The Junior RockHounds met on Saturday morning August 6, 2022 and we had 7 Juniors in attendance. We made a Jump Ring Bracelet . The kids caught on quickly and some were able to make more than one. Which meant Mom and Grandma got a bracelet too.

Boyd Ashworth and Kim Toy had hand picked a container of super nice Barite crystals from the Paga Mine in Emerson, GA. The specimens are radial sprays of clear to translucent blue-gray tabular crystals. Barite has been mined in the Cartersville District since 1887. Barite is used by the petroleum industry as a weighting material in the formation of drilling mud.  A high purity form of Barite is used in the gastrointestinal tract where it’s density prevents X-rays from penetration and this is visiable on the X-rays  aids in diagnosis of gastrointestinal problem.  Barite is also used in plastics, clutch pads, rubber mudflats, mold release compounds, paints, traffic cones and golf balls to name a few.