Several of us drove down very early on Saturday and met some even earlier starters at the gate by 7:00 AM. Before long we had 23 members from the Lynchburg and Roanoke Clubs along with many from other clubs. It was great to see some of our long distance members and friends from Asheville, Cary and Winterville, NC. There were some new piles to dig thru and for the most part people just picked a spot and dug thru the material. Those with metal detectors found some nice ones near the surface but I found digging just as productive.
The rain was threatening but held off until we were about to leave at 11:30. The sky opened up and it pored. The slick pyrophylite on the road made the trip out to the pavement treacherous and several of the first cars to leave got stuck and had to pushed and pulled out.
I believe that most people found many nice small to 2-inch pyrite cubes. They seemed plentiful this year. I didn't hear of many really huge crystals this year as part of the vein was covered. It looks like they are actively working this part of the mine so the fall open house may also be productive.
Can you have to much pyrite? Maybe, but I'm always trying to improve my selection and I always am able to add several more nice ones. I'll be back in October for even more improvement.
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