Would you ride to and from Silverton’s rich gold mines in these aerial tram buckets?
Of all the places a rockhound can vacation in summer, the most scenic, exciting, historical and enjoyable area is the San Juan Mountains, Southwest Colorado. Some of the most beautiful scenery in America is present in this area. Nothing compares with the Red Mountains, which are spectacularly stained bright red and orange because of massive mineralization.
Old gold and silver mines are found everywhere, some of them historically famous for their mineral specimens. These old silver and gold mines have produced fine collector specimens like rhodochrosite, huebnerite, sphalerite calcite, quartz, and fluorite, among others.
For family enjoyment, there is the spectacular 45-mile narrow gauge railroad that follows the Animas River from Durango to Silverton through Cascade Canyon. This railroad was built before 1900 to service the gold and silver mines surrounding Silverton, now a quaint tourist town.
Once in Silverton, you can enjoy tourist and rock shops and visit the classic old Mayflower Gold Mill where millions in gold were once processed, and where my son Bill learned his gold assaying skills. One of the many exciting aspects of this location is the aerial tram lines that brought rich ore from the high mountain mines to the mill. During shift changes, miners avoided the arduous climb to work by taking the tram to and from the mine in the swinging ore buckets. Miners could also spend their nights in the big boarding house near the mine entrances clinging to the high mountainside.
To see that old boarding house and enjoy the best underground mine tour in the state, drive from the Mayflower Mill to Cunningham Gulch to reach the Old Hundred Mine Tour.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2020-Ausgabe von Rock&Gem Magazine.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2020-Ausgabe von Rock&Gem Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers
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The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.