William W. Besse's Photo Gallery

GL8-9JQZircon Zr(SiO₄) , Muscovite KAl₂(AlSi₃O₁₀)(OH)₂

Bautista Canyon, Cahuilla Mining District, Riverside County, California, USA

Dimensions: 74 mm x 76 mm x 63 mm
Field of View: 10.5 cm
Largest Crystal Size: 76 mm
Weight: 819 g

A single, partial zircon crystal with faces partially coated with muscovite. The back of the crystal is missing and appears to be sheared and glassy suggesting that the crystal is possibly metamict.

The crystal was found in the 1970s by Mark Rogers, a local mineral collector and dealer, while hunting in the canyon. He said it was found at a bend in the canyon (and there are lots of bends in the canyon) at the edge of a landslide.

96K-TCHMagnesiochromite MgCr₂O₄ , Uvarovite Ca₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃

Santa Rita Peak, San Benito County, California, USA

Dimensions: 18 cm x 16 cm x 13.5 cm
Field of View: 22.7 cm
Weight: 6.8 kg

Dark gray magnesiochromite is partially covered by uvarovite (Some crude crystals are visible with a hand lens).

This was found on the road the winds up the hill to the east of the Santa Rita Mine (locally called the Union Carbide Mine at the time) ending at the ridge road. I have found several of these masses on that road of which this is the largest.

Jewell Tunnel Stock Certificate

Jewel Tunnel & Mining Company workings, Monarch Mining District, Chaffee County, Colorado, USA

This is a mining stock certificate from 1901 for 100 shares.

Collecting at the Bessemer Mine

Bessemer Mine, Bessemer Mines, Iron Ridge, Lava Beds District, Lava Bed Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, USA

This photo was taken on a MSSC field trip on 2 March 2002.

Bessemer Mine from the south on Bessemer Mine Road

Bessemer Mine, Bessemer Mines, Iron Ridge, Lava Beds District, Lava Bed Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, USA

This photo was taken on a MSSC field trip on 2 March 2002.

Granite Gap

Granite Gap, San Simon Mining District, Peloncillo Mountains, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, USA

This is from Beyer, Joan and Gibbs, Ron- Minerals of the Granite Gap Mines, Hidalgo County, New Mexico- Rocks & Minerals, Vol. 77 No. 5, September/October 2002, pp. 298-305 and is a combination of the first two figures in the article.

8E8-RJJKyanite Al₂(SiO₄)O , Muscovite (Var: Sericite) KAl₂(AlSi₃O₁₀)(OH)₂

Drifted Snow Mine, Obregon, Cargo Muchacho Mining District, Cargo Muchacho Mountains, Imperial County, California, USA

Dimensions: 95 mm x 45 mm x 33 mm
Weight: 117 g

Kyanite blade in sericite

Boleo Smelter Smoke Stack on the Hill, 1979

Boleo District, Santa Rosalía, Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur, Mexico

When this picture was taken the old smelter was still in full production (April, 1979). To keep some of the smoke out of Santa Roselia they needed a much taller smoke stack. It was financially impractical to build a tall steel or brick smoke stack. If steel it would have to be imported. If brick it would be to massive a project. Their answer was to build it on the ground up the arroyo (foreground of the photograph shows the top of the stack on the ground), across the arroyo, up the hill, and then build a shorter, more practical smoke stack on the hill. This was a distance of well over 200 meters.

Dumps in the background are of the Calera Mine.