Ray Mine Kyanite

[writerman2255]

Now here's something you don't see posted every day. It's Ray Mine Kyanite. Up at the top of the Ray Mountain, and I mean it's a hike, with a capital H-I-K-E and I'm in good shape, there is an old Kyanite mine. I've left boulders the size of basketballs, clear quartz filled with Kyanite there, because it was too much to bring them all the way back down the mountain. This piece is seven inches long by four and a half inches wide, with the main chunk of Kyanite in it being an inch by an inch square, and seven inches long. Enjoy!

[hydrogeologist]

Nice.

I have a buddy who found a large softball-sized chunk of kyanite blades with a little quartzite in the main creek right after the hurricanes hit in 2003. It rivals Walker Creek material as the longest blades are 6" long, 1.5" wide, and .75" thick. It's truly an amazing specimen.

[Ryan]

Tom, Ive made that hike before! It was a blast! Did you go into the old adit? I went in the winter (because I am an idiot and like to make hard things even harder) and the adit had icicle formations throughout. It was amaziting. Awe inspiring actually. Nice piece! I have one very similar from there. I think its an underrated locality. Hard to get to but worth the hike! Cheers on a good hike and find!

[writerman2255]

Thanks, Ryan. More of a huge workout than a hike! Did you go all the way up to the top? I've found incredible things at the tops of the mountains around The Ray, and I don't know why, because why would you haul mine scree UP a mountain, but apparently they did. I found a three inch absolutely clear, bright honey yellow golden beryl crystal four feet underground, at the top of one of those hills. Why? I don't know. Even better, what possessed me to go all that way up and start digging right there? I dunno that either!

[Ryan]

I went up up up the hill at the ray mine, to where you could see the Spruce Pine mines in the distance. Then I hooked a right, past the uppermost cut/prospect wall. From there I will leave it vague in case the bad people dont know about it yet. But I went to the adit of the kyanite mine, went in to explore, then climbed around it looking for specimins. We found a boulder the size of 3 car tires stacked up...ALL KYANITE! We hit it with a sledge and took some pieces. Mine is a football sized chunk. In fact, the story is one of my first posts here. You commented on it. This was Feb 09 I believe. Anyhow, I know where that boulder is! And more! Ill send you a PM next week when Im heading down for work. I have to teach at a thermal imaging school at GTCC fire academy. Before or after class, maybe we can hike around the Ray or hit the Tree!?

[lizziebird]

THat is an amazing hike, but worth it. Great views, nice rocks, and you feel like you're really accomplished something after that hike. Whew!

[Ryan]

Lizziebird, you got that right! I love my Mas Celo kyanite so much because I went through a hell of a hike in the snow and explored an old adit full of ice, twisted the crap out of my ankle hiking alllllll the way down the Ray hill with a backpack full of boulders!

[will]

Very recent celo find.

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[botanyme]

That's it!! I've been saying I wanted to go check out the Mas Celo mine for ev er and by golly, I'm gonna. Who wants to go? Is it a backpacking venture? Need to go soon before the bears get all up and about. Hmmmm (fingers rapping rapping rapping on the table..). Back channel me if you want to make a plan

[Ryan]

Bears Smears. We'll just make sure Steve Barr goes along for the hike and he can serve as a translator. I hear he is fluent in Brown bear, grizzley, and panda. And if diplomatic negotiations break down, I'll just have to hope I can run faster than everyone else

Dan, thats a nice deep blue blade you gots there.

Here's the rock that I got there on one of my very first rockhounding adventures!


It is a fantastic hike!

[krock]

Can anyone tell me how to get the Mas Celo kyanite mine? I was told I need to park at the Ray mine and then hike to Mas Celo, but he couldn't give me any better directions than that for fear of giving bad directions.

[berylliumwilliam]

So I went looking for this place yesterday and hiked all over that mountain and still couldn't find this place...I went all the way to the ridge and followed a "road" to a pond where there was a huge rock wall with some large boulders at its base. Did the mine collapse? I hikedfurther up the mountain and all around just in case it was somewhere nearby but couldn't find it. Does anyone know how to get to this kyanite mine?
And how do you post pictures on here?