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Identity HelpBasalt found at Sterling Hill Mine... original location?

18th Aug 2018 19:12 UTCRobert Darabos

Found a few handfuls of this basalt at Sterling Hill Mine about 2 years ago.

Curious about its original location and inclusions.

Is there basalt at Sterling Hill? If not, where may it have came from? Michigan? Or Oregon?

Any ideas on the inclusions? Maybe Pumpylleite and Calcite?

18th Aug 2018 21:28 UTCStuart Herring

No basalt found in Sterling Mine. Most of the grey basalt is from Michigan or possibly Oregon, like you said- all from old collections donated to the museum and dumped in the international pile. Also there was/is Upper New Street Quarry, New Jersey material. I did find very nice epidote/quartz crystals in basalt from Michigan - confirmed by Richard Hauck.

18th Aug 2018 23:34 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

Robert, I think you may find the Marcostrat data helpful. It is on the bottom of the page for many mindat localities including sterling hill. This link is from the mindat page,

https://macrostrat.org/map/#12/41.0777/-74.4272

19th Aug 2018 03:53 UTCStuart Herring

Andrew the macrostat can be very helpful but in this case it will not help ID the basalt specimens due to the fact that they are not from the Franklin marble... hence the Sterling Mine!

I have collected at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum since 2010 and have seen or collected from the international dump many different species and locations. I've seen other specimens similar to what Robert has and they look like Michigan or maybe Oregon. As to there exact location?

19th Aug 2018 04:06 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

I think you miss my point Stuart, Robert asked the question was Basalt present at Sterling Hill- "is there Basalt at Sterling Hill?". Macrostrat identifies Sterling as a marble/skarn environment which would help Robert draw his own conclusions as to why his specimen is not from that local. As you rightly point out his specimen could have come any number of locations.

19th Aug 2018 08:09 UTCStuart Herring

Ok Andrew you want to teach that is noble! I ONLY ever use bedrock geo maps as a guide. They are never perfect, but I should say for that area (Franklin Mining District) they are very accurate.

I don't want to get into a discussion about the precision of the Macrostrat.

Robert I am not sure what minerals you have - I remember some had calcite. But since I didn't know there location I never took any.

19th Aug 2018 10:22 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

It could have been dumped out of a collectors car, but you also should consider that it was ballast from a railroad. They would often bring in ballast (construction gravel) from many miles away.

20th Aug 2018 04:11 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Those don't look like anything common from Michigan.

But as to an exact location.........

20th Aug 2018 16:22 UTCAlfred L. Ostrander

Robert,

You asked if basalt can be found at Sterling Hill. I can tell you there are numerous diabase dikes. There are also lamprophyre dikes usually comprised of camptonite. If aphanitic enough, at first glance they can look like basalt. Still, not basalt.

I can't say your samples (fuzzy focus) look like diabase or camptonite I have seen from either Franklin or Sterling Hill. Considering the international pile of rocks that is at at the museum, I agree with others. I don't think you are going to get a definitive location for the specimen.

21st Aug 2018 14:09 UTCDoug Gardner

Here's a photo of Camptonite from the Franklin Buckwheat dump.

https://www.mindat.org/photo-888806.html

Doug Gardner

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