Tar Heel Gem & Mineral Club - Planned Field Trips

Tarheel Gem and Mineral Field Trips

Participants must be a 2010 member of Tarheel Gem and Mineral Club.
If not, the visiting member must provide documentation of club insurance to fieldtrip leader.

CANCELLED - CANCELLED - CANCELLED

Martin-Marietta open pit mine in Reidsville, NC

Details

Day: Saturday
Date: CANCELED
Time: 09:00 to 1:00 PM
Mine: Reidsville, NC Martin-Marietta open pit
Mine Address: 7639 NC 87 Reidsville, NC 27320
Finds: No info as I have never been here. Have you?
Location: North of Greensboro
Approx Driving time from Raleigh: <2 Hrs
Standard equipment Req i.e. Steel toe boots, hardhat, goggles, gloves, buckets, picks, etc.
Safety: All standard THGMC safety and common sense rules in effect.
Children: As this is a working mine, no small children will be allowed. <10 yrs>

If Interested

Please contact the field trip coordinator with a Yes/No/Maybe. He also needs to know how many people you will be taking. Car Poolers make your known if you will have extra room in your vehicle.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM RALEIGH
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To: Martin Marietta Aggregates, 7639 Nc Highway 87, Reidsville, NC 27320 US

DRIVING DIRECTIONS
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A) Raleigh, NC US
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    1. Start out going EAST on E SOUTH ST toward S WILMINGTON ST.  (go 0.1 miles)
    2. Turn RIGHT onto S BLOUNT ST.  (go 0.6 miles)
    3. S BLOUNT ST becomes HAMMOND RD.  (go 0.4 miles)
    4. Take the I-440/INNER BELTLINE ramp toward CARY/DURHAM.  (go 0.4 miles)
    5. Merge onto I-40 W.  (go 57.7 miles)
    6. Take the NC-49 exit, EXIT 145, toward BURLINGTON DOWNTOWN/LIBERTY.  (go 0.2 miles)
    7. Turn RIGHT onto NC-49/MAPLE AVE.  (go 0.3 miles)
    8. Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto MAPLE AVE/NC-100.  (go 1.1 miles)
    9. Turn RIGHT onto NC-100/ANTHONY AVE.  (go 0.2 miles)
   10. Turn LEFT onto E WEBB AVE/NC-100/NC-87.  (go 3.7 miles)
   11. Turn RIGHT onto NC-87.  (go 19.3 miles)
   12. Turn LEFT onto NC-87 W/FREEWAY DR. Continue to follow FREEWAY DR.  (go 5.8 miles)
   13. Take the NC-87/NC-65 ramp.  (go 0.1 miles)
   14. Keep LEFT at the fork to go on NC-65.  (go 2.4 miles)
   15. 7639 NC HIGHWAY 87.  (go 0.0 miles)
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B) Martin Marietta Aggregates, 7639 Nc Highway 87, Reidsville, NC 27320 US
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>> TOTAL ESTIMATED TIME: 1 hour 47 minutes | DISTANCE: 92.38 miles

PAST FIELD TRIPS

Stories and photos from 2007 & 2008 coming soon.

July 2005

Tarheel Gem & Mineral Club visited the Martin Marietta quarry located near the RDU airport on Highway 70 in Raleigh. There were nine people on this trip and we all had a great time even with the high temperatures. During the trip, we found pyrite, feldspar, epidote, calcite, quartz, and dogtooth calcite crystals.

Lee Fleming

January 2005 Trip Report

The morning started out with a beautiful sun rise but the temperature was in the low 20s. Six Members showed up for the event. By 8:00 AM, it was getting cloudy but no bad weather was showing at that time. Scott and I proceeded to the quartz hill at the very start but after not finding any crystals, we moved on to the lower sections of the quarry. By about 10:30 we had collected some nice orange calcite in layers, some calcite crystals, and some nice "pink" rock. We also enjoyed looking at the nice ice streams off of the quarry walls. About that time we noticed that our club members had gathered around Bob Crocker - you know what that meant. Bob had found large rocks with stilbite crystals on them in layers and small vugs. Also, about that time, we noticed sleet hitting our hard hats. After working these rocks for a while, we again noticed that Bob was yelling at us to come up to a higher level in the quarry. When we arrived, we found that Bob had found a whole quarry wall face covered in stilbite clusters. Boy did we have fun collecting all the stilbite we wanted. Finally, about 12:15 it really started to snow and we decided to leave the quarry. From the quarry to almost Greensboro it snowed hard but the roads were clear. All members present had a wonderful time.

Lee Fleming

December 2004 Trip

We had a great trip on Saturday! We started the day by chipping stilbite out of a vug in the quarry wall. That material was honey yellow and quite crystallized. Next, we moved to a lower and older portion of the quarry and found large pieces of rock covered in stilbite crystals. This material was older and thus a little washed out in color. Finally, we ended the day in the newer portions of the quarry and I found two large pieces of rock with green fluorite. We also found garnets, mica, pyrite, and calcite. It was a great trip and one we will remember for a long time. Wish you could have been with us.