I had an awesome rockhounding adventure this weekend. As we all know, the early bird gets the worm and I must have been the earliest bird of all. I got up Friday morning at 1:30am and was on the road to good ol' GA by 2:45am. I was actually surprised by how well my eyes were focusing and the fact that they were even focusing at all! The first thing on the agenda was to visit the Diamond Hill Mine in Antreville, S.C. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather. Upon arriving, I couldn't get my boots on fast enough. By experience, I knew that there was a variety of materials to be found at this location. You can find skeletal quartz, amethyst, drusy quartz crystal plates, and smokey quartz crystals. My main target for the day was the smokey quartz crystals. I dug for several hours which yielded a couple of nice ones and several pieces. Most of these are coated with iron oxide which gives them a rust colored tint. I've been told that this coating can be removed by soaking them in a product called "Super Iron Out". It can be purchased at your local retail discount store. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan on doing that soon.
The other part of the weekend was spent doing something I love as well as digging...photographing specimens. I had the privilege of photographing some beautiful smokey quartz and amethyst specimens. (Be sure to check them out in the "WEEKEND ADVENTURE Photo Album".) They were huge and contained various inclusions. Some even had water bubbles. These were older specimens from soon-to-be-opened pay-to-dig site, The Stone Temple Mine. Rodney Moore will be opening this site. I am very excited about this new place. Especially after seeing what it has yielded in the past. Smokey quartz is my favorite thing to dig and I am eagerly awaiting the green light to make a bee-line to this hot new prospect. If you are interested in digging there or at the Diamond Hill Mine, you can contact Rodney at www.dixieeuhedrals.com/page5.html .
In conclusion, it was a super fun weekend with never a dull moment. Each adventure is an original and one that I will always treasure. What can I say, but, "Life is good!!!!".
