Fieldtrip Report:
Fieldtrip Report:
Morefield
Mine,
Ligon Mine,
Amelia County, Va.
September 30th and October 1st, 2006
photos
by: Cathy Clouser and Lee Fleming,
text: Lee Fleming
The Morefield Mine tour begins by climbing down wooden ladders which are attached to the vertical shaft walls. The ladders are divided into at least four sections, each ending with a platform. One climbed down one section of ladder, then stood on a platform and turned to begin climbing down another section of ladder. Thanks to Brian and Cathy, I was able to get to the levels of the mine which we could visit. Thanks guys for sticking with me and allowing me to make the tour.
Heading down
"I must be out of my mind!"
Once we were down to the desired level, we exited the platform and began walking through tunnels into the rock. At our first level, we immediately noticed that the walls had large formations of amazonite remaining in the tunnel walls and that the tunnel was dripping with cold water.
"This is a blast"
Brian with the amazonite in pegmatite.
Lee with the amazonite.
Cathy points to a huge beryl crystal.
The happy miners.
Brian at the end of the line.
What an experience. We were given a complete explanation of the rock geology for the tunnel walls as we walked along. Finally, we got to the end of the first tunnel and were instructed to turn around and g back to the platform to continue down into the mine. At this point, it is hard to believe that we could see even more impressive rocks; but boy were in for a surprise.
