Little Ray Mica Mine Field Trip Report
with Ray Mica Mine Specimen Pics Bonus
Yancey County, North Carolina
July 2008
Report by Mike Streeter
(mcstreeter@charter.net)
Page 2
I always prefer to have Chrissy along with me when I dig a big hole at the Ray because she is always willing to wash and inspect the dirt-covered rocks that I throw out while I dig like a crazy man (of course, that's not the ONLY reason I like having her there). Since she is far more patient than I am to look for the "little things", we seem to find a whole lot more nice specimens this way. However, on this particular day I was on my own, so I divided my time between digging and trying to do Chrissy's job. Having seen her discover some amazing specimens that I, without her keen eye and patience, would have unknowingly tossed aside, I actually took the time to closely inspect several large piles of rock that I had set aside while digging my hole. And as you will see in the following pictures, boy, am I glad I did!
It is always a good idea to bust open the right kind of rocks at the Ray to see what may be hiding inside. No beryl was showing on the outside of the boulder that produced the following two specimens.
Click on each specimen picture to enlarge
Tourmaline var. Schorl, amazonite and unusual habits of quartz are hard to see beneath even a thin coating of dirt, so I could have easily cast aside the following fantastic specimen had I not washed it in a bucket of creek water.
Click on each specimen picture to enlarge
The following two specimens demonstrate why we have learned to clean and inspect all the muscovite books we find. Once in a while, we discover something cool hiding inside, while the rest of our mica pile goes to Chrissy's Dad who gives it away to a local cub scout troop.
Click on each specimen picture to enlarge
Well, so much for another couple fun days spent at the Little Ray and its big sister, Ms. Ray!
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