FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

Wow, that is hectic, I can imagine that one could do the same with a bottle jack only with a little less safety because you don't get to be as far away as you are with your equipment.

[vic rzonca]

The nice thing about the Enerpac rams is their cylinder height that's around 4" high so it fits into a rather small cleft. You get about a 3' lift on the 30 and 50, and with the shimming, your range of push is large. Hectic, no, it's very slow. With each pump of the handle, when the pump has gone to the second stage, the ram moves 1mm-2mm under a heavy load, so to get to full extension the exercise is very aerobic.

[vic rzonca]

The days grow shorter. Looks like snow soon. Must start wrapping it up.

[vic rzonca]

I have been busy with projects at 9500ft. in CO. and new prospects, so here's some stuff from Turtle Clan Ridge. Mostly Quartz. Quartz Collecting on the Little Falls Dolostone. Quartz, the most abundant mineral in the crust of the earth, depending on how you count it.

[vic rzonca]

Occasionally, at the ridge, we find pockets that have varying amounts of anthraxolite, a solid carbon substance, I guess it would be a hydrocarbon, that infills the cavity and sometimes engulfs the silica and causes odd crystal manifestations. Small amounts are fairly common but stories of early settlers heating their pioneer hovels with the material are passed around. Much more than this was needed, depending on hovel size. Pictured here are some of the contents of a 25cm. diameter pocket. I had crushed my camera earlier in the day and my flip phone takes the most inferior images, so no photo record exists. Be that as it is, the crystal was lightly attached to the ceiling and rested comfortably on and in the pool of carbon that filled 2/3rds. of the pockets bottom. This is the most anthraxolite we have found and more than twice the amount pictured was found, these being the largest.

[vic rzonca]

Fire "Herkimer, N.Y. - It was a fire so big that all Herkimer County fire personnel were requested to help fight an out-of-control fire at the Herkimer Diamond Mines gift shop and offices on Route 28 in Herkimer around 6:30 Saturday morning. Fire officials are looking into what caused the fire. Herkimer Diamond Mines President and Owner Dr. Renee' Sialdo Shevat tells News Channel 2's Jason Powles, who was out at the scene, that she is devastated at what has happened, but she does plan to rebuild. Several fire departments, including Herkimer, Middleville, Dolgeville, Barneveld, Poland, , Newport Schuyler, and Trenton, all responded. The photo above was sent in to us by a viewer named Andrew Thomas. We will have much more on this story tonight on News Channel 2 Weekend at 6:00.". From WKTV, Utica, NY.
Not related to our operation, but, it is the second fire in a week involving quartz miners on the dolostone.

[Pierre Joubert]

Shocking news!

[vic rzonca]

We've always had good relationships with our neighbors, two and four legged, and it's a pleasure to be around both types. In the process of exploring Turtle Clan Ridge we are lucky to be able to help, in this case a domicile for the family. The way they work, they didn't really need us, but any time we can stand next to a pile of freshly dug dirt, we can help.These images are from fall, 2017.

[vic rzonca]

Had a chance to dig between snow falls, it melts fast.

[Pierre Joubert]

Beautiful!

[vic rzonca]

A few images off the dolostone. We happened to be excavating a water line on the ridge a week ago, and in the process, after digging a meter or so down in rather nice soil, we reached the edge of the bedrock dolostone. We took a few minutes to expose a short face and these began to tumble out of a pocket layer in the country rock. It was substantial. Abandoning the excavator seat and assuming a more delicate collecting posture, what you see here was collected in that long day. It has yet to cleaned and sorted and they seem to have the common 10 to 20 percent good to fine presentation. The quartz is abundant is this area of the Ridge.

[Chris Rayburn]

Wow. That's quite the haul for a day that didn't begin with collecting in mind! How's that water line coming along?

[vic rzonca]

[Chris Rayburn]

Good golly, that's a beauty, Vic. Some one of these days I'll make a collecting trip back there.

[Pierre Joubert]

This is massive! Did you collect these from various pockets in a close area or from one big pocket? Did anyone else help you? Do you have more photos? What joy!!!

[vic rzonca]

[Pierre Joubert]

The way you work with your Amish friends says a lot about your kind nature:-) I am looking forward to more pictures. It appears that this is an unexpected new 'gold mine' Quartz area.

[vic rzonca]

More images from the huge find pictured in previous posts.

[vic rzonca]

A bit of work done on the ridge, not all collecting, but is quartz found. I hope to catch up on posting of the endeavor, but it's hard to remember to pick up a camera. The weather hasn't helped either. Fingers for scale on this one.