Scott Rider's Photo Gallery
P7D-GUKActinolite ◻Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)2 , Epidote (CaCa)(AlAlFe3+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) , Titanite CaTi(SiO4)O , Magnetite Fe2+Fe3+2O4
Dimensions: 9 cm x 7 cm x 2.4 cm
Here's an unusual association of actinolite with light green, lustrous titanite on a magnetite/epidote matrix.
Titanite crystals are tiny, biggest may be 2 mm, however, there is about 2 dozen scattered among the actinolite. They are well formed, sharply terminated and gemmy! There is no uralite (actinolite after a pyroxene), which is actually unusual. In my experience, most actinolite specimens are pseudomorphs of a pyroxene (aka uralite), and I rarely find actinolite w/out that feature. So this is rather uncommon specimen from Calumet.
On the "bottom" of the specimen are magnetite and epidote crystals (and matrix is same two minerals). Holds rather well, most specimens from this mine are very, very fragile. The actinolite is rather tough on this specimen! Forgive the unsteady video, this specimen was very difficult to get still photos.
C38-YAABaryte BaSO4
Dimensions: 5 cm x 2 cm
Here is a thick 5 cm baryte crystal from the digs at Hartsel. This one has yellow and blue coloring, and is rather thick at 1.5 cm. Typically most crystals here are damaged to some degree, this one is no exception. But it has a sharp termination and has bi-color zones.
2019 trip!
AMC-1YVBaryte BaSO4
Dimensions: 8 cm x 3 cm
This is an interesting specimen as it almost resembles the faden growth of quartz, only its baryte. The crystal bi-color which is interesting as the yellow usually displays in sunlight. This one was coated in clay when I pulled it out so perhaps that saved the color.
8x3 cm
L99-DNMBaryte BaSO4
Dimensions: 9 cm x 7 cm
Barite, with decent color and luster. This specimen has interesting blue color zones, with colorless terminations.
9x7 cm
Garnet producing zone
This is the almandine producing zone of the Sedalia Mine. Located on a ledge, this spot is quite amazing. The view of Salida is stunning!
Here you have to locate the green schist where the garnets are found. The biggest I found was a partial crystal 8 inches wide. It has a contact on one side where it formed on another garnet. Biggest full crystal was 3 inches.
The schist is difficult and tough. Sharp chisels are a must.
In this image, can you locate the in situ garnets? There are also casts of crystals pulled out previously.
Fresh crystal
This is at the pay site and the main dig of the claim. For $10, you can dig all day long. Easy to get to and it’sa lot of fun.
This is the crystal I pulled from the red clay layer from the previous image. It is dusted off a bit. But notice how it is in decent condition near the tip, but broken on the sides.
The majority of come out in this condition. There were quite a few of these crystals next to each other indicating they could have been post if a cluster. I video my way through these layers due to how soft barite is so I know I did not crack the cluster into pieces, another clue that the clusters were damaged long ago. Still, $10 to dig all day gives you plenty of time to dig through the layers.
Inside a good layer
This is at the pay site and the main dig of the claim. For $10, you can dig all day long. Easy to get to and it’sa lot of fun!
I’m in a layer of red clay that has a lot of hunks of rock, which is one of the two main layers I have found barite. The red seems to have more damaged specimens. Yellow clay layers seems to yield better crystals with less damage.
My next image shows the crystal I pulled out.
At The Pay Site
This is at the pay site and the main dig of the claim. For $10, you can dig all day long. Easy to get to and it’sa lot of fun.
The caveat is that it is very hard to find mint condition, large crystals at the site. I was told by the claim owner that the site was bulldozed in the 1940’s or 50’s. I find a lot of barite in between hunks of rock, but I have also found barite in layers of clay. The latter yields much better crystals. However, I have found the vast majority of specimens big or small have a lot of damage. You have to go through a ton of material to find good condition pieces.
If you are lucky enough to find unaltered layers, the barite is in much better condition. I have seen huge clusters of very good condition clusters so there is good things still to be found!
“High Grade” Tailings
This is one of the tailing pile locations of Calumet. According to a well informed friend, this was the high grade tailings pile for the mine. Since it was an iron mine when in production, I can believe this assertion.
The majority of the rocks here have some form of iron, large, dense chunks magnetite, massive epidote, yellow and orange stained rock makes up a large portion of the rocks in these tailings. I’ve even kept some of the multi colored heavy rocks for my yard. Some are quite decorative.
I have found combo specimens, with uralite, epidote, quartz, magnetite, etc. Stuff you apparently can’t find at the actual mine because the tailings came from deeper vein inside the mountain, or so it is said... But I’ve been to both locations and this has the biggest and best specimens that I’ve personally found. And much easier to get too.
Geode Group
This image shows how most of the geodes are found at this particular spot. Because of the extreme proximity of each geode it is difficult to extract with out the geodes breaking in situ. Sometimes they are already cracked.
The two main spots I have experience digging are about quarter mile apart. No one has really dug deep enough in between the two spots so I wonder if the deposits are connected. I have found smaller geode deposits directly off the road that gets to this spot, that was another half mile further southwest. So this deposit of geodes could be very big!
