Mineral Collecting in Maine

 Before generally making a vacation for this quarry then you've got to ensure  you have a sturdy car. Anything without four wheel drive is certainly going to have a difficult time rendering  it up there. I might also make certain  you have an extra tire with  you together with the means  to alter a tire. A cell phone is strongly suggested also. 

You can drive in before  the road gets difficult, park in the side and then walk up. There clearly was an open area,  what appears  like a gravel pit that is an excellent area to park. This mine could  be tough to find for a few, because it is over grown and you can tell few individuals make gathering trips to the location. 

That is a very important  thing, as it implies that the location is not selected clean. The Hedge Hog Hill Quarry is found in Peru Maine in  the County of Oxford. Few minerals have now been discovered here, within my brain it really is an easy granite pegmatite, but it  is still worth the trip. For starters the scene from up there was  worth the trip alone. The fact that few people appear  to come here is another draw. The reason being you will do need certainly  to drive a ways on a dirt road through the woods to achieve the mine.

Minerals observed listed here  are albite, almandine garnet, beryl, biotite, chrysoberyl, fluorapatite, microcline, muscovite, quartz, and schroll. This is certainly it, and I only found garnet, biotite, muscovite, and quartz to  my trip. So, just  because all those other minerals were listed, usually do not depend  on finding them. The jackpot as of this location would be the almandine garnets. Some huge almandine garnets are available here. The open mine face is chock filled with them, but try not to count  on getting these out. 

You can accomplish it, but  it takes lots  of work and also you better ware a set of goggles. As well as you are able to go  through all of the work simply to wind up damaging the sample you will be after. I did not see any garnets worth that kind  of effort all though it is said that some very gem quality samples have  been present in pockets of quarts. I found one particular garnet sample at another mine precise location of the grossalur garnet variety. This garnet ended up being roughly how big is a golf ball and was treasure quality.

 I hammered around that thing for one hour without so much as building  a dent. The crystal ended up being resting in a pocket of quartz. I left it there with a tear in my own eye. The almandine crystals in  the Hedge Hog Quarry can be large. I would suggest digging through the talise piles. I could nearly guarantee you see one of these brilliant big garnets. Mainly because hardly any folks have dug through these piles. This particular fact becomes obvious when you get to the mine. In reality, i might almost bet the only signs  of digging you'll find come  from my trip there over five  years ago. 

I only spent four hours  here, but I left there with some great samples. My best had been a completely created and whole almandine garnet crystal, concerning the measurements  of a golf ball. I figured I happened to be not likely to do better than that, I really left. I intend on heading back and spending even more time at this site. Maybe take a tent beside me while making per  week end from it.

Driving instructions are the following:

From four way intersection on route 108 in West Peru, drive 3.05 miles south on Dickvale road. Turn left onto mineral springs road and continue 0.95 mile to intersection. Turn right onto Paradis road (gravel) and drive 1.05 miles to abandoned cabin on left. Park  here. Walk on primary road from here about 150 ft to quarry road regarding  the right. 

Follow this woods road 270 feet to fork, keep left at fork. Continue 675 foot to next fork, keep right. Walk 390 feet to stone wall. Follow road through starting in wall and go another 150 foot to get rid of of obvious road. Continue straight ahead on high down grade following path for 360 foot to your quarry. (Maine Mineral Localities 3rd EDT. by W.B Thompson, D.L. Joyner, R.G. Woodman, V.T. King)

These directions make it sound extremely tough to get, however it just isn't mainly because nothing is else up here. Be sure you stick to the proper path if  the road forks and you'll do not have trouble locating  the mine. I drove after dark cabin and followed the directions until We reached the gravel pit area. I parked  here, but do not you will need  to make it unless  you have four wheel drive. From here it is a quick stroll up a steep dirt road to your quarry. 

It  is fundamentally  the top of a tiny hill where in actuality the mine is. One side has been mined. The talice pile is found off towards the side and listed below. I should not call the region We parked a gravel pit. It is just a wide open area that seems like an all natural dirt parking great deal. I assumed it absolutely was a gravel pit, given that it was truly the only reason i possibly could show up with for it being here. Perhaps it  is just what remains from the time the mine had been open and in procedure. It might be a smart idea to bring sub block and bug spray to  you. 

I can not emphasize the bug spray enough. This might be a wooded area and black flies and mosquitos are thick right here. It is also a smart idea  to bring a screen for sifting. Specially when the key objective is finding garnet crystals scattered through out the talise piles. You can even bring a chisel and a hammer while  they are not essential. A tiny shovel could be more useful. I strongly recommend causeing the journey. The garnet samples can be worth it, and also you never know. You might get fortunate and discover a few of the rarer minerals that have now been found right here.

How is Aquamarine Mined?

Beautifully sparkling aquamarine has got the color that resembles the ocean waters. From  the name aqua it really is commonly misunderstood to be originating through the sea. No it is really not. It  is an earthly gem found in rocks.

Adorable aquamarine is usually found  in granite and metamorphic rocks. It really is obtained from nature by  the procedure of mining.

Surface Mining by hand, the prevalent training of collecting gemstones from nature, is area mining using an open-pit. In South Africa, aquamarine gem mining is accomplished effortlessly through the use of just hands with no complex machinery involved. To really make  the rocks those support the aquamarine roughs to split available, fires are set beside giant boulders. Blasting the rocks with dynamite is rarely done. When the rock, full of minerals, is split open, manpower can be used to collect the indispensable gems. Using hammers, chisels, picks and axes aquamarine is gathered as crystals breaking the rocks.

Aquamarine Mining-The Complete Process Geological web site investigation is the first rung on the ladder along the way of gemstone mining. EIA-environmental Impact Assessment could be  the alternative. These two steps are first done in sequence in  the mines that are considered  to include these gem stones. Utilizing Geomorphology, a highly advanced technical process, the land form is defined by gently going the top and raising it above  the sea level. This technique diminishes the depth and facilitates the mining procedure. The location thus identified above is rich in Precambrian metamorphic rocks. These stones have minerals-rich crystals such as quartz, garnet, mica, feldspar, biotite etc, and never to say one  other indispensable and precious gemstones. The light bluish 'Gem for  the Sea'-Aquamarine stone is one included in this.

Aquamarines are hosted in pegmatite, the veins contained  in metamorphic stones. These veins are often sheared and vary in thickness from 10m to 40m. The center of the pegmatite is generally massive. So  it has got  to be fractured and banded. Because of  the opencast mining method, the veins are fractured utilizing pneumatic tools.

A number of the tools which can be utilized in mining aquamarine gems are compressor, jack hammer, ladders, shovels etc. Bulldozers are also used to aid the process of mining the these gems. Following the gemstones are free of the rock they have been washed and washed with water.

Aquamarine Mining- Mining of aquamarine is really an environmental friendly process. It really is devoid of usage of any toxic material like cyanide and mercury that are widely used in silver and silver mining. So, all hearts that wish a green planet can wear aquamarine jewelry with no shame of spoiling the mother nature`s purity.

Mining of the particular gem is a straightforward and benign process when the metamorphic stones which contain aquamarine are  first split into pieces by inserting air/gas pressure in to  the rocks.

Moreover, even after exhausting, the mines are perhaps not left barren. A 2m to 4m thick soil layer is positioned over the filled and closed mine pits. So grass and trees can invariably be grown on that surface additionally the area gets its natural look  back.