour away from Parker, Arizona.
The area is a wonderland of mineral collecting, with the BBC mine area boasting FINE crystals of Hematite, sometimes assosicated with Chrysocolla. Further to the North is the Planet area, filled with Barite, Malachite, Chrysocolla and all sorts of beautiful minerals. Fluorite, Gold and more copper minerals are found within 20 miles of this location, so beyond the oddball amphibole Cummingtonite, there are plenty of reasons to visit this area!

Map to Cummingtonite deposit
Map to Cummingtonite deposit
Open trench at cummingtonite deposit - Watch Your Step!
The location is a simple series of trenches, where you can find a very odd form of Lepidolite, normally known as being bright purple, here it is yellow. The hematite at the cummingtonite location is not nearly as nice as the hematite at the BBC mine. <---click to view photos on MinDat.org Cummingtonite on matrix from Arizona

The material from here is not even a tenth as nice as the crunchy material from Massachusetts, however, being able to collect your own specimen of this odd, uncommon material, is something to get excited about! 😉

If you would like a more “in-depth” view into this collecting location, let me advise you to check out the excellent Android App that will guide you to several locations around the Quartzsite/Parker area. Download this Android App for $4.99

We love you readers so much that we provided a google map pointing you to the locations.


View Cummingtonite and BBC Mine in a larger map

And I’m not completely innocent on the juvenile jokes…I am the proud owner of a Dickite specimen from Beaver Creek. 😉

Sideling Hill – A Cross Cut View of the Fossil Rich Shale in Maryland and Pennsylvania

Fossils are plentiful in the shale deposits all around the mid-Atlantic states. Without getting technical, shells of a variety of marine animals are found in the shale, readily accessible via road cuts and rock quarries around Western Maryland, central Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Sideling Hill is a wonderful example of the typical construct of the rolling hills of the area.

Sideling Hill Roadcut

The tight bands of rock layers, along with the HUGENESS of the roadcut are fascinating. The layers of the mountain are very interesting, consisting of alternating bands of shale and big bands of alluvial conglomerate. The top layer of shale is also coal rich, which is thickest on the north side of the road cut. You can see the dark layer towards the very top of the hill.

Sideling Hill Roadcut front view

The rest area used to host a Geological Center, a fun place to check out, a place to stop and view this geological wonder and find out a little more about the earth around us.

Sideling Hill Rest Area

The Geological Center is closed now, but the exhibits have been moved to Hancock Maryland.

Sideling Hill Geological Center

A short distance away in Pennsylvania, we found several shale deposits on the side of back country roads.

Typical Shale Road Cut in Pennsylvania

Any place you can find loose shale, if you flip over a few pieces, often, fossils will be found.

Shale Debris With Fossils

The shale from this area breaks up into small bits. That makes big matrix specimens very uncommon!

Rockhammer and Shale Chips

Brachiopod specimens are very common through out the area, along with tightly wound trilobite specimens.

Fossils shells found in shale deposit

Packing the specimens is a delicate job, so a roll of toilet paper for wrapping is always handy!

packing up fossils found in pennsylvania

Bi-valve fossils, Gastropods and many others, all found swimming around in the soup of the Devonian era!

fossil shell found in shale

At this road cut, randomly, a vug of quartz was found, breaking up into oddly shaped crystals.

quartz crystals found in shale deposit

So, do not be afraid to stop and check out any exposed shale in the mid-Atlantic states! Often times, simply flipping over some loose shale chunks will reveal a trilobite, a gastropod or a cluch of Brachiopods!

shale deposit with fossils

Roxbury Connecticut Garnets at Green’s Farm – Now Closed to collecting!

A must visit site to collect big crystals of Almandine Garnet embedded in a matrix of mica schist is the classic Green’s Farm location, in the rural beauty of Western Connecticut. The location is just a short drive from several metropolitan areas and has served as a fee collecting location for decades. For a VERY reasonable price of $5.00 per car, you can go to Green’s Farm, park over towards the trees and begin your short trek into the woods to the large deposit of mica schist in the woods.

Here is one of the cleaned specimens of garnet and staurolite in schist matrix from the creator of Mindat.org, Jolyon Ralph’s personal collection.

Cleaned Garnet Cluster from Connecticut with Staurolite

UPDATE EDIT NOV 11th 2012, just a couple weeks after this post was written: I have omitted the directions to this location, but leave the map up. The location has been sold and there have been no trespassing signs posted. The new land owners are not welcoming people to contact them and permission to collect at this location has been revoked. A sad fact, this is now a historical document. Who knows, it could always be resold to someone who appreciates keeping legacy going.

