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Field CollectingMineral collecting in Scotland (near Cairngorms)

8th Mar 2018 15:52 UTCElliot Marner

Hello everybody,

Very soon I am taking a trip up to Scotland. I will be staying in the north of the Cairngorms National Park. I have been collecting minerals for a few years now, but only through purchases at shows, shops, etc. I have never collected in the field before and was wondering if anybody knew any localities around the area (I believe collecting is prohibited within the National Park itself). I would be grateful for any suggestions, especially of localities where a beginner such as myself has a good chance of finding something. Whilst the main focus of my personal collection is the calcite group I would be happy to find any minerals.

Many thanks,

Elliot

8th Mar 2018 16:49 UTCSusan Robinson

Roy Starkey, we well-known British mineral collector, published a large book on the Cairngorm Mountains and the minerals that are found there.

Susan Robinson

8th Mar 2018 18:13 UTCTom Goodland

Elliot, in Roy's book he mentions are sizeable suite of minerals mostly associated with granite. However, upland areas are under deep snow at the moment, and given the forecast may well be for several weeks yet.

Not a good area for carbonates.

Good luck though,

tom

8th Mar 2018 19:42 UTCElliot Marner

Thank you both, I will look into finding this book.

Elliot.

9th Mar 2018 02:16 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

Here's a copy of the book: Cairngorm

9th Mar 2018 02:48 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

By the way, if you're driving there from the south you may want to consider stopping in the Wanlockhead/Leadhills area. There's a good museum there ( http://www.leadminingmuseum.co.uk/ ). You can also pan for gold in the area, and there are some mine dumps that you can easily access. If you like fluorescent minerals you're in luck as some of the calcite there looks good under UV lighting.

9th Mar 2018 13:35 UTCElliot Marner

Thank you very much Kevin for this information. I am indeed driving up from the south so would be very interested in stopping and finding some mine dumps in the Leadhills area. I am trying now to use the Mindat locality search tool to find some of the locations. Do you happen to have any exact recommendations, at the moment I am looking at a location called Wanlock Dod.

9th Mar 2018 15:06 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

If you want to pan for gold an easy one to find is right along the road going from Mennock to Wanlockhead, about 3.4 miles after making the turn onto the road.

In Wanlockhead, if you head northwest from the museum on Church Street you'll see New Glencrieff Mine. In addition to being very picturesque, this is also one of the most famous mines in the area. At the turn off of Church Street leading to this mine you'll see some ruins of a structure to the right. This isn't on Mindat, but in the rocks there you can find some of the minerals that are listed for the area. It's been about 5 years since I was last in Wanlockhead, so you may want to ask at the museum if there's a location that's popular now.

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