Simpson Quarry Finds 6/12 - 6/13/10

[hydrogeologist]

After work on Friday I decided to take a 3-day collecting trip to Connecticut as it's been a light year for mineral collecting so far. Went to the Simpson Quarry in South Glastonbury, CT all day Saturday (collected straight through the rain!) and all day Sunday. On Monday morning I hiked up to the Case Beryl Prospects to review the current site conditions before I apply for the mineral collecting permits for the August M.A.G.M.A. New England trip. A lot of digging has occurred since M.A.G.M.A. was last there but the amount of beryl on the surface is a good sign that there is a lot more underground.

Anyways, I found about half of a 5-gallon bucket over two days at the Simpson, including some nice blue beryl and hyalite opal.

The broken end of this blue beryl crystal was exposed in a large smoky quartz boulder in plain view. I was happy when the rock split just the right way to expose it.



I also found this huge chunk of terminated white beryl in matrix. I actually broke up the boulder this was in due to a few small green beryls visible on the surface. This was the first time I found white beryl there, but later located a 1-foot long, 8-inch wide white beryl in-situ in the quarry wall. Removing it would have been back-breaking.



Ugly, but big beryl section in matrix.



My favorite beryl for the trip. Found this about 8 feet underground on Sunday.



This was my first time finding hyalite opal there. It's beautiful and fairly common at this quarry. Found the piece in the first picture on the surface within 15 minutes of arriving.



I found this piece on the first day about 7 feet down.



Close-up of the above piece.



So, all-in-all it was a good trip. The weather held off for the most part and I got to add a few new pieces to the collection.

Lawrence

[pegmatite]

Thanks for sharing. Did you ever hit dirt? Eight feet plus of dump material should offer potential for some time to come.

Steve

[hydrogeologist]

No, I didn't ever hit dirt. I dug down so deep on both days that I got down to material that had never been dug before, e.g. huge boulders with lots of air space in between them. I stopped both days when the boulders became too large for me to lift out of the hole alone. It was kind of eerie being able to look down into large, pitch black crevices surrounding the boulder that I was standing on. But the scariest thing was whenever I shifted around to work on a different part of my then 6' X 6' X 10' hole small pieces of rock and dirt were falling into the cracks between the boulders and seemed to be falling a good ways before I couldn't hear them bouncing anymore. I bailed when the rock underneath me settled a little bit and I almost stepped into a 6" wide crack.

[pegmatite]

You dig like that in Maine and you're gonna be one happy collector.

Steve

[lizziebird]

Wow, that does sound a little scary, and great finds too. Love that hyalite opal. Any photos of the hole you created? I went to the Simpson quarry last fall and that dump pile (piles) is (are) pretty impressively large. I'm amazed you got down 8 feet. That's a LOT of digging!

[hydrogeologist]

Oh yeah, I was one tired hombre on Monday. It was worth it, though.

[carnelianpete]

Dude,
Nice finds. Very cool. Love that first beryl. (Sure that's beryl and not Aqua) And a 6 x 6 x 10 foot hole!!!! I consider myself fairly aggressive when I go digging and breaking rock but that is impressive in how much rock you moved. I'd have done the 6 x 6 part but no where near 10 feet down. Maybe 4 if I really went at it. Damn!!!! I'd be dead after that much. Now why didn't you call as you drove past me to go to CT? I think I may have to brake out that wet noodle ;D and give you a lashing ;D ;D

Pete

[41dave]

killer finds there Lawrence. The look of those beryls and especially the matrix reminds me of Sheepcliff material.

[hydrogeologist]

Thanks Dave.

Pete, I was actually thinking about calling you but didn't because it was such short notice. I literally decided to go to Connecticut on Friday at 8 pm, woke up at 4, packed, and left at 5 am.

[arappaho]

Pretty blues there, Hydro. I'm kindof partial to the first one.
Joe

[CrossfireBusiness]

Great finds ... and the digging 8 feet ?... lol Iam lucky sometimes if i do 2 feet ... I like the first one as well.... Thanks for the awesome pics ...

[rayray]

Hey, Thanks for sharing. I'm a new explorer stateside. Do you need permission to prospect at Simpson quarry?

[johng]

Hello, new to this site.
Question, how do you view photos. So far only text in every thread.