Powers Farm Uvite Excavation, Pierrepont, New York
Beginning in the summer of 2004 myself and Scott Wallace of Majestic Minerals began serious work on a tourmaline seam located just below the classic dig site at Powers Farm in Pierrepont, New York. Although I have dug at this location for more than 35 years, this represents the first time I have collected at this specific spot on the property.
The material being produced is quite spectacular in some cases and may represent some of the best material collected from this classic Dana site in over a hundred years (see Uvite descriptions in “What’s New In Minerals” for the 2004 Springfield Show and Tucson 2004 Show, in Mineralogical Record). Uvites of the highest luster and tabular form are being collected individually and in combination with quartz and sometimes other accessory minerals.
2008 Update
I began a new dig area to the south of the primary trench on the streamside. We have discovered that there are numerous trenches on the claim and we are working at exposing all of them that we can find. This summer’s work involved a narrow seam which was even longer than the primary seam discovered in 2004, where Scott continues to dig.
Dubbed the “Phosphate Trench” this new seam is an anomaly for the Powers farm property. There was little in the way of quality uvites recovered from the dig. Instead fine fluorapatites were produces along with numerous other minerals usually considered just accessories at Powers. Two new pseudomorphs were discovered along with a total of approximately a dozen other species. Yes, we even added some species to the list of known minerals at Powers and their names will be forthcoming. The pseudomorphs were very strange: quartz after phlogopite and microcline after fluorapatites. Fine aesthetic specimens were found but they were very uncommon when compared with the great uvite specimens found elsewhere on the property. This trench has been fully excavated and new seams will follow. More to come soon!
To follow are some of the specimens found in the Phosphate Trench...
Fluorapatite with Quartz and Pyrite Quartz on quartz pseudo. after Phlogopite
Fluorapatite and Uvite Uvite on Goethite Uvite with Microcline pseudo. after Quartz
Summer 2005
The summer of 2004 was very productive even though there was only one major find. The 2005 dig season has found both Scott and me back at this same site working it as a private claim. Digging here will keep both of us busy for most of the remainder of the season. There is a lot to do. We are both pushing our sides deeper in hopes of finding more material without damage while at the same time widening the diggings.
Here are what the initial diggings looked like early in the 2004 season.
Summer 2004.
Scott Wallace going subterranean.
Best cluster in author’s collection. Possibly the best cluster of summer 2004
July, 2005
I have had limited success so far this dig season. At the time of these writings I have dug only eight days and have managed to widen the trench considerably while pushing it downward around another foot or so. Soon I will be working the site on a full-time basis.
Water continues to seep into the trench ever though the weather has been rain free. It appears we may have reached the water table and will have to contend with this issue for the remainder of the time we dig here.
I have been working hard on a comprehensive paper regarding this important mineral occurrence. Now two years into the project, I welcome any information you may have about the history or minerals from Powers Farm. Be sure to check out the article I wrote for Rock and Gem
August, 2005
Scott and me teamed up for the final month of my summer's digging. We had limited success with our search for tourmalines. We did find some fairly m=nice quartz in limited quantities near the end of the month.
Summer 2004 Update
Summer 2004 found Scott at one end of the excavation about 10 feet below the surface while I was at the opposite end of the diggings about five feet down. The summer’s work produced one exceptional pocket which measured about a meter in length by half a meter deep and .25 meters wide. This pocket/ seam was filled by glacial clay and contained approximately 50 specimens of which about ten would be considered exceptional. They were mostly clusters of tabular uvite crystals to several cm in diameter each. Pieces ranged from 3 to 7 cm in overall dimensions. Some of the best specimens can be seen by following this link....Specimens for Sale.
Although we only sell and display the best of the specimens on our web site, there are hundreds of other specimens produced on a dig such as this one. Almost all show some form of damage and have lower luster. Scott and me sometimes ask one another if there is actually a specimen to be found here that doesn’t show some form of damage. Scott was able to produce two specimens so far this year (2005) that stopped us from asking this question any longer.
UVITES FOR SALE BACK TO FIELD COLLECTING PAGE
Best selection on the Internet!!
