Bear Creek Quarry, Drain, Douglas County, Oregon, USAi

Regional Level Types
Bear Creek Quarry	Quarry
Drain	City
Douglas County	County
Oregon	State
USA	Country

The Bear Creek Quarry was one of the best collecting sites for zeolites in Oregon.

Al McGuinness was the first mineral collector to discover the fine zeolites in the quarry. At that time he sold dynamite for the Atlas Powder Company and had the task of visiting many of the quarries to take orders.

The quarry was first operated in the early 1950s. Al first became aware of the quarry in the late 1950s and along with Mike Groben were the principal collectors for over 10 years. Mr. Whipple, the first owner of the quarry, and later owners have had an exceptional relationship with minerals collectors. Up to the late 1990s, collectors were never denied access to the quarry, even during operation. On one trip I drove into the quarry and a worker walked towards my truck, I thought he was going to ask me to leave, but instead, he asked: "Are you a crystal collector? There is a good boulder over there". Those days are over, but collecting is still possible with permission.

The quarry consists of several basalt flows belonging to the Roseburg Formation of Eocene age. The best specimens were found in a fine-grained, green, vesicular flow about 20 feet (ca. 6 m) thick, tilting about 30 degrees. The green colour is due to an abundance of nontronite clay in the rock. Cavities commonly reached 40 cm across, with some as large as 60 cm. This flow was at the base of the quarry and was quickly removed when the operation moved deeper into the mountain. The crushed rock from this flow was known as "Whipple arrowheads". Rock from this flow would cut into tires and wear out conveyor belts. Large boulders were hard to break down. A wrecking ball was used to crack the boulders into a size that could go through the crusher. One 8x4x4 foot boulder, rich in cavities, was cracked with the wrecking ball and left. It took two trips to remove all the specimens from that one boulder.

The Bear Creek Quarry is best known for excellent specimens of coarse bladed thomsonite-Ca mounds and cavity linings, along with thin colorless mesolite needles. Excellent specimens of laumontite were found, but few were saved before dehydration. Bright red hematite added a touch to the thomsonite blades and analcime. Some orange coloured stilbite, associated with etched heulandite, and quartz has been found in the upper level of the quarry.

Rudy Tschernich

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References