My trip to Graves Mountain last week with Chuck Rose

[Barrett]

A little trip report written by Chuck Rose of Stone Roses Gem & Mineral. We went to Graves Mountain the world-class premier site for rutile. It doesn't get any better than this place in the world for rutile. The Queen of England has a stone cut from the rutile here. I always focus on the rutile and Chuck focused on a little of everything. Just some pics so you can see what a typical trip looks like to dig up stones.

We dug in some of the worst conditions imaginable...Severe Thunderstorm Warnings that turned into Tornado Watches that turned into Tornado Warnings in S.C. We were soaked to the bone by no less than five separate Torrential Rain bands, which each seemed to dump an inch or more in less than an hour...creating at least ...six roaring waterfalls off the walls of the pit...and we became worried that large boulders were going to start to move after we heard the smaller cabbage-sized rocks knocking together to our right! At one point we were even pelted by small hail...which was briefly followed by what we out west call "Corn Powder" snow flurries....as the rounded shape looks very much like individual corn kernels. In between each rain band we were subjected to bone chilling Front Line Winds...and wind squall gusts up to 50mph that bowed over the large pine trees that rim the top of the pit to nearly 90 degrees! Despite all of that...we had a good day digging...Jason simply changed his style from dry-screening to building a small dam under the waterfall and wet screening like he was classifying material for the gold pan...and I took advantage of the heavy rains and walked around picking up "float" that had been washed clean to expose their beauty! We came away with many beautiful and several large specimens of the Titanium-based Rutile for which this site is famous...as well as the beautiful blue Lazulite and blue-green Kyanite in Quartz-Monzonite...Iron-based golden Pyrite, black and red Hematite, Iridescent Goethite, yellow Cacoxenite, and shiny black Turgite specimens...and abundant matrix pieces of Pyrophyllite, Paragonite and Muscovite, including the Fuchsite and Sericite varieties! I am sure that we will run across many more rare micro-minerals as we clean and examine the rest of our take!

What we were greeted with at the upper parking area about 9:30am...Jason and I are sitting in the truck getting our gear on...maybe we should have stayed home?

Naaaaaaaaahhhhhh!


The last time we would be dry for the rest of the day...unloading the SUV at the upper parking area at about 9:30am...Jason and I each brought our own hand trucks, rubber gloves and buckets...he brought two screens and two shovels, but I brought the camera and a waterproof rain suit!

Fortunately, we each brought several sets of dry clothes to change into when we got back!


Flooded Lazulite hole that is in the middle of the pit floor at Graves Mountain...you should be able to pick up many of the dark blue crystals in the Quartz/Monzonite boulder that has been coated with Limonite-Cacoxenite-Hematite and Kyanite stained Pyrophyllite...right now I am up to my knees in water, and the boulder is about 3' across!

 

[Barrett]

Flooded pit floor at Graves Mountain...looking to the left from the Lazulite hole that is in the middle of the pit floor...you should be able to pick up a few of the waterfalls coming off the walls.


Flooded Pit at Graves Mountain...standing in the Lazulite hole looking back towards the Mine Entrance behind the pile to the left...and it was hard to even walk in that soft silty muck, far less drag our loaded down hand-trucks back out!

 

[Barrett]

Look at the color coming off the walls. When the rocks are this color you know it's got to be a good place to collect!


Jason completely soaked through but still "doing work" below the Rutile wall waterfall...he finally hit a good hole about mid-day and worked it until dusk...dig, screen, sort, shiver...repeat!

 

[Barrett]

Here is one of the rutiles found. I have all the others soaking in acid right now but I slipped this one in my pocket and forgot about it
The other specimens are from previous digs or other people but they give a good example of what is found here


Iridescent hematite Junion Norman collection


Rutile from a previous dig of mine

 

[Barrett]

Oh forgot to add...my post above says the Queen of England has a gemstone cut from a graves Mountain rutile. I hope to one day find one for my Queen of England...LD!!!!!!

 

[minousbijoux]

Oh forgot to add...my post above says the Queen of England has a gemstone cut from a graves Mountain rutile. I hope to one day find one for my Queen of England...LD!!!!!!

Awww...

 

[minousbijoux]

Sorry, I got carried away by your sweet nothings for LD...

The photographs of the hills are amazing. I have never in my life seen a landscape like that - the rock face is so colorful. It must be like your on drugs and hallucinating color!