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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) The Mouse Hole Mine (Read 6546 times)
FireOnTheMountain
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The Mouse Hole Mine
Jan 7th, 2015 at 10:42am
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I found a new mine and decided to go check it out on Monday. It was a long trench-like pit with some boulders/outcrops above it and had tailings all behind it.
I went in the pit first but there wasn't much to see since not much of the bedrock was still exposed due to overburden. Then went around back to check out the tailings. There we started finding some interesting little floaters/blades and a lot of signs of crystals. I was starting to get really excited that this mine might actually turn out to be worth while.
Next I headed over to the boulder/outcrop area to do a little poking around and within 5 minutes I was already in a pocket!  Smiley
It was a tiny little cavity that I could barely stick 2 fingers in, but it was full of loose dirt and pieces of acorn shells and I managed to pull 2 blades and a small crystal out. I felt what I thought was the bottom of the cavity and figured that was it.... but then the bottom wiggled. So I broke open the mouth of the hole.
(this is after I broke it open a little more)


This was the "bottom" of the pocket that wiggled....
Turns out it wasn't the bottom at all, but  a nice floater



Next thing I knew I was pulling crystal after crystal out of this hole! Glass clear, some double terminated, clusters, complete floaters... all out of this tiny hole! It was kinda funny actually.





... and all of this came out of that tiny Mouse Hole  Grin
I will never overlook any cavity ever again, no matter how small!

I have more from this pocket that I am still cleaning and will post pics soon.

  
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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #1 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 10:49am
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This is a sneak peak of the back of the pocket, which I forgot to mention ended up being a beautiful cluster of big points. The cluster is probably 8-10 inches long with several large points. It's beautiful! Extracting this cluster in one piece will be my next project. Hopefully it turns out nice!

  
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Scott LaBorde
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #2 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 12:16pm
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Wow, such a great story.  That was pretty extraordinary pocket you found there.  Thanks for allowing us to explore the pocket with you and definitely thanks for sharing!   Grin

I see inclusions in there -- wonder what those could be?   Cool
  

Scott LaBorde
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dan
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #3 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 1:02pm
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Kayla,
I swear you have a magic touch when it comes to crystals.  Gorgeous looking specimens.
  
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Collin
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #4 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 1:23pm
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Nice report Kayla and awesome finding those crystals!  Cheesy

Looks like a "hole" lot of fun at the Mouse Hole Mine!  Wink
  
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Laurie Adams
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #5 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 4:23pm
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Nice photos Kayla!  Scott, the inclusions are hematite.  A fair number of the crystals at the Mouse Hole have tiny hematite inclusions, and larger platy hematite is also fairly common here.
  
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JoeM
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #6 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 5:11pm
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Thanks for the post, Fire.
Way to keep findin' those pockets! Smiley
  
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L82Play
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #7 - Jan 7th, 2015 at 7:32pm
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Great find!

I envision some pack rat hording those crystals away in his secret hideaway thinking he had found a bunch of clear hard nuts and was storing them for the winter - and you found his stash! Shocked

cheers,
r
  

sung to the tune of 'Green Acres'
Erosion is the thing for me
I just don't like to dig - you see
Picking rocks up right off the ground
is good enough for this lucky old rockhound
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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #8 - Jan 8th, 2015 at 11:13pm
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Here are a few more from the same pocket




A few nice floaters


Double Terminated


.... and a few more clusters  Smiley

  
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Scott LaBorde
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #9 - Jan 11th, 2015 at 6:42pm
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Beautiful crystals you found there.  It was a pleasure to see them in person.  Great treasures to reward your determination and persistent prospecting adventuring.   Keep it up and one day you'll have a mine named after you....wait. . .  Cool 
  

Scott LaBorde
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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #10 - Jan 12th, 2015 at 10:00pm
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Thanks  Smiley
  
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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #11 - Apr 27th, 2015 at 3:47pm
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Here's the back of the pocket. Now I just need to figure out how to get this cluster out in one piece  Smiley
« Last Edit: Apr 28th, 2015 at 7:26am by Raleigh Rockhound »  

DSCN1674.JPG ( 215 KB | 100 Downloads )
DSCN1674.JPG
DSCN1676.JPG ( 153 KB | 126 Downloads )
DSCN1676.JPG
DSCN1677__1_.JPG ( 193 KB | 112 Downloads )
DSCN1677__1_.JPG
DSCN1679_001.JPG ( 143 KB | 114 Downloads )
DSCN1679_001.JPG
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JoeM
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #12 - Apr 27th, 2015 at 10:46pm
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No rest for the weary or maimed I reckon. Smiley
I love looking at what you've found from that pocket.
Little bigger pictures would help. Roll Eyes
  
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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #13 - Apr 28th, 2015 at 4:29am
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Haha sorry I don't know how to resize my pictures.  Smiley
  
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Scott LaBorde
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Re: The Mouse Hole Mine
Reply #14 - Apr 28th, 2015 at 9:12am
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Thanks for resizing them.   Wink  I know it's tedious to resize images but necessary so people can actually see them.

That's a super plate of crystals there.  Can't wait till you get it all out.  It will look nice on your shelf.  I've noticed that quite often plates of crystals like that are relatively loosely attached to the matrix.  So if you can work the edges of that pocket all the way down to the base where they are attached you may be able to pop the whole plate off in one piece.  Obviously there's a good chance it will come out in more than one piece, but unless you bring a rock saw out there, it will be your best option.  Good luck!
  

Scott LaBorde
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