Here is a summary of the CCGMS 2018 Field Trips
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Field trip to the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site. Also known as the Union Chapel Mine, this location was days away from being reclaimed when the significance of the fossils found there were realized and reclamation was halted. The site is named for the geologist who led the effort to preserve it for future study. The Alabama Paleontological Society has been instrumental in preserving the site.
COLLECTING: Pennsylvanian fossils, e.g. lepidodendron and calamites plus vertebrate and invertebrate tracks.
Saturday February 17, 2018
Lafayette, GA
COLLECTING: This is a new fossil site that Rocky found. The site has yielded lots of great Silurian age fossils including: Crinoids, Sponges, Corals, Bryozoans, Brachiopods, Planolites, along with cave flow, geodes, agate and chert in varying colors.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Clarkesville, GA
TRIP: This site is located in a band of kyanite bearing material. The material has been moved around so the kyanite is not in situ. Small blades are easy to find, but digging and some perseverance is required to find the larger specimens. This site is a fun and productive site for all ages.
COLLECTING: Kyanite blades and cobbles, small mica books, and graphite specimens (rare). The kyanite ranges from gray to pale blue and may contain graphite. Some of the blades can be polished and, because of the graphite, they have a curious depth and shimmer when they are polished.
March 24, 2018
COLLECTING: We collected colorful pieces of jasper that are perfect for making beautiful cabochons and pretty tumbled stones. The jasper is multi-colored in a variety of reds, yellows, whites, and blacks with banding or mottled arrangements.
April 14, 2018
Jasper, GA
COLLECTING: Marble in pink, white, blue and white marble with stripes of color from lavender, pink, orange, black and green. Some members also found serpentine, green and black hornblende, calcite crystals, amphibolite, various colors of quartzite, and other minerals.
Friday, April 27, 2018
Graves Mountain
Lincolnton, Georgia
TRIP: Graves Mountain is a unique collecting site and probably the most well-known mineral site in the state of Georgia. A working mine from the 1920s to 1990, Tiffany’s once mined this site for rutile which it used in polishing diamonds.
COLLECTING: Many specimens are available, including rutile, lazulite, pyrophyllite, kyanite, iridescent hematite, pyrite, muscovite, fuchsite, barite, quartz, and a variety of microminerals.
Sunday May 6, 2018
Summerville Crazy Lace Agate
Chattooga County, GA
This is a perfect site for children and adults of all skill levels
COLLECTING: Crazy lace agate, banded agate, druzy quartz, colored chert and oolitic chert
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Harleyville, SC
COLLECTING: The material from this quarry cuts 80 feet through the Harleyville Formation (Late Marine Eocene) and the Cross Formation (Middle Marine Eocene). Members found fossil shark teeth, bones, brachiopods, and other marine fossils.
Saturday June 23, 2018
Tennessee
TRIP: In an area in Tennessee, lies one of the most important fossil sites in North America. Acquired by the Memphis Museum System in 1988, this property contains a treasure lode of superbly preserved Upper Cretaceous marine shells and vertebrate remains left there 70 million years ago when the water of the Gulf of Mexico receded. Coon Creek fossils are mostly marine invertebrates (clams, snails, oysters, shrimp etc.) that are about 75 million years old. They are found in an unconsolidated clay/sand matrix. Coon Creek fossils are very unique because of the state of their preservation. They are original material – the shells have not turned to stone. They are also very abundant with a huge variety of species. Members collected in a “quarry” area and surface collect from Coon Creek’s stream bed (as guided by the museum staff). Members “carved” fossils out of the Coon Creek formation by looking through chunks of the formation that have been loosened from the quarry. Many participants used a curved linoleum knife for collecting. Museum instructors demonstrated how to collect your fossils and how to clean them. Everyone found fossils! Some of the fossils are very fragile. You could keep what you found with a few exceptions. If you find a specimen that would be beneficial for the Museum’s collection or research, the Museum reserves the right to keep that fossil.
COLLECTING: Upper Cretaceous marine fossils.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Dahlonega, GA
TRIP: Field trip to multiple locations in Dahlonega to learn all about gold and gold mining in Georgia.
COLLECTING: Knowledge, a taste of history, a lot of fun, and maybe some real gold!
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Ellijay, GA
TRIP: Field trip to Ellijay, GA for cutting material and to play in a creek!
