Fieldtrip Report:
Fieldtrip Report:
Nantahala
Talc & Limestone,
Swain County, N.C.,
October 29th, 2005
photos by: Earl English and Rick Jacquot
Time to report on yet another fantastic fieldtrip conducted by the Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association (M.A.G.M.A.) along with the Henderson County Gem and Mineral Society . The weather could not have been any better for this trip, cool temps, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. About 30 members from all over gathered at the site at 10:00 Saturday morning for a brief safety orientation by Jimbo the night watchman and to sign the required release forms to enter the site.
The Nantahala Quarry is an active limestone quarry located in the beautiful Nantahala Gorge in Swain County, N.C., for years this site has been frequented by Rockhounds for its spectacular specimens of bright pink, purple, and yellow banded marble, as well as very nice green translucent soapstone. The mountain above the quarry contains many limestone caves and pockets where you can find nice specimens of aragonite, flowstone, calcite, etc., You may also find these caves by hiking the railroad tracks that run parallel to the Nantahala River.
By talking to the President of the company, Mr. Jack Herbert, I was able to get a complete history of the site. The quarry has been mined continuously from the time it first opened in 1890. From 1895 until 1925 it was mined mainly for talc. Unfortunately, it eventually became cheaper to import talc from foreign countries. An interesting note: Jack Herbert is only the third President that the company has had since it opened 116 years ago. Today the mine produces dolomite limestone which is crushed and sold as gravel by the ton. By prior arrangement you can come and hand pic larger pieces of the marble for purchase, below is one of the larger pieces sold:
Mr. Herbert sent me this pic of a truck size piece of pink marble that was sold to a church in Florida, the piece now sits in front of the church and has a large Peace Dove carved on it.
Other minerals can be found as well as the above mentioned, micro collectors have reported rutile from this site, although I have not seen any, excellent specimens of dogtooth calcite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, aragonite, travertine (flowstone) etc. The soapstone once abundant is getting scarce, I did manage to find one nice piece to bring home, I only picked up a couple of pieces of the marble.
Banded marble is one of the main things collected at this site, although there are several other micro minerals to be found as well.
Early Saturday morning, the fog had not burned off yet.
Some members scoured the mountainside and the many quarry pits in search of the rare and unusual, some were happy making their vehicles groan under pressure of tons of nice banded marble!
Doug Dover and Rick Perkins, the piece of marble in the background weighs in around 800 pounds, one of several dozen they collected.
Thomas peeking at a pocket in a rock, always in search of the weird and unusual.
Thomas weilding his trademark 16 pound sledgehammer.
After a good battering by the 16 pounder, a nice plate of calcite and aragonite is revealed.
After the fog burned off, John D. and I decided to hike to the top of the mountain to see the view, it was spectacular as you can see.
