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Our second day with Leah and Katie, was going to be a big one. We were planning on visiting the Franklin Mineral Museum, and the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. This area of New Jersey is known for the many fluorescent minerals that are found at both locations.

After driving several hours, we were happy to finally be at the Franklin Mineral Museum. Apparently the museum is housed in what used to be the old electric generator building.

Before going around back to see the collecting feild, we decided to tour the museum first.

Doesn’t Leah look chic?

Old microscopes.

This is a case of products made from minerals mined here

Here is a model of the mining operations.

The museum has a room that filled with fluorescnet minerals.

See how different everything looks in regular light.

After looking at all the exhibits inside the museum, we went out to the collecting area behind the museum.

We had a good time at the Franklin Mineral Museum, but the day was getting late, and we still needed to get to Sterling Hill. The Sterling Hill Mining Museum is known for the “Rainbow Room” inside the mine. This room is actually an old mine shaft created by the miners as they extracted the zinc ore. Visitors can see the bands of the fluorescent minerals running over the top of the ceiling.

The Sterling Hill Mining Museum is owned by brother’s Richard and Robert Hauck. Both are old school miners whose goal is to preserve the mine for future generations.

Since we arrived after the public tour had already finished, we were treated to a special, private tour.

First we visited the main Exhibit Hall. This was a locker room for the miners when it was still active. Now it has been turned into a musuem of mining memorabilia and ephemeria.

After looking at all the displays in the Exhibit Hall, it was time for us to enter the rooms with the fluorescent minerals.

There are over 340 minerals found at the Sterling Hill Mine, but the most common are Franklinite, Willemite, and Zincite. This locality hosts 80 species of fluorescent minerals; more than over other single location worldwide.

But no tour would be complete without entering the mine.

Also on the property is one of Thomas Edison’s many test areas,

and sculptures depicting very buff, shirtless miners.

On a side note, on the way back to Philadelphia, near Cherry Hill, we spotted our first real life Uni-Royal Girl.

The first collecting locations that we filmed last year were in Prospect Park, Philadelphia and Sayreville, New Jersey. We wanted to get some footage and film some other nearby locations, so we called our friend Leah who lives in Philadelphia, and made plans to go out collecting with and her roomate Katie.

Leah and Katie are students at Moore College of Art & Design. They were excited to go collecting almandine garnets from Fairmount Park to use in different projects. Back when we first started dating Justin and I went collecting at thist location with some friends, so we knew that the garnets would be plentiful.

We walked over the bridge and then off the path and down to the creek.

Once in the water, we began to search the creek bed for the pieces of mica schist with the garnets imbedded in them.

Leah finds some garnets, and shows them to Katie so that she knows what to look for.

In no time she is collecting like a pro.

But of course Justin finds the best one of the day.

After garnet collecting, is was then off to Prospect Park to collect Kyanite.

We had been to the this location a couple times before. The last time we were here, we found a a hole full of bright blue kyanite right as we were leaving, so we were curious to see if it was still there. So we walked down the hill and over the spillway, and then followed along the side of the stream.

It was raining and getting late, so we were happy when we found the spot.

So we took turns collecting blue kyanite blades, and then headed back to Philadelphia.

When we were in Springfield Show, Rob Lavinksy (The Arkenstone) asked us to come to a private showing luncheon that he was having the following weekend in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. We knew that it would be a great oppurtunity to get to spend a little more time with some of the East Coast mineral collecting community, so of course we had to drop by and film. Justin also thought it would give him a chance to pick some of the old timer’s brains for potential locations to go collecting.

We love to meet people who use The-Vug!

John Sinkankas painted this specimen of blue Tourmaline for one of his books.. Here you see the book, the specimen, and a line sketch by John Sinkankas himself.

Justin got plenty of great footage to put on The-Vug Films Page. There are 4 videos from that day, one for each case, on that page, so if you haven’t looked out them yet, please take a moment to.

It was great to be able to sit down and talk with legendary Dave Wilbur.

Looks like James Zigras is at it again, wheeling and dealing!

To see more pictures from this event, check out Justin’s article on The-Vug.com

While at the luncheon, we meet Steven Kuitems DMD, and his son. He runs family dentistry practice in Basking Rdige, and is a long time New Jersey field collector. After speaking with them, Steven offered to show us around a nearby carnelian collecting location. So after filling up on goodies and converation, we bid everyone good-bye.

About 15 minutes away, near Dealaman Pond, at the Warren Trail head, we reconveined.

We followed single file, back into a wooded, marshy area, with a creek running through it.

Once we arrived, at the creek bed, Steven showed us the technique for finding the carnelian. He said to us a metal pole and poke around the loose gravel and mud listening for a clinking sound of the metal against the agate.

Justin found some really good pieces looking through the piles of roack at the side of the creek beds.

By this time it was starting to get late, but we figured that we would ahve enough time to stop at Ringing Rocks on the way back to Mayrland. While driving back a country road, we spotted an old barn with hex signs on it.

Ringing Rocks State Park is in Bucks County Pennsylvannia. It is nothing more than a feild of gray, non descript rocks, some of which ring like a bell when hit with a hammer.

We got there right the sun was setting, so there was no time to waste. We quickly walked down the path, and out to the rock field.

You look for the rocks that have obvious worn marks. These spots are where you hit the rock in order to make the sound.