Collecting minerals at Myers

Chris Tucker Minerals
Specializing in minerals from Montana

I set about the task of carefully extracting the contents of the cavity and soon a number of fine specimens were sitting nearby. Nearly all the piece had oriented overgrowths of colorless flat rhombs resting on thick yellow rhombs. The barite has a heavily etched colorless layer growing on a nice golden brown center. After clearing my work area I set about finding an extension to the cavity. Working around the cavity a fairly decent barite was found, it would be the largest and best for the day although a few smaller pieces would also be uncovered. By prying loose a large three foot chunk of rock I was able to expose the continuation of the cavity. Again it was lined with the calcite on calcite along with a few clear barites scattered about. These pieces were collected and an effort was made for more, unfortunately no more specimens were found.

Here are a few of the specimens recovered from the large cavity.

The best barite of the day can be seen just behind the root in the center of the photo.

Here are a few of the specimens recovered from the second cavity including a few of the better barites.

The end of the days work, wrapping specimens. Notice that the flats on the right are where the outer edge of the concretion once was and the other edge is at the far left, about four feet away; that's a lot of rock to move in one afternoon.

Now I began the task of trimming what could be safely trimmed in the field. Those pieces that were to highly etched were discarded and the rest were safely packed into flats for the trip home. Once the sixty pieces were safely wrapped I began gathering my tools and made one last attempt at opening another cavity. After working completely through the concretion, I began the process of filling in the hole I had made that day. The walk back to the truck was long and the flats were heavy in my arms. I reached the truck as the last of the sun slipped into the gathering dusk. I made my way home along the banks of the river, choosing to drive the back roads instead of the interstate. Passing small farms and ranches, the sour sweet smell of silage hung in the air and new born calves played on wobbly legs. The last of the sun's light now gone, the river has become a silvery ribbon in the moonlight, on it's relentless journey east towards the ocean. Thoughts of the days activity raced through my mind, the honk of a flock of geese overhead, the call of a lone pheasant in the brush, the heat of the sun and the chill of a brief rain shower all come back. While no great killer specimen was found, a fair number of fine pieces were recovered. As the dog snored beside me I was thankful for a good day.

Sunset.

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