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Quartz, Limonite, Hematite, Goethite, Hemimorphite & Jasper Tennessee 2021 By Mike Streeter (mcstreeter@charter.net) |
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Chrissy and I continued our pursuit of rocks and minerals in an abandoned mining district in Tennessee where a certain type of jasper suitable for lapidary could be collected along with a host of other minerals, including quartz, limonite, hematite, goethite and hemimorphite.
In one very large open pit mine, long-ago hydraulic mining operations have left behind towers of solid rock called pinnacles after less competent regolith above them was stripped away. Before a hundred or so years ago, the former ground surface was mostly above all of the pinnacles.
 Mother Nature is reclaiming the land as trees, moss, plants, and critters thrive while the pinnacles slowly erode and crumble.
Spring arrived with splashes of color from flowering plants and trees.
Chrissy only added to the beauty and serenity of the forest
Amidst rocks big and small and scattered over a wide area, we found a host of excellent rock and mineral specimens as shown in the following pictures
- Click on each picture to enlarge -
- Click on each picture to enlarge -
- Click on each picture to enlarge -
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