| Discovery June 1997 | Moving Day | Clearing Debris |
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The 1st photo shows Cal inspecting a piece of spodumene at the discovery site. In the next photo we are moving our compressor up the hill with the aid of a skidder. In the 3rd, we begin clearing a century of accumulated forest debris.
| Blowpipe | Visitors | Triphylite zone |
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In the left photo the debris has been removed and we are using a blowpipe to clean the ledge. The middle shows our 1st visitors examining the original workings left by Nate Perry in 1888. The last photo is our working face after several benches, with fresh triphylite exposed.
| Spring 1998 | Pumping and Cleaning | Drilling Holes |
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| Pocket Zone | Quartz pseudo of Spodumene | |
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At approx. ten feet below the surface we encountered spar crystals in the quartz, this proved to be the most productive zone of the pegmatite. Much pyrite was recovered in the area of the darker colored spar crystals. Quartz, fluorapatite and other phosphates were associated with the lighter colored spar. Although many pockets may require cracking hammers and chisels to gain entry, they must be cleaned out carefully so as not to damage fragile specimens. The pseudomorph was over two feet long and fully terminated but came out in pieces.
| Flooded Out | Stuck Drill Steel | Repairs |
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In any mining venture, Murphy's Law prevails, if something can go wrong, it will. Unusual heavy rains in the fall flooded the pit for several days, a 2" pump was used to pump the water out. A miners nightmare, a stuck eight foot drill steel, as hard as we tried, we were not able to remove it and had to blast the rock away from around it, in an attempt to salvage it. The last photo shows a very seriously broken backhoe, we couldn't fix this one with duct tape. Was it all worth it? You bet!!!
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Photos copyright © Dick Dionne 1998 - 99