Vulcan Materials Dale Quarry February 18th, 2006 Chester, VA

The whole group - members from the Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Richmond Clubs

After a very early 5 AM start from Lynchburg, we arrived at the quarry at 7:30AM to meet our host, the Richmond Gem and Mineral Club.  We signed the necessary releases and convoyed into the lowest level of the quarry. We scattered in all directions in search of the many beautiful minerals that can be found there. The morning was chilly but dry and those extra clothes sure felt good. About mid morning the temperature dropped and a few snow flurries could be seen. The rain and snow mix increased and by noon we were ready to depart.

Mary's Beryl

Carol's Beryl

Many beautiful yard rocks were collected showing the beautiful shades of orange, gray, greenish and white feldspar, smokey quartz, black biotite and silver muscovite mica. Many had a splattering of pretty red garnet. The color combination was stunning. Several pieces of the elusive green beryl were found. There may have been more but I personally saw the stunning pieces found by Tom and Lynne Powers of Lynchburg and Carole Dow of Roanoke. Mary DeViney found a nice piece as she was leaving and I understand that Royce Wickham also found some. John and Nona Haskins found some nice Molybdenite.

Many thanks to the Richmond Club and Carl Miller for setting up this event. The Dale Quarry is a wonderful place to collect and in spite of the weather, but we all had a fabulous time.

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