COLLECTING: Colorful quartzite, stripey slate, jasper (maybe), and as many free day lily plants as you want – yes, as always – as many free lily plants as you want. Blackberries too.
Saturday September 15, 2018
Franklin, North Carolina
This area is a native dig on your own and a salted bucket mine.
COLLECTING: Native finds are Sapphire in blue, purple and pinks, Ruby, Kyanite and Moonstone.
September 21, 22, 23, 24
Jacksonville, FL
TRIP: We were invited by the International Sand Collectors Society (ISCS) to join them on multiple field trips in the Jacksonville, FL area.
COLLECTING: Heavy mineral sand, biogenic sand, and sea shells.
TRIP: Willis Mountain is what’s known as a monadnock. The kyanite exposure resisted weathering and, as the surrounding area was eroded and weathered away, the mountain outcrop was left standing. This is very much like the famous Graves Mountain kyanite mine in Georgia. The center of the mountain has been mostly mined away.
COLLECTING: It is a good year. The mine is very active and has opened more new material. We should be able to find plenty of white kyanite blades in the massive kyanite quartzite (15-35% kyanite); pyrite; quartz; hematite with some iridescence, red mica, green mica, apatite and possibly some blue kyanite and pale green trolleite. The dust/sediment here is about 15% kyanite and worth collecting too. Some of the white kyanite and quartz here have a beautiful light blue fluorescence and the apatite is yellow so bring your short wave lamp and blackout cloth.
October 27, 2018
Staurolite Prospect
Brasstown, North Carolina
COLLECTING: Staurolite, also known as fairy crosses. Members found staurolite in many sizes and shapes. The “X” cross was most common but there were bladed crosses, and Maltese cross crystals. This area also has schist rocks which contain other crystals in them. There was a new collecting area open at the site. The owner showed us some beautiful black and white staurolite from the new area so we’re looking forward to digging there.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
GEORGIA
TRIP: The Hogg Mine started out as the Oxford Mine in 1942 to mine beryl to produce beryllium. Commercial operations shut down in 1960. The site has been opened off and on since then for specimen mining.
COLLECTING: Large green Aquamarine beryl and pockets of green Aquamarine beryl were found there. As we entered the main pit area, there was a tailing or spoil pile to your left that came out of the pit in front of you. There have been several large nice gemmy Aquamarine beryl specimens from this area. The main pit in front of you has a plethora of treasures, Rose Quartz, Smoky Quartz, banded Quartz, Beryl in matrix with the quartz, Tourmaline in matrix with the quartz, etc.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Red Oak, GA
TRIP: Field trip to a local quarry where we learned about xenoliths and the geology of the area.
COLLECTING: Grossular garnet, epidote, pyrite, calcite, and amphiboles, apophyllite, chabazite, diopside, and titanite. Last year, a confirmed specimen of scolecite was found.
Saturday November 10, 2018
Trenton, Georgia
COLLECTING: We collected loose fossils spread out across the site in the broken shale from the Maysville-Trenton Formation. No digging was required but a small tool to scratch the surface was helpful. The fossils are from the Ordovician and include Coral, Bryozoa, Crinoids, numerous well-preserved Brachiopods and an occasional Gastropod. The fossils were easy to find, and this location is a good site for younger collectors.
December 8, 2018
Ballground, GA
This was a field trip for the adventurous and experienced rockhounds. We collected in a pegmatite.
COLLECTING: The site is covered with pegmatite boulders with tourmaline (several inches long), large mica books and some sizeable garnets. The tourmaline is black schrol, the mica is predominately muscovite often in 5 to 7-inch plates that are an inch to two inches thick. The garnets are fractured but show crystal forms while in the rock. There were also many beautiful yard rocks if you were ambitious enough to carry them the half-mile back up to the parking lot. There are over a dozen minerals listed for the mine from beryl to fluoroapatite, but good specimens of these minerals were rare.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Florida
TRIP: Amelia Island sharks’ teeth are sourced from the dredging of nearby channels to the north and west (and reportedly date back to a 20-million-year-old geological deposit). The island receives sand from this dredging which is pumped back onto the beach in renourishment efforts that take place every several years. The last beach re-nourishment was completed in March 2018.
COLLECTING: Shark teeth and other treasures from the sea.