Fieldtrip Report:
Marion Kentucky
Ben E. Clement Museum
September 14th-16th, 2007By Steve Barr
Photos by Mark Randle, Sandi Hill, Steve Bonney, Shirley Green, Becky Rodgers, and Linda Wooten
Bill, the owner of the property where the Eureka and Columbia Mines are located, had opened up a pit for us. As it turned out, it was right on top of a vein of great material, and club members attacked as soon as they saw it.
The large rock we're kneeling on and standing on in this photo was completely covered with purple cubes!
To give you an idea of what we were finding, here's how the fluorite looked while it was still encased in mud in the pit. Every time we uncovered another specimen, it took our breath away...but energized everyone to keep on diggin'!
It was hard work, and folks had to get "down and dirty" to extract the fantastic fluorite specimens. This photo shows that the women of MAGMA are not afraid of a little mud..but note how clean these two guys managed to stay that day.
Linda kept playing in the mud all day..
While Ernie just kept on working the rock and pulling out more and more hunks of purple to add to the split at the end of the day.
The hole Bill had punched for us was so prolific that a large group of members had to form an assembly line to handle all of the specimens that were being uncovered. While some dug, others carried them out, rinsed them and wrapped some of the finer ones.
Meanwhile, up on dry land, some interesting things were starting to pop out of the dump piles! Even the smaller cubes were incredibly beautiful when you back-lit them in the
sunlight.
Steve Bonney took some time out from digging to explore the woods and see if anything had been overlooked there.
Leon was one of several smart rockhounds that used the creek to rinse off their fluorite finds. Here he is holding one of his little ones!
