Victor Mine (Big Buck), Rincon Mountain (Boucher Hill), Rincon District, San Diego Co., California, USA

Bismuth in small, bright metallic cleavages occurs in the lepidotite of the Victor vein. Bismite is associated with the bismuth as a bright yellow oxidation product. Several small imperfect prismatic crystals of Columbite were found in the Victor mine.

Tourmaline occurs in a variety of colors—pink, blue, violet, green, colorless and black. The distribution of color in these tourmalines is usually; The central part is pink. Surrounding that on all sides is a pale green zone. The lower part of the crystal is deep blue often with a pale blue or colorless layer at the extreme end. A crystal broken transversely through the middle shows a central pink core with a green exterior zone. Some crystals are practically all blue or green, while others are mostly pink. Minute colorless prismatic crystals (achroite) occurring as a coating on quartz, albite and lepidolite. A little rubellite in radiating columnar aggregates occurs in lepidolite as in the Stewart mine at Pala.

A few transparent pale pink beryls of thick tabular habit were found at the Victor mine. A few small specimens of white cleavable amblygonite were also found at the Victor mine.

Albite is found at the Victor mine which occurs in crystals of the usual tabular habit. The crystals are invariably twinned, usually according to both the albite and Carlsbad laws. A single albite twin and a single Carlsbad twin were observed by Rogers in 1909.

Orthoclase is a prominent constituent of the veins, but is rarely well crystallized. A few Baveno twins were found. The orthoclase is clear and weathers away easily, leaving ridges of albite which is more opaque. These corroded specimens are often covered with a secondary parallel growth of clear, glassy orthoclase. Part of this pale brown feldspar is microcline.

Hyalite occurs as a secondary mineral, forming a thin coating on some of the quartz crystals and albite crystals.

Lepidolite occurs at the Victor mine near the center of the vein, but is not very prominent. It is fine to coarse scaly and is often intimately associated with albite crystals. A soft plumose muscovite near the Victor mine contains 1 cm. garnet crystals.

Stilbite occurs as brown sheaf-like aggregates coating all the other minerals of the pockets. The individual crystals are 3 or 4 mm. long. Heulandite occurs sparingly associated with stilbite. The crystals are pale brown, sharp in angle and have the usual forms. Minute crystals of Laumontite were found on a few specimens as a cavity lining. A very soft radiated white mineral from the Victor is apparently a laumontite pseudomorph after stilbite.

References:
Dana 7:I:785.

Fisher, J. 2002. Gem and rare-element pegmatites of southern California. Mineralogical Record, Vol. 33: p. 389-390.

Hanley, J. B. 1951. Economic Geology of the Rincon Pegmatites, San Diego County, California. Department of Natural Resources, California Division of Mines, Special Report 7B: pages 18-20, illus., maps.

Rogers, A. F. 1910. Minerals From The Pegmatite Veins Of Rincon, San Diego Co., California. Columbia University School Of Mines Quarterly Journal Of Applied Science, Vol. 31 pp. 208-218.

Weber, F. H. 1963. Geology and mineral resources of San Diego County, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 3: 309 p., illus., maps.