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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Garnets in Mica? (Read 20480 times)
JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #15 - Feb 7th, 2012 at 7:31pm
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I hope this post starts at page 2 so you don't have to scroll
thru all those crazy pics of mine again and again,
to get to these pics of the Real Thing!
Garnets in Mica, from either Grandfather Mountain or the
Spruce Pine area. (Correct location temporarily unavailable Roll Eyes)

Pictures provided by and from the John Frazier Collection.

  

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NCGrampa
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #16 - Feb 8th, 2012 at 11:37am
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Wow! Beautiful! What's the scale?
  

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Dennis
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #17 - Feb 8th, 2012 at 7:03pm
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That's a really nice specimen with multiple garnet crystals.  I'd love to find one of those someday.

Here are three specimens I collected in 1964 at an old mica mine across the highway from my house when we lived in Estatoe, west of Spruce Pine.  The mine was one of several in an area called Autrey Hollow.  I refer to this locality as the Autrey Hollow mines, for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, you will not see Autrey Hollow on any modern map.  The name does appear in several maps published in old NC Geological Society bulletins and reports.

The specimens are small, but have character.  I like the effect of the back-lighting.

Dennis


  

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Dennis
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #18 - Feb 8th, 2012 at 7:21pm
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Sorry about the large size of the pics.  I tried making them smaller and reduce the resolution, but they still came in too long.  It'll take me some time to get used to this method of posting photos.

Dennis
  
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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #19 - Feb 8th, 2012 at 7:32pm
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Wow! Very, very nice pictures there, Dennis!
And so organized! Thanks for posting them.
I'm with you, I'd like to find me some of that!
Do you think this garnet in mica occurrence is as rare as it's
thought to be, or do you think it's more that most folks don't
take the time to go thru the mica slowly enough to spot it? Undecided
NCGrampa,
I'd hate to guess on the scale in those pics from John.
He's out in Tuscon right now but we may get better info
from him eventually.
Joe
  
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Dennis
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #20 - Feb 8th, 2012 at 7:42pm
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Joe,

Garnets in mica is fairly common.  Although, I never found any large ones I saw many that local collectors in Spruce Pine had found.  I never spent a lot of time cleaving mica books to look for them.....my search image was on beryl specimens.

Garnets included in mica have been reported since the late 1800s when mica miners first found them while cleaving mica books to sale to the mica companies.  Fredrick Kunz and others wrote about them in their early descriptions on NC gemstones, and they were prized for their size and clarity.  There's no telling how many fantastic specimens were sent to the rich northern mineral and gem collectors and ended up in rings or other jewelry.

Dennis
  
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John Frazier
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #21 - Feb 14th, 2012 at 1:54pm
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Dennis love your pics of the garnets in Mica.  My specimen with the mulitple garnets is about 3" across.  I agree there are a lot of garnets in mica from the area but the real large and quality crystals are hard to come by today.  Most that I have in my collection were found from 1920 to the 1940s.  It is great that some miners saved these from distruction. Smiley
  
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Rebecca
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #22 - Feb 19th, 2012 at 10:47pm
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Beautiful! I am sure there are places to find this stuff today in NC. I just can't seem to get enough of mica lately. Speaking of...Joe, I sent you a PM. Smiley
  
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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #23 - May 19th, 2013 at 10:48pm
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We're Back!!  Cheesy

Yes, it has been a year and a few months since this thread was last at the top of the heap,
and I just want to thank all you long time members of the forum
that have kept the faith and believed that one day
I would actually find the fabled
"Mica with Garnets from Wake County"!
Thank you for support. Kiss

This Mica/Garnet site is now an asphalt parking lot.
Ryan, Pahound, being a garnet collector, recently asked to
see some of the material found at this spot. I found a
bucket I had saved with a section of the whole vein;
pegmatite, mica, garnet, feldspar quartz, right of the ground.
We had a great time taking the piece apart and picking all the garnets out.
But under that was the real prize.
The missing pieces of mica suspected to have garnets in it.
I remember I had just grabbed the mica and put it in a bucket,
rather than try and go thru it in the field,
but I forgot I had thrown a big chunk of dirt on top of it!

Mitchell County! Brazil! Wake County has everything they do,
maybe not as much and a little smaller pieces, but..!! Wink
One thing these garnets seem to have in common with
garnets in mica elsewhere is they are very gemmy!

So, without further ado, let me share some pics.
Wake County Garnets in Mica

  

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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #24 - May 19th, 2013 at 10:52pm
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Different angles of a row of three.

  

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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #25 - May 19th, 2013 at 10:55pm
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And I had to take two pics of this one, too.



  

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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #26 - May 19th, 2013 at 11:01pm
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I will have to work on some better pics as I peel mica,
but it looks like there are several different colors of garnets
showing up. An amber-yellow and a light pink besides for the
almadine red.
I need better pics but here's a sample of the color range.



  

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JoeM
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #27 - May 19th, 2013 at 11:04pm
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And I can't take pics of mica without playing around some.
So here's to playtime. Wink

Cryptonite in Mica.

  

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Raleigh Rockhound
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #28 - May 19th, 2013 at 11:21pm
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those are pretty sweet joe
  
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NCGrampa
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Re: Garnets in Mica?
Reply #29 - May 20th, 2013 at 8:14am
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Great pieces and also great photos, Joe.
  

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