Far Away look at the garnet deposit in Roxbury
Satellite map of Green's Farm Garnet Deposit

From the parking area it is just a quick walk through the woods…
Walking through the woods to the garnet deposit

To the “mine” which is a large area of mica schist filled with garnets and staurolite.
A photo of the mine surface at Green Farm Garnet Deposit

All over the area, garnets are simply sticking out everywhere you look.
a photo of garnets in the schist at the mine, waiting to be mined.

In the tailings, there are tons of garnets, like the piece in the photo below.
Loose Garnet Matrix from the Greens Farm Garnet Deposit

Chunks of matrix like this one are all over the place. These little garnets are not as nice as the one below.
small garnet crystals in schist matrix

This sample shows that it has larger, solid garnets in the mixture of mica schist matrix. If you have a sand blaster, the mica schist comes off easily. If you do not have a sand blaster, you can simply try your luck splitting the matrix, sometimes you’ll get lucky and have a single crystal like the one below!
Garnets embedded in schist matrix

This specimen just popped out of the matrix. It is not cleaned, it still has a lot of mica attached to the surface.
Single Garnet Crystal

The Green’s Farm Garnet location is a must visit site for anyone who loves minerals and is in the area!
We are EXTREMELY grateful to the owners for keeping a classic site like this open and accessible for all these years!

Collecting Chrysotile at the Phillips Asbestos Mine in Arizona

Near the city of Globe Arizona, the Salt River flows. In the canyons around this important waterway, there are several outcrops of serpentine with various stringers of fibrous Chrysotile, the safest variety of the fiber form minerals processed into asbestos materials. Alternating veins of calcite/aragonite, serpentine and chrysotile created a valuable ore to be mined for a period of time. The mines were so profitable that various buildings were erected to serve the miners of the salt river valley.

Following the directions in the excellent field guide, Minerals, Fossils and Florescents of Arizona, which we highly recommend owning, we had no problem finding the location.
Minerals, Fossils and Fluorescents of Arizona

It was easy to spot this location on the satellite map.

Map of the Phillips Mine Location

Arriving at the location, you find the entrance to the road starts at an abandoned campground. It must have been really nice back when it was in business, now it looks like it could be the setting for a freaky horror movie.
seneca lake permit sign
abandoned seneca lake campground

After driving through the campground, you cross a little stream and proceed down an easy to maneuver dirt/rock road toward the mine. On the South side of the road you’ll pass the old lake that must have been the jewel of the campground.
stream you cross at the start of phillips chrysotile mine road
seneca lake
gravel road leading to the chrysotile mine location

The drive is beautiful, with great vistas, steep canyons and amazing colors that the canyons of Arizona are famous for! Off in the distance, bright white mine dumps could be seen, making the prospect of finding mineral specimens imminent.
canyon walls while driving to rockhound
thin cliff road in arizona
Beautiful Scene from the drive in the canyons of arizona
Dumps of the Asbestos Mines from the Canyon Walls

Arriving at the mining area you are greeted by some very creepy abandoned buildings that make the campground take a second seat to a horror movie film set!
Abandoned Mining Town in Central Arizona
Abandoned Buildings at the Phillips Mine

Off in the distance the mine dumps could be seen. Getting to the dumps is a simple uphill walk up a dirt road.

Phillips Chrysotile Mine in the Distance

At the top of the road you find yourself at the foot of a massive pile of mine debris which is rich in Aragonite, serpentine and chrysotile.
Mine Dump at the top of Phillips Chrysotile Mine Road
Mine Dump at Phillips Chrysotile Mine

Great specimens could be found all over the dump, with banded Aragonite that glows bright green in UltraViolet Light and veins of Chrysotile, which makes for very beautiful display specimens.
Specimen of Serpentine, Chrysotile and Aragonite
Specimen of Chrysotile from Arizona

Going to the Phillips Chrysotile Mine in Central Arizona is a great trip for a beautiful view into a seldom seen part of Arizona mining history! Specimens are abundant and there is something for everyone!

Collecting Pink Halite in Trona California – Once a year, Second Weekend of October!

Once a year the wonderful community of Trona, California, and more appropriately, the men and women of Searles Lake, invite the public to come and participate in one of the most exciting mineral collecting trips in the United States.

People come from all over the world to experience the Trona-Gem-o-rama. Two days, three field trips, plus a rock show going on for both days.
There are several great local dealers who make the show a treat to visit, such as Tom and Steven Wolfe of TomWolfeMinerals.com and WolfeLapidary.com
If you like Petrified Wood and Petrified Tree Branches, Steven is the man to talk to! He gives lectures at local Southern California gem, mineral and fossil clubs.
Steven and Tom Wolfe of TomWolfeMinerals.com at the Trona Show
Saturday hosts two field trips, both two and half hours long. More about those in another post, this one is about the Sunday field trip, which is four and a half hours long, starting at 9am. The “Pink Halite” dig, where you are guided out to a large area to collect at, filled with brine pools with bright pink halite crystals growing on the underside of the ridges in the ground.

