I got with my district manager friend for Vulcan Materials and he in turn got with the Rockingham operations manager "Charles". They have agreed to let a small group of rockhounds collect on either 12/7/12 or 12/14/12. These are Fridays. The reason for Friday is that there will be no blasting occurring in the pit on these days. As you may know, Vulcan is a VERY safety minded company. When talking to Charles, he laid out some very specific conditions that must be meet as follows:
- Hard hats, steel toe shoes, and safety glass worn at all times.
- No climbing on walls or on muck pits. He said anyone caught will get us all thrown out. No wandering off from the group. Do not plan on doing so!
- There will be a 5 minute talk and a "no harm agreement" paper that must be signed stating that Vulcan is not responsible for any injuries prior to allowing anyone into the pit.
- A group of 8 - 10 or so would be acceptable.
- The dig would be supervised for up to 2/hrs of looking.
- He said that no person can remove anymore samples than they can carry out in their packs by themselves, "a company policy".
With these restrictions this dig may not be very "attractive" but its only under these rules that Vulcan will allow access. Afterward, I'd be happy to show anyone interested a few other locales in the area that I know about. I've seen calcite, pectolite, unakite, sunstone in the pit and have heard of hyalite opal and uranium minerals. If interested, please let me know so that I can call Charles back and establish a firm date. Again, all Vulcan rules MUST be adhered to or they will eject us from the pit. If this goes well, they "might" allow future digging maybe in their other operations, who knows? But it must go off without a hitch and by their rules! I cannot promise what one might find in the pit as its "virgin rockhounding". Charles told me that only one other group, geology majors from UNC Wilmington has been allowed to collect here and they do so once a year.

Count me in, the 14th would be better but I could swing the 7th if I had too.  Thanks for setting this up mike

Mike,
I appreciate you getting the dig organized.  These days any entry into a quarry is great.  But is there any chance that future digs might be on a Saturday or Sunday?  Thanks again.

Rebecca and Mark,

Are you guys pretty sure that you want to come down to Rockingham to the Vulcan quarry? Vulcan offered us two different dates Dec. 7th or 14th. Let me know if you do and which one of these dates works best for both of you so that I can call Vulcan back and let them know. So far, only you guys seem to be interested.

Dan,

I wish that I could get Vulcan to agree to a weekend too as that works better for me also but they wouldn't right now. Let me know if you are wanting to come either on the 7th or 14th also and if not I fully understand, maybe some other time. Look forward to meeting you someday.

Hopefully I can find out by next Monday 12/3/2012 who all is coming and the date so that I can call Vulcan back and tell them if we're coming or not.

Best regards,

Mike

7th is possible but I would be skipping my last lecture before exams, no biggie?  The 14th is clear for me though.

Hi! Yes yes yes! I want to go. The 14th would be best for me too. Thank you very much for going through the trouble of setting this up.
The potentiality of the place sounds wonderful; and the quarry being unknown, makes it even more exciting.  2 hours will be plenty of time! I am so excited! 

Directions to Rockingham's Vulcan Quarry:

From Charlotte, take business hwy. 74. After crossing the PeeDee River bridge take the 74 by-pass and approx. 2 miles you'll see the first exit that will say "Cordova". Take this exit (right) off by-pass 74. Turn left, go across 74 and you will see the main entrance into Vulcan's quarry (you can't miss it).

From Raleigh take US 1 south to Rockingham till it comes to the intersection of Long Drive and Hwy 1 (also called Fayetteville Rd at this point). Turn left onto Long Drive and stay on it approx. 3 miles till it hits business US 74 (there will be a busy intersection). Turn right (west onto bus. 74 and go approx. 2 miles to US. 1 south (turn left). On US 1 south go approx. 3 miles and turn right (west) onto by-pass 74. From there you will go approx. 2 miles an exit at the "Cordova" exit to the right and you'll see the quarry on the right.

From Greensboro, go Hwy 220 south, cross bus. 74 another mile and it merges with US 1 south. From there go approx. 1 mile and exit right onto by-pass 74 (west) and go approx. 2 miles and then exit right at the "Cordova" exit. You will see the quarry on the right.

My home cell number is 910-206-7629. Please fell free to call me.

Laurie,

I'll add you to the list which now makes a total of five people. I plan to call Charles at Vulcan about 9:00am this morning and let him know that our group has chosen the 14th. I'll try to confirm the meeting time from Charles and post it.

Mike