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DIAMOND HILL MINE
Antreville, South Carolina ~ Saturday, January 31, 2009

It was a long ride to Antreville, South Carolina for this Dixie Mineral Council sponsored field trip as the 26 members from the Lynchburg and Roanoke Clubs can attest. Most of us drove down on Friday and returned home on Sunday, but there were a few that left very early Saturday morning and returned home late Saturday night.
The field trip was well attended by many clubs that are members of the DMC or have their Liability Insurance with the Southeastern Federation. My guess was there were perhaps 130 in attendance from clubs in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and of course Virginia. These were all the license tags I noticed, but I may have missed a few.
There were many fine Quartz crystals found including some Amethyst and Smokey varieties. Some of the Quartz is milky white but much of it has a beautiful yellow to brown to red Hematite or iron stain. There is also Manganese present that will add a jet-black coating over Hematite. These color combinations make a striking display and many people choose to leave it this way. Some remove this color with acid but the coating will still be there only white.
Some of the crystals are referred to as Skeletal. I don�t believe that it is an official name, but it pretty well describes the crystals found in one area of the vast open pit. The corners of the crystal are intact but the area between appears to be dissolved away or failed to grow properly. In either case, something changed during the growth process and the crystals are unique and make very unusual specimens.
If there is enough interest, I will try to schedule another trip for just our club members, after the mine owner schedules another machine dig and uncovers fresh material. This would be in the spring or fall, as South Carolina can get very hot in the summer.
Field Trip Report submitted by Dave Callahan, field trip chairman.