[Rockhounds] fluorspar district update

[John Junkroski]

I think we all owe Alan a thank you for the work he has done to  
assist the museum and to encourage continued collecting in the district.

His work with the museum ( and with Bill Frazer, another "good guy")  
have provided opportunities for many of us to visit these world-class  
sites.

I was privileged to meet him and participate at  a couple of  
collecting sites a few years ago.

The hobby need more people like him.

Thanks, Alan. Please keep up the good work.

John

On Sep 6, 2007, at 9:08 PM, Alan Goldstein wrote:

> I've organized a few trips to the KY side of the IL-KY fluorspar  
> district via this list serve over the past  several years. The  
> Clement Museum is now handling all the arrangements and have groups  
> several weekends per month from late March ending with deer hunting  
> season in early November. Because of the success of this program,  
> the museum is not having the financial difficulties it was in  
> several years ago. I want to thank everyone who has supported those  
> digs - and had fun in the process!  A group from Evansville is  
> scheduled to dig this weekend and towards the end of the month a  
> very large group from Georgia is coming up.
>
> Bill Frazer & I checked out another possible collecting area  
> yesterday, on the Big Four fault system. I'm not optimistic that it  
> will pan out. I picked up some 'gravel spar' (crystalline fluorite  
> on the surface), but that doesn't always mean ground crystals are  
> just below.
>
> Bill showed me some work he has done at the Columbia mine. He had  
> the fluorescent mineral dump turned yesterday and I pointed out an  
> overgrown rock pile that has been very productive for me over the  
> past five years at the Eureka. (One miniature specimen can have  
> goods crystals of fluorite, quartz, calcite, sphalerite and  
> smithsonite on it!) We also determined that some dumps on the fault  
> associated with the Mary Belle mine are on his property and that he  
> will dig into them. The Mary Belle is not on his land. (He showed  
> me an open shaft dug in the 1940's. Judging from the time it takes  
> the rock to hit the bottom of the shaft, it is about 50' deep. No  
> water. Needless to say, he doesn't want anyone wandering up the  
> hill any more!)
>
> I was down there to pick up a dump truck load of material from the  
> old Ozark-Mahoning dumps in Rosiclare. It is nice having access to  
> a dual axle dump truck! We now have 15 tons of material for the  
> Fossil Festival at the Falls of the Ohio State Park on the 15th &  
> 16th of this month. For the diehard mineral collector, it may not  
> be worth looking at, but for our typical festival attendee the  
> yellow and purple fluorite, barite, calcite and sphalerite will be  
> very popular. I anticipate the pile will be as popular as the  
> fossil piles. We have water there so people can wash off the  
> material. In addition, the rock is generally small enough that the  
> use of rock hammers isn't necessary. For liability reasons, we do  
> not let people use rock hammers on the piles during the event.  
> There are too many people packed in!
>
> The best fluorite is at Hastie Quarry. Unfortunately it is still  
> OFF-LIMITS to collectors. However, I talked to them and they are  
> willing to sell a quantity of low grade ore (the bedding replaced  
> limestone with crystal vugs) which can be trucked over to the  
> grounds of the museum for collectors to split. It will prboably  
> cost about as much as it did to rent the track hoe. The material  
> can be very nice because the purple and yellow crystals are fresh,  
> clean and often lustrous. They aren't big (typically under 1 cm  
> wide). I am working with Bill so that we can organize a dig at the  
> museum with Hastie fluorite.  Just a reminder for those visiting  
> the Illinois side of the district, don't bother asking at Hastie  
> Quarry - that just irritates them! Trespassing is worse and is the  
> main reason why they closed all access to their property.
>
> I'll be down there again in mid October to do more collecting.
>
> Alan G.
>
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