Fieldtrip Report:
Glendon Pyrite!
Standard Mineral Company
Glendon, N.C.
October 20th, 2007Text and photos by: Lee Fleming
The Standard Mineral Company's Glendon Mine field trip began early Saturday morning. The rock hounds began arriving before 7:00 AM and lined Glendon – Carthage Road on both sides.
The morning was cool with temperatures in the 50's. When the mine representative arrived around 7:15 AM, there was tension in the air. Even before the mine opened, MAGMA members had begun to gather at the mine as can be seen by the following crowd at the gate:
The signing of the release forms took on a new twist this year. Instead of having a crowd around the clipboards, we were required to drive through the gate and sign the forms from our vehicle. Even with this new method of entry, there was a stampede of cars and trucks into the mine site to begin the mornings rock hunting. Once people parked their vehicle, they began to enter the mine by means of the old entry roadway.
Luther
Within minutes, the mine site was covered with people searching for pyrite and fluorite. Those with metal detectors, were finding the pyrite was no problem and there was enough material to be found by surface collecting to let people find a lot of the pyrite cubes. As I walked around the site, it became clear that MAGMA was well represented. In fact there were between 40 and 50 MAGMA members present for this dig. It was nice to see so many members.
Rich
Marcy
Ernie
