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COLORADO |
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In the Turrett Mining District, in the
southern part of the state, there is an interesting corundum
locality. It's nearly 10,000 feet above sea level (park about
9,000'; dig about 9500'-9700') on "Graphite Hill",
not far from the historic
Calumet Iron Mine. Matrix specimens contain tiny blue sapphire crystals
in matrix. The crystals are usually wafery and doubly
terminated (resembling miniature Yogos) so these specimens can be
quite striking. However, they do not seem to contain crystals
thick enough to be facet grade and the material tends to be crumbly;
so it is probably is of little interest except to mineral collectors
(and geologists). |
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In 2007, I visited the site with
Colorado geologist Robert Zartman (he and his son are pictured in
front of the site, which is in the background on the left side). In a cold
drizzle we managed to collect maybe 50 pounds of material. The best
specimen I found on this trip appears on the right. |
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On he way home, we took our time
driving along Forest Service and County Roads, looking at other mineralizations and the scenery.
The aspen groves were striking and the columbines
were in bloom, making us forget how cold and wet we
had gotten. It was a great day which left me
with the commitment to return in 2008. |
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In 2008, I returned to find rocks of almost pure
dark blue corundum. The far left picture
shows the road into the Calumet Mine. Graphite
Ridge is the second slope, visible directly behind the
Calumet Mine. The view from the digs, showing
the trail up, is in the second photo. On the
right are the actual hole that produced the
specimens and a detail of one rock, about a foot in
diameter, which I packed out. Once it is
cleaned, I will post more pictures of this unique
material. |
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