DRAGON'S MOUTH DISCOVERY
On Monday, July 29, we arrived at the pit by 8 AM. Jack showed up shortly after. "This is the day, Joe, I can just feel it," he greeted me cheerily. "Today you're going to get a pocket of foot long smokies with six inch amazonites." He always exaggerated what was possible, but he was always positive as well. I liked that about Jack.
The morning was chilly but it quickly warmed. We began work on the uphill face on the south side of the excavation. At least we had found some sign here. Because results had been meager, I had thought of filling the prospect and trying elsewhere, but too much good sign remained in this area.
We spent about 1 1/2 hours cleaning out the working area and trying to go deeper with the backhoe below the Baby Dragon Pocket area. I also had Jack work the backhoe lower down the hill and farther to the west. Again, we encountered the thick pegmatite we had ripped through 2 days earlier, but again, it was barren. Even the amazonite chunks had disappeared. I decided not to pursue it farther to the west even though it continued. We returned to the working face on the south side.
Within a half hour we had exposed another coarse seam in the working face. It looked identical to the one from the night before and looked just as barren. I didn't get the least bit excited. I did marvel at how strong the structure appeared. It was just about 8' below the surface and was about 6" thick. It extended east and west for about 8', dipping to the east. I watched as with each scoop of the backhoe a couple more inches were exposed. The deeper into the face we worked, the thicker and more coarse it became. Then I thought I noticed green. I worked out a few fragments of amazonite and coarse quartz. If it would open, it sure looked like it had the makings of a pocket.
After another cut, the chunks of pegmatite began peeling away from the wall, and I thought I could see blackness behind them. Tim jumped into the excavation to examine the pegmatite. He pulled several large red-stained chunks of pegmatite away and then turned around holding up an 8" smoky quartz. Strewn about it were fragments of green amazonite. We had broken into a good-looking pocket!
Jack was off the backhoe to investigate with us as Scott and I crowded in behind Tim. The sight was incredible! Removing a few more chunks of pegmatite, we had indeed exposed a large cavity. Our initial impression was that it extended in for several feet and laterally for a couple more feet. We each took turns sticking our heads inside and gazing at what we had just discovered.
About 6" of space opened above the rubble of the pocket contents, but you could tell that the pocket went in and up as well as down. We reached in a wire "pocket robber" about 18" in. It sank in to the handle! Somebody brought a flashlight so we could explore more. It appeared the pocket dipped east as the opening disappeared in blackness downwards in this direction. It rose towards the west and rose towards the back of the pocket into the bank. What was most incredible were the smoky quartz crystals and amazonite crystals still attached to the ceiling. Never had we found or even heard of a pocket with intact ceiling plates!
We took turns examining the pocket in an atmosphere of near disbelief, awe, and stunned joy. The quality appeared to be very fine. Though covered in red and yellow iron staining, some amazonites glistened blue green, damp from the moisture in the pocket. The smokies, held to the sun, were gemmy, beer-bottle brown with the transmitted light. Otherwise they appeared jet black. Both minerals appeared to have good luster.
Tim brought down the collecting flats and tools to prepare for pocket excavation. To this point, all pieces were being returned to exactly where they were found inside the cavity. We just wanted to get a feel for the size and scope of the find. By my knowledge, by size, this was going to be one of the largest ever discovered in the district. We knew actual collecting could take a couple days. During the actual removal process, we'd carefully extract specimens in order they were found and mark the flats. This would enable us to later reconstruct pieces if we found good matrix plates.
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| First sign of pegmatite | A pocket appears to be opening within the pegmatite | A definite pocket going in at least 18" |
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| A good open cavity develops | Taking a peek | An incredible sight greated us |
Now was time for the really scary part. We needed to remove rock and material from above, below, and to the sides of the pocket in order to work it. We stuffed the opening with newspaper and held our breaths as Jack began carefully removing the overburden and excavating around the pocket. Pulling down the overburden completely buried any indications. We all watched somehow wondering if what we had seen had been a dream and that now the pocket would simply disappear forever. A crazy thought, but when crystal digging, as long as the specimen is in sight, it can't just get up and walk away. With the pocket covered in debris . . . well, maybe. Additionally, we had to work very carefully with the bucket. One slip and it could penetrate into the pocket or knock the ceiling plates down causing additional damage. Too much of the value rested in a perfect specimen. We held our breaths and watched in silence. When Jack finally nicked the newspapers, we immediately shut him down and hand dug out the rest to expose the pocket. It was still there. It was still as breathtaking as before!
I worked Jack another couple hours to finish cleaning out the excavation and to test the length of the pegmatite. In doing so we encountered large "boulders" on both sides and above the pocket. These "boulders" were actually large, rounded resistant nodules of granite. Occasionally some jointing appeared near them, but as near as I can ascertain, these hard spots just materialized in the granite. As we worked the bucket through the less resistant granite, the nodules took shape. The remarkable aspect, was the tendency of a pocket to occur near or beneath them.
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| Cavity stuffed with newspapers | Now it disappears | Second thoughts. Will we ever see it again? |
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| It's still here. Now we can collect | Carefully removing material | Notice the dip and length of the pegmatite |