Post by 150FromFundy on Oct 6, 2016 16:54:41 GMT -5
Laura and I had the opportunity to join a group of about 25 to collect at the Gibson Road Occurrence (Titanite Hill) during the Rockhound Gemboree in Bancroft, Ontario this summer. This area is intruded by Calcite filled fractures.
This was hard digging on the side of a hill which is a little tougher than the beach collecting that I am familiar with. After about 2 hours of scavenging the tailings and old dig sites, I started digging for myself. Just as I was “getting the hang of it” and found a new fracture to excavate, I heard the call to clear the hill. Unfortunately, one of the older collectors did a few cartwheels down the hill. The paramedics on site had to run him into the local clinic which meant the hill had to be cleared.
In spite of our adventure being cut short, it was a blast! Laura met an older woman collector visiting from Maryland that should not have been there. She was 70-something, just had knee surgery, already had lost one bicep muscle to trauma, and was down on her hands and knees getting just as filthy as the rest of us. Truly inspirational.
Enough preamble, here are a few of the pics. All the pics show Fluorapatite in a pinkish-white Calcite.
Pencil Diameter Crystal Fragment
Pencil Diameter Crystal Fragments
Small Crystal Fragments
Finger Diameter Floaters
Pencil Diameter Crystal Fragments
This is a larger 2" diameter chunk of massive Fluorapatite.
Hot Dog Diameter Crystal (almost intact). This piece hasn’t been cleaned yet. The Calcite will bleach/dissolve.
Pencil Diameter Crystal Fragment
This Calcite is highly fluorescent under short-wave ultraviolet light. I will set up my camera for dark room photography and post some photos soon. The Fluorapatite glows bluish-white and the Calcite lights up bright orange.
Here’s the MINDAT link to the Gibson Road Occurrence for those who need to know more.
www.mindat.org/loc-216821.html
Darryl.
