A Sink Hole Feldspar..

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[lee]

Jim: That is a great piece !! I have never seen a piece of Sink Hole Feldspar materiel made into such a beautiful cabochon. Keep up the good work.

[Dicky the Rockhunter]

I realy like that. Do you know how the name sinkhole was derived.? Sure doesnt look like feldspar to me , would have been lost.
Dicky

[rons]

There is "moonstone" at the sinkhole or so I was told
nice job on the stone Jim

[hydrogeologist]

I have definitely found oligoclase at the Ray before. The schiller was so distinct I could see the blue flash in the feldspar straight out of the ground.

[postal]

Definitely Moonstone and They say it is not a gemstone.VERY NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!Some of my favorite material and as nice as I have seen.Pete

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Dang Pete blow me down..
It is a piece I did for the fellow that paints the stones and the location they came from. Jeez I am so sorry I can't remember their/his names. I sat and talked to he and she at the roundup. Brain dead!
Anyway he gave me the piece from there he had collected during the Roundup and asked me to cut it.
I would have mounted it but with my JimWrap thing I do I was afraid I would blow the stone to H%^&#%. I have tried to groove feldsparic material and it just gets blown to hedbkllllls. So I sent it to him unmounted. I hope he liked it.... ? Sent it to him but never heard back.
I have sent stones to people to cut for me before I learned lapidary.
And I must say I was Very .........disapointed more often than not.
At least I didn't send him a bill for cutting.... lol
At least you all like it...

Rebecca... Put a piece or two in the truck. The next time we meet on a dig I will get it and cut you some stones. I am real happy with the material. Just had the one small piece to cut. So didn't want to take a chance on grooving it and it blowing up.
But I will cut some and get it mounted in a Jim Wrap. For you kid. The moon stone is in the material. I just need to grind around it and find the angle and the right material to get it to moon.
Then again. Come to a dig with no porta-potty if you want to see some moons... lol

[stevebarr]

Although much of the history of the Sinkhole Mine seems to have been lost over time, I have been able to find some information about its past. Native Americans apparently mined it for mica, which they used for grave ornamentation and trade. An ancient Spanish helmet was once found near the Sinkhole Mine, which led to speculation that Desoto came there searching for valuable minerals. But, it is also possible that the helmet was obtained elsewhere and brought here for trade.

In the 1700s, the Cherokee mined the Sinkhole for a feldspar, quartz and kaolin mixture that was transported to the coast and shipped to markets in England, where it was used to make china and porcelain.

In 1858, North Carolina State Senator Thomas Clingman visited the Silver family’s home in near Bakersville. The windows of their home were made from isinglass, and he learned that the mica had come from the Sinkhole Mine. He dug a shaft at the site with a group of men and they found books of mica and feldspar with pyrite in them. They unearthed large sheets of muscovite mica.

In 1867, he returned hoping to discover silver at the site, but that never materialized. But, the Knoxville Stove Works began to use mica from the Sinkhole for windows in their stoves due to its ability to withstand intense heat.

As demand for mica increased, the shafts at the Sinkhole expanded to between two and three thousand feet, going to depths of several hundred feet. In 1954, Mica was selling for about seventy-five dollars a pound, but was eventually replaced by manmade materials and the market for it dried up. The Sinkhole was worked until the 1960s, when it was finally closed.