Pre-Hibernation Collecting


The wrath of winter is about to descend on one of natures small furry creatures: the mineral collector. Snow cover and frozen ground will seal up localities, starving the unprepared, but not me. In early November, I made a "nut-gathering" trip to the Palermo #1 Mine in North Groton, New Hampshire for pegmatite matrix to break up and scrutinize later for microminerals. While sad optimists are joking about the abundance of our two most common winter minerals (ice and road salt), I’ll be doing some real collecting from the comfort of my home during the leanest months of the year.

Originally planned as a solo venture, I invited Jim at the last minute and, figuring that even a pegmatite known for phosphate minerals had to have at least some quartz crystals, he joined me. Access was not going to be problem. I had mine owner Bob Whitmore’s permission to visit, and I had the wheels to get us there. Two years ago, my minivan’s oil filter was gouged open by protruding rocks on Palermo’s rough quarry road and I hemorrhaged all of my oil in about 30 seconds (doubtless, one of Kevin's finer field memories). Since then I have coveted a high ground clearance vehicle for a return trip. Sensing a moment of weakness on my wife’s part, I rented a Jeep for a worry-free journey.

The drive from Andover, MA took two hours, as I chanted my mantra: "obey the speed limit this time". I felt fine in the cold weather, having dressed appropriately, but someone on this trip didn't prepare so well, and lost the feeling in his fingers and toes by the end of the day (not that it slowed him down). Broken clouds and the low angle of sunlight prevented the usual blinding reflection from the white dump pile, where we spent most of the day. There were a few snowflakes (boo!)

Since I had been there last, a great deal of water had been pumped from the mine. A pile of coarse, bland, pegmatite almost blocked the far entrance to the lower shafts. That seemed new. Something was definitely going on in the main hole in the past year or two. Climbing over this, I had a nice tour of the accessible rooms. The walls were pocked with small holes dug in cleavlandite, I suppose in search of pockets, but I doubt there was much success in that area. As usual, I couldn't resist a walk to the top level, and as usual I found nothing but unaltered tryphylite up there (boo!) The gaping maw of the upper shaft beckoned, but only a crazy person would go down there, and he was still down on the main dumps.

From the dumps, I collected a bucket of what I hope was promising phosphate matrix: half-weathered tryphylite. Jim worked to extend a large gouge in the base of the dump slope that had been excavated by heavy equipment (I believe Bob still sells dump material as fill). I'm not sure if he found any keepers there. He broke up a large quartz boulder that was showing crystal faces, in hopes of finding hydrothermally placed microminerals; I have found childrenite and what may be a huge palermoite in such quartz vugs. As he broke this up, a terminated beryl crystal "just rolled right out". (He always says this as I blink in frustration.)

Later that afternoon, while I tried to catch some winks in the car, I heard persistent hammering, signifying that someone was having too much fun for one person. I executed an unabashed crowding maneuver and "shared" the destruction of some very vuggy albite boulders in a narrow strip of exposed dump below some trees. These boulders show small euhedral quartz, albite, fluorapatite, and autunite. This came as a surprise to me since, as collector Jim Warner knows too well, vuggy albite from the Palermo #1 mine can be disappointingly barren. Hopefully, this matrix will reveal more under the microscope. These chunks were located in a nook beneath the main parking area, on the lower access road to the main dump, just before reaching the main dump itself.

The find of the day may be a corroded artifact Jim unearthed that resembles a palm-sized watering can, looking like a rusted toy. I think its some kind of steam fitting, but Jim is sticking with the toy hypothesis; perhaps he'll bring this to a club meeting for the well-rounded opinion of our club members. I had had enough by dusk, and got nervous when Jim asked if I was going train the Jeep headlights on our spot to extend the collecting day. I still don't know if he was bluffing, since ordinary human limitations (visibility, feeling in one's hands, probably consciousness itself) don't seem to apply to Jim. Before we left we posed for photos under a large wood framed structure erected on the parking level. It resembled a gallows, and I made a note to myself to always remember to ask for permission to collect there. The drive downhill brought back wistful memories of bottoming out on the quarry road two years ago. We ate at a good family style diner halfway back to Plymouth. It took two hours the next day the clean up the rental car before I dared return it. As for the micromineral yield from this foraging, hopefully that will be another story.

Paul Gilmore

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