Fieldtrip Report:
New England Trip By Lawrence Davis and Steve Bonney
Terminated columbite-(Mn) crystal.
Day seven was spent on the western side of Mt. Apatite in Auburn, Maine, courtesy of Poland Mining Camps. Numerous quarries occur here, including the Keith Quarry here.
We were even privileged to witness a small blast at the Pulsifer Quarry. This particular blast didn’t produce a lot of amazing finds, but the excitement of examining the site after the blast was intense.
Keith Quarry zircon.
Keith Quarry zircon.
Distorted, but complete gahnite (spinel) crystal, surrounded by almandine, from the Hole in the Ground Quarry. These dark green crystals are typically coated by rusty flaky muscovite.
Day eight was spent as “tag along” guests with the Poland Mining Camp so we could visit the Emmons Quarry in Greenwood, Maine. This worked out great because our originally planned destination for the day had a possible change in access just before we arrived in Maine so we needed a backup and the Emmons Quarry is a top notch destination.
The scenery from Uncle Tom Mountain was beautiful. I actually did look up once, but not for long!
Emmons Quarry apatite.
Nicely color zoned apatite crystal in albite. |
