Well, having some of you lucky bast*** in mind this morning, whishing that I was in St. Marie, I just had to get out into the field to collect. Dang I’d loved to have a beer with the gang meeting at St. Marie aux Mines! Instead I’m having my beer here now, writing a blog making you silver-picking guys’ whish you were here.
Been some interesting finds in AS Granite the last months, with the pegmatite described in this article
Level 1 (Plan 1) pegmatite 2007-2008. being blasted at a lower level. I had a trip there 1. June finding samples of astrophyllite and leucophanite. I went back the 14. finding just astrophyllite and leucophanite, but today made a difference!
Pegmatite between level 2 ond 1, looking just like a synclinal
I started at level 2, as the two other times, but today it was only a small pile left to search through. I only found one interesting boulder, but in it I found a couple of samples with epididymite, wulfenite and either arsenopyrite or löllingite (odd looking crystals…).
I continued to level 1 just above and stumbled over a rock rich in cancrinite. I stopped to have a closer look and then saw the pegmatite in the floor. I started to work and after a short time nice samples of astrophyllite in cancrinite occurred. The same material was also rich in brown REE-minerals. Further hard work also resulted in a couple of leucophanite samples the size of a fist. The most interesting, from a mineralogical view might be some red spots round a galena grain. I hope it might be a lead-oxide which would be a new mineral for the area.
Samples of astrophyllite
Today was really warm, and I was getting short in water, so being satisfied with the astropyllite and all, I decided to wrap the rocks, but just had to have a look further along the ridge of the quarry wall… and stayed for at least one more hour… Very close to the cancrinite/astrophyllite I found some “spreustein”, altered sodalite/nepheline, with lots of cavities filled with natrolite and some other colourless crystals. I might be to optimistic, but I hope some of them might be berborite, but probably not. Some of the do have some nice twins of a colourless mineral, not being natrolite, my first guess would be norstrandite, but I’m not sure. Together with the “spreustein” there were some bright orange rocks that I first thought to be coloured by spray paint. It turned out to be the thorite variety “orangite”.
Samples of orangite next to the collecting gear
Closeup of the orangites
So to make a short conclusion; It was a great day in AS Granite quarry today!
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I had been missing your reports already! Wonderful orangite. I'll be in Eidsfoss (at least Saturday morning), and plan to go to Tvedalen on Friday afternoon and on Sunday. It would be great to do some collecting together if your time allows, which it probably won't in regard of the show...
Saturday afternoon I am considering a trip to Modum (Tingelstadtjern), for which I'll need some advice judging from your fotos. But we'll meet at the show in any case.
Ha det bra
Wilfried Steffens
Wilfried Steffens
28th Jun 2009 4:59pm