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The Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society is hosting the following field trip:

U.S. Silica Quarry in Montpelier, VA

Saturday, July 16, 2011

7:45 am - 12:15 pm

Site address: 17359 Taylor Creek Road, Montpelier, VA 23192 

Directions:

From Richmond:

• From I-295, take Rt. 33 West "Montpelier" exit
• Proceed on Rt. 33 and take left onto Stonehorse Creek Road
• Then take a right onto Auburn Mill Road
• Go to end of Auburn Mill Road until you reach a stop sign. Take left on St. Peter's Church Rd.
• Proceed until you reach a sharp curve in road. Stay left at this sharp curve. Name of road changes to Dunns Chapel Road here.
• Next make a right on Taylor's Creek Road. Follow Taylor's Creek Rd. until you reach their driveway on the left with a U.S. Silica sign.

Directions from Charlottesville:

• Take I. 64 East to Rt. 522 Gum Springs Exit 159. Turn left(N.)
• Turn right on rt. 663 Owens Creek Rd
• Turn left on rt. 610 Holly Grove Rd which turns into Taylors Creek Rd.
• at intersection with Bethany Church rd. bare right still Taylors Creek rd now rt.677 Quarry just ahead on right.

Everyone MUST be there between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. for mandatory sign in paperwork (waiver) and safety instructions! If you miss this deadline you WON'T be permitted into the site! They won't have any staff at the main entrance building to let you in after we begin the drive into the mine, so please be there on time. We will begin collecting after all safety information has been given out and we drive into the mine as a group. 
We will go if there happens to be light rain or drizzle, but the trip will be cancelled should there be an extended heavy rain or any sign of thunderstorms.

Everyone will enter the mine together and collect in one side of the mine first. We will move as a group by driving to the other side of the mine. Nobody is permitted to wander off and collect in other areas without the group! We all need to keep an eye out for each other and make sure nobody wanders into unsafe zones. Everyone must stay away from the highwalls at all times!

Their plant manager will be in the quarry with us to answer our questions and as a safety lookout.

Required Equipment: Steel-toed shoes, hard hat, safety glasses and gloves. Optional Equipment: Standard rock collecting items such as: chisels, rock hammers, shovels, sledge hammers, 5 gallon buckets (for larger specimens), smaller containers for smaller specimens, water, snacks, knee pads, sunscreen, rain poncho, camera, paper to wrap delicate pieces, flathead screwdriver or butter knife to pry items out of dirt/ground, etc.

Mature children (6+ yrs. old) are welcomed to participate, but parent must sign for child and closely supervise them at all times. No children should be using hammers or chisels.

Minerals previously found at this site include: Actinolite, Albite (var: Andesine), Albite-Anorthite Series, Amphible Group (var: Uralite), Anatase, Anthophyllite, Apatite, Biotite, Garnet, Goethite, Hornblende, Illite, Ilmenite, Kaolinite, Microcline, Moonstone, Muscovite, Prehnite, Pyrite, Quartz (var: Blue Quartz), Rutile, Sericite, Spessartine, Titanite, Zircon.

They do have a restroom available at their main office where we check in. Collectors will be allowed to drive into the collecting areas. Of course safety is number one and anyone disregarding the quarry's safety regulations will be asked to leave the site immediately. Since we will be collecting during a very hot time of year, please be sure to bring adequate water and snacks to stay well hydrated!

All Eastern Fed. clubs respond back to me by Wed. July 13th.  Thanks, Dean Hostetter  Fieldtrip Coordinator SVGMS