Alright Boys and Girls.  Put your thinking caps on and tell me the locality for each of these NC kyanite specimens.  Partial credit will be given for the county only, and a hearty congratulations for the mine or prospect, as well as county.  Hint: all specimens are from different localities, and I only know the county (no locality) for one.  (Joe, you should have an advantage because you have seen all of them before.)


#1





#2





#3





#4





#5





Good luck.  The answers will be tallied and the localities will be revealed Saturday at some point.

Dennis

Nice try, Joe.  You got one partially correct, but I won't reveal which one until others give their opinions.

After I posted the photos I realized that I would be stumped trying to identify them without owning them and knowing their localities and histories.  So, to make it somewhat easier, I've decided to make it a matching quiz.

Below are the five locations that you need to match to the specimen photos in the first post:

A.  Macon Co., NC (locality not known)

B.  Meeper Mine (Walker Creek Kyanite site), Buncombe Co., NC  (Possibly the Balsam Gap Mine....I will discuss later)

C.  Stony Hill, Wake Co., NC

D.  Cattail Mine (Isom Mica Mine), Yancey Co., NC

E.  Mas-Celo Mine, Yancey Co., NC

Good luck.  I will reveal the winner and answers Sunday instead of tomorrow.

Dennis

Alright, the quiz has ended.  I am getting ready to head out of town on a project tomorrow in Transylvania Co. so I wanted to let Joe know that he is the winner (since no one else tried to ID the kyanite specimens.

Great job, Joe, you got 3 of the 5 correct, missing only the first and last.  I'll have to see what I have to give you as an appropriate prize.  I have a whole back yard full of Azeztulite, but I think I will save it for an ultimate grand prize for a future quiz.

Here are the IDs:


1. Mas-Celo Mine, Yancey Co.

2. Meeper Mine (Walker Creek), maybe Balsam Gap Mine (Luther Thomas Mine), Buncombe Co.

3. Macon Co.

4. Stony Hill, Wake Co.

5. Cattail Mine (Isom Mica Mine), Yancey Co.


Here is an explanation for the slight confusion I have for specimen #2.:

I acquired this specimen from Terry Ledford in 1989 and he told me he collected it in Buncombe Co. near the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I was not familiar with any of the Buncombe Co. kyanite sites at that time, but was familiar with the Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey county sites.  When I started to research it years later I found out about the Meeper Mine (Walker Creek Kyanite site), which is just north of, and very close, to the parkway. 

The mineral list I found for this site listed Schorl as an associate. This specimen has a 1.4 x 0.8 inch Schorl crystal (see photo below) on the backside, so I was convinced it came from the Meeper Mine.

Well, it was not too many years later that I started reading about the Balsam Gap Mine just south of, and very near to, the parkway on Glassmine Creek.  This site is listed in Dana as having Emeralds (green beryl?); Schorl is, also, an associate.  Luther Thomas started collecting at this site extensively many years ago, pulling out incredible and large kyanite specimens.  Years later Terry Ledford, also, collected kyanite at this site; a fact that Rick Jacquot reminded me of a couple of months ago.

It is strictly forbidden to collect at this site today.  It is part of the Asheville Watershed and highly protected.  There are signs on the parkway that says No Parking, Standing, or Walking along this area of the road.

I plan to contact Terry at some future date and see if he recognizes the specimen in question.  Here is a photo of the Schorl on the rear of the Kyanite specimen (Kyanite crystal is 3.1 x 1.7 x 0.5 inches):





I will come up with future quizzes if that is something the forum members would like to see.  It would be great if we could get Laurie and others to come over to this forum and join in the fun.

Peace,

Dennis

Oh man! I was just about to put in my guesses and realized the quiz already ended.  I'm sorry I didn't post sooner.  Great quiz Dennis.  I really enjoy how they get you thinking.  It's a great exercise for being able to identify speciemens based on appearance -- which can be incredibly useful for mislabeled or unlabeled specimens.  Great photography as usual!

Rebecca,

I'm glad you liked the kyanite photos.  I've taken a short hiatus away from the mineral hobby due to other commitments, but I will do another quiz in the future.

As far as I know, the Cattail Mica Mine (Isom Mica Mine) is still accessible, but it would be best to see if it is on Forest Service property, and inquire if it is off limits.  From what I have read about it, the hike is a long one, and the altitude gain from the vehicle to the mine is fairly steep because the mine is over 5000 feet in elevation (5200-5400').  Kyanite can be found along the old road and trail to the mine, so one might not have to hike the entire way.

I don't have the Macon Co. locality for the light blue specimen I posted.  I bought it in a shop near Franklin in the mid 1980s and the card only said Macon Co. on it.  Kyanite is known from a number of places in Macon Co., so it could have come from any one of them.

Dennis