Typically, these tools are perfect for the extraction of the salt crystals. A short handled 10 pound sledge, a custom made spike (which I left behind! ARGH!), pick and crowbar. The stretcher is often a great tool because wheeled carts and wagons have a tough time in the sharp ridges popping up everywhere across the surface. This year, any sort of cart, dolly or wagon would have been perfect and we only made one trip with the stretcher.

tools needed for collecting halite on the salt deposit in Trona California

This year, 2012, the digging was very different than the last seven years. There were no brine pools, only a large flat white area of solid salt crust. That was quite a shocker compared to past years of getting wet in the brine pools and tearing your hands apart when the tools dry and salt crystallizes on them, creating a sand paper like surface on the tools.

Instead of getting wet in the brine pools, you simply had to go to a slightly protruding ridge, where white salt crystals are often visible on the surface, work with a pick or spike a perforated area a foot into the back of ridge, then, flip the broken chunks over to reveal the crystals on the underside.

Salt Ridge waiting to be flipped over
Salt Crystals revealed after flipping over the surface

People are scattered all over the lake bed, collecting their hearts out, trying to get the best material in the limited time you have on the salt flats.

Halite Digging at Trona!
Ridges flipped over, in search for pink halite

After digging the halite, you have to pack it up and carry it out. That takes a considerable amount of time!

Packing out your salt crystals

And then you have to get the salt home! A challenge in itself! You need lots of packing material and containers. This year we did not plan on being able to collect a lot of material, but we couldn’t fit another piece in the van and still had an hour left before the time was up!

salt crystals packed into the car

While we were there we saw Stan from Midwest Minerals, a large wholesale company in Tucson, Arizona, mining Halite crystals.
He has a great idea, placing the found specimens directly into a crate, no muss, no fuss. We might copy him next year!
Stan from Midwest Minerals collecting Halite
Prying halite crystals from the ground
A happy halite miner at Trona

Every second weekend in October, you can find thousands of rockhounds descending on Trona in search of pink salt crystals! We hope you can visit next year! Hotel rooms are available in Ridgecrest, just a half hour away from Trona, find a room for the event on Hotels.com

There is an app for android you can download, one is free and one is $4.99, but BOTH of them have a five page article about collecting in Trona.
Android App with Trona instructions

Buy the Paid Version for $4.99
OR
Download the Free Sample Version, it still has the Trona guide in it, for free.

Fossil shells replaced by calcite found in the roads of Central Texas

The Central Texas counties surrounding Limestone County are full of beautiful ancient marine shells replaced by calcite, both massive and crystallized. Luckily for the collectors of minerals and fossils, hundreds of miles of low traffic roads in Central Texas contain a wide variety of ancient sea life replaced by calcium carbonate. They are up on the surface of gravel and dirt roads, as snowy white gravel, stretching down the country lanes.
Calcite replaced marine shell
red, yellow and blue flowers along the countryside of central texas
This area of collecting is centrally located between Interstate 35 and 45. Those highways run through Texas, connecting San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas. In between this area, vast deposits of limestone of a very high quality are found and mined for agricultural and industrial use. It is often found as crushed aggregate used to cover the stone roads of back country Texas. Spiraling out of the central texas area like a web connecting new developments with well maintained farm routes, the white roads of Texas are often found to contain calcite crystals and calcite replaced marine shell fossils. Clams, Brachiopods, Turritella, Ammonites and other interesting shells are found, often with cores and voids filled with crystals of calcite.
Fossil on matrix from central Texas replaced by calcite.
Getting to a collecting location is simple! Simply pull up Google Maps and take a look at a satellite view of Central Texas. As you get closer, look out for maintained county roads, which you will see, are bright white. This white color is caused by this limestone gravel. Make a note of these roads to inspect and take a trip to Marlin, Mart, Rosebud, Franklin, Calvert, Madisonville, and Crockett. Since there is ample loose gravel, do not DIG into the road or bother to take tools with you. Loose Gravel. Mostly made up of calcite replaced shells. What an amazing collecting experience. Simply opening your car door will result in you finding a loose fossil. With smartphones, androids and iphones, simply using google maps while navigating will be all you need for a spur of the moment collecting trip. This area is a little over 3 hours from San Antonio, a quick 2 hours from Austin, Houston and Dallas. It is a PERFECT field trip in all weather besides tornadoes and snow!
google satellite view of a typical white limestone gravel backroad in central Texas
a photo of the loose gravel limestone roads and the fossil containing gravel that is scattered across Texas