TRIP REPORT - Fluorescent minerals 03, September 2013
Sept 4, 2013 15:52:12 GMT -5
Tonyterner, Thunder69, and 3 more like this
Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2013 15:52:12 GMT -5
Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of meeting our resident coonass Cajun; Ray the rockncajun for a day of hounding. Ray has started an obsession with fluorescent minerals. Thus he set up a day in the field with myself and three other cowboys. Two of which are pure fluoro-rocks phreaks! The highlight of the trip starts at sunset so I will start the pix with sunset.
Ray @ sunset
In reality Ray met me at my pad and after short greeting we hit the highway. Ray is also a crystal lover and thought it would be fun to hit Wrightwood, CA for some Actinolite action. I could guarantee him actinolite in the river. Ray had found a Justin Zyzzyx video of roadside cliff-face actinolite, so we hit Justins spot.
First some obligatory flowers
There is actinolite in this one. Can you see it?
It's a nice day in paradise.
Horizontal format same locale
beefjello always says "no rocks are safe!". Yes, it's a 5 gallon pail.
Ray with a hunk
"Should I keep it?"-----------------------------------------------------------------he kept it.
Palmdale/Lancaster
Same actinolite road cut from farther back. Actinolite all the way to the top.
I made Ray keep this one. Maybe 40# or so.
So Ray had his fill of Actinolite and we headed into town for a noon breakfast. Then it was out to the Princess Pat mine. Princess Pat was a tungsten mine. They mined Sheelite with the aid of UVC headlamps on the dozers. They got all the solid Sheelite. Here is the diggins from the mill site
Ray & Fluoro-Phreak Jan having a business meeting before dusk.
The Mine site
Sheelite fluoresces bright blue/white. Also found here is a burgundy red/calcite, screamin' green hyalite uranium green, eyepopping caliche/orange and I forget what else. Three color rocks are common (everywhere) four color rocks not uncommon and even five color rocks are found here. When the sun set I stopped with the images. Both from personal fatigue and outright awe at what I was seeing. Plus I forgot the tripod for timed exposures. Sorry guys and gals.
I took a hunk of uranium stained stuff and a big piece of what I started calling "starry night Sheelite at the Princess Pat." In daylight it looks like a non-descript limestone/dolomite stuff. Under short wave UV it is a galaxy of blue white speckles!
From here we followed Jan & Jeff to the Red Raven Mine. This is a played out Zinc mine. This stop was quicker as the rocks were not as bright. Then after getting lost again we found the "two shafts" site. This is also a Zinc site. Here the shafts were plowed under for safety and a field of freshly plowed stones was there for Ray to explore. He filled a couple more buckets of prime stuff! I grabbed a 50# hunk of "hydro-zincite". This material fluoresces white and the stone I have is striped white under UV. Ray had a lot of fun gathering much material. Many gifts for friends back home. Woot!
I hope you enjoy this report. I also hope Ray is able to post images of some examples under UV. He has the light. I do not.
Jeff (the other fluro-expert) at sunset.
Ray, it was a great trip, sorry 'bout the mud on your son's Jeep. I hope you have fun with those specimens. Thanks for inviting me along!
Ray @ sunset
In reality Ray met me at my pad and after short greeting we hit the highway. Ray is also a crystal lover and thought it would be fun to hit Wrightwood, CA for some Actinolite action. I could guarantee him actinolite in the river. Ray had found a Justin Zyzzyx video of roadside cliff-face actinolite, so we hit Justins spot.
First some obligatory flowers
There is actinolite in this one. Can you see it?
It's a nice day in paradise.
Horizontal format same locale
beefjello always says "no rocks are safe!". Yes, it's a 5 gallon pail.
Ray with a hunk
"Should I keep it?"-----------------------------------------------------------------he kept it.
Palmdale/Lancaster
Same actinolite road cut from farther back. Actinolite all the way to the top.
I made Ray keep this one. Maybe 40# or so.
So Ray had his fill of Actinolite and we headed into town for a noon breakfast. Then it was out to the Princess Pat mine. Princess Pat was a tungsten mine. They mined Sheelite with the aid of UVC headlamps on the dozers. They got all the solid Sheelite. Here is the diggins from the mill site
Ray & Fluoro-Phreak Jan having a business meeting before dusk.
The Mine site
Sheelite fluoresces bright blue/white. Also found here is a burgundy red/calcite, screamin' green hyalite uranium green, eyepopping caliche/orange and I forget what else. Three color rocks are common (everywhere) four color rocks not uncommon and even five color rocks are found here. When the sun set I stopped with the images. Both from personal fatigue and outright awe at what I was seeing. Plus I forgot the tripod for timed exposures. Sorry guys and gals.
I took a hunk of uranium stained stuff and a big piece of what I started calling "starry night Sheelite at the Princess Pat." In daylight it looks like a non-descript limestone/dolomite stuff. Under short wave UV it is a galaxy of blue white speckles!
From here we followed Jan & Jeff to the Red Raven Mine. This is a played out Zinc mine. This stop was quicker as the rocks were not as bright. Then after getting lost again we found the "two shafts" site. This is also a Zinc site. Here the shafts were plowed under for safety and a field of freshly plowed stones was there for Ray to explore. He filled a couple more buckets of prime stuff! I grabbed a 50# hunk of "hydro-zincite". This material fluoresces white and the stone I have is striped white under UV. Ray had a lot of fun gathering much material. Many gifts for friends back home. Woot!
I hope you enjoy this report. I also hope Ray is able to post images of some examples under UV. He has the light. I do not.
Jeff (the other fluro-expert) at sunset.
Ray, it was a great trip, sorry 'bout the mud on your son's Jeep. I hope you have fun with those specimens. Thanks for inviting me along!
