February 2, 2014

It's morning, the day of the Super Bowl, and the first thing that comes to mind is the question of where I want to dig today.  I give Joe a call to see if he wants to go digging in Chatham County.  I explained that Mark and I had recently been there and saw some signs of crystallization along with ilmenite.  He stalled while he contemplated whether he wanted to do it or not so I said, "come on it's a nice day you'll be happy you came!".  We gave Mark a call and he joined us at Joe's where he drove the three of us to Coopers Ridge.

When we arrived we headed straight for the spot we had seen some hopeful signs when last we were there.  A few minutes of prospecting and Joe immediately finds and starts working a crystallizing vein with better signs than I had seen in years from this location.  I immediately begin digging to his right following the trend of the vein he was working.  Right away I began also pulling crystals out.  The air became thick with anticipation so I call Mark over who was working a quartz vein about 30 yards away.  So began another historical and epic day of unearthing wonderous treasures at Coopers Ridge.

Below is a picture of the ilmenite I found the previous weekend in an in-situ vein which was all the impetus I needed for a return trip.   

Digging into the night wasn't something we intended, but since I had packed my headlamp we had no issues digging a little longer.  We traded the single headlamp with each other as we took turns pulling out crystals one after another.

The finds.  Although we have no chemical verification we have been calling the metallic mineral we find there ilmenite.  Historical information on a nearby ilmenite mine, along with streak color, and a slight magnetic pull on a compass needle, all point to ilmenite.

Below was one of the best combos of ilmenite and quartz from this location as far as size of the ilmenite.  Unfortunately, almost all of the ilmenite was highly weathered and would immediately fall apart.  This specimen mostly stayed together.

5.5 x 4.5 x 4 cm

This crystal cluster was unique and very interesting.  I think its a great study crystal.  My hypothesis is that pocket detritus fell on the crystal creating the fine powdery coating.  The detritus stopped falling sometime in its history but the crystal continued to grow revealing the clear untainted edges.  The effect gave the cluster an almost doctored look as if someone purposefully cleaned the edges to exaggerate the crystalline structure.  The frosted coating most likely quartz itself cannot be cleaned off as it is included within the surface of the quartz.  This specimen also had hematite phantoms not visible in the picture.

A very nice pocket indeed. That last one pictured is amazing. And great photography as usual.

Gotta add my two cents.
Here are front and back pics of the cluster in the video I said
made me happy enough to call it a day!

Two more pieces from the pocket.

This is not part of the goodnight development but, that should be good hunting once it gets underway.