Fieldtrip Report:
Fieldtrip Report:
Diamond
Hill Mine,
Antreville, S.C.
Documentary Report,
Smoky Amethyst Crystals,
October 21st-November 2005
Drew and Whitney decided to work the "cave" that had been dug into the far bank away from the most productive area, I had worked it for a couple of hours a week or so before and had little luck other than small drusy crystals in vugs which I was not really impressed with, but they were persistant and came out with a huge plate of 1" smokies mixed with 1" yellow crystals, a beautiful piece!
Drew and Whitney
Drew with his huge plate.
Closer shot of the plate completely covered with crystals.
Tim working our hole.
Steve and Lawrence working the dumps.
Matts nice smoky cluster.
John D. found this huge double terminated crystal in the dumps, that is something else I noticed, the double terminated crystals seem to be much rarer than the clusters, and to think I was going to sell my big one on ebay for $12.00!
All in all another great trip for the M.A.G.M.A. club, especially for a middle of the week trip. I was glad to see all the members find some of the big smoky crystals even though the odds were against finding much in the dumps, luck was on our side. The last really big crystal clusters that I have seen were found back when Dave Smith and I dug the vein. They seem to be getting smaller and harder to find since then, maybe someone will get back into them eventually, but I would advise our members to hang onto their really big specimens, just in case no more turn up!
The following pages are pictures of members finds from this pocket:
Steve Barrs latest find from D-Hill, notice the 90 pound Behemoth in the background.
