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Scott’s Hole
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Scott had a spot where he had done some hand digging. Here,
he had found some good sized nodules, along with some very
interesting brecciated lens formations. It was not too far
from the Black Pit and was near a small, dry creek bed. I
began digging with Gene, with Brian spotting. At this point,
I have done most of the digging. I can see Gene itching to
get in the driver’s seat. So, I hand over the reins to him.
He walks up to the machine and gets in. Standing down next
to the tracks, I look up to him in the cab. I point out,
approximately, the direction I am thinking we should dig.
Gene agrees. I start to walk away, looking down on the
ground. Suddenly, I spot something blue that the excavator
tracks had dug up. I pick up the broken nodule, wipe away
the dusty dirt and see a good sized nodule with blue opal in
the center. Of course, I give it a lick. I then climb up
the excavator to show Gene. With a big smile, I hand
over the thunder egg to Gene and say with a laugh, “Just
keeps getting better!” Gene inspects the rock and says,
“Blue Opal?” He then shakes his head and says, “Gees, I
don’t believe it. Anymore?” I point down to the tracks and
say, “I think its float, since the tracks pushed it out from
the surface. It’s hard to say from where.” We are already
in place, having spent time digging out the side of the hill
in two spots, creating “Pads” for the excavator to sit on,
in order to dig at the right angles. This is done to be able
to pull at a different direction on the exposer, if
necessary. We will keep an eye out for more blue opal, but
in the meantime, we press forward on the new pit that I
call, “Scott’s Hole.” This time it is Brian and I spotting
and Gene in the machine. We stand near the bucket as it
pulls, and keep a sharp eye out for any color variances or
bulges in the rhyolite, which would indicate possible
nodules. Soon, Brian puts his hand up and shouts “Ho!” That
is our one command to stop digging. The main reason is for
safety. Everyone in the active hole and the digger knows,
“Ho!” means stop. Not to be confused with, “Wait a minute”
or waving your hands as if saying, “I think I might see
something” or one of the many other indications for stop.
Well, it didn’t take long to start pulling up the nodules
here at Scott’s Hole. Brian then begins to clear out some
dirt from around two rounded bulges, which reveal two
baseball sized nodules side by side. These, being near the
surface, are a little easier to get out. I motion for Gene
to come down and see them. Brian makes a few taps with his
hammer and one of the nodules rolls out. He holds it up in
the air triumphantly. We all have big smiles on our faces.
He then taps the second nodule and it rolls out the same
way. Having some of the rhyolite matrix still stuck on the
nodules, he begins to gently nap it off and then places it
in the bucket, along with the other, “keepers.” |
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First
Exposure of Scott's Hole
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Scott's
Hole Nodule
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Scott's
Hole Nodule
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Cleaning
Off the Nodules
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The
nodules at Scott’s Hole are a little different from the Black Pit.
They are larger and have different variations of colors; green, red,
black and even some with the traditional Bruneau cinnamon. In
addition to nodules, we pull up large blobs of beautiful brecciate.
Not really a nodule or a vein, they are more like an intersection in
the rhyolite. As time passes, the pit is getting wider and deeper.
Most times the excavator is sitting idle, as we prospect and hand
dig the outer edges of the pit. The excavator’s main function is not
necessarily digging the nodules or veins out. Its main function is
moving the muck. One quick, big scoop of waste dirt or tailings is
worth a half a day of hand digging it out, let alone the wear and
tear on one’s body.
It’s
getting late and I decide to take a break. Sitting on my ATV, I eat
lunch and watch as Gene and Brian continue to dig. Sitting somewhat
away from them, I see Brian call Gene over to where he’s digging.
They are now kneeling down, with their backs to me, looking into a
small hole along the pits’ edge that Brian had dug. Brian takes out
his chisel and hits it a few times. He stands up and looks over at
me with the rock hiding behind his back leg and, as he smiles. I say
with a plain voice, “Find something over there?”, as I stuff another
potato chip in my mouth. Gene looks over his shoulder and chuckles.
Brian walks across the pit to me, with the rock hidden. He stops
in front of me, saying nothing, smiles and waits. “Well, are you
going to show me what the hell you found or what?”, I say laughing.
He pulls it out from behind his back and hands it to me. It is a
large grapefruit- sized nodule, 6” across, and nearly perfectly
round. I reach out to take it and he quickly pulls it back and
says, “No way…this one’s mine!” I say, “What the hell!” Already in
my mind, I see he’s awfully proud of what he has found and I’ve
already decided to let him have it. I can’t help but have fun with
him saying, “I own the mine, you keep the big one and I get the
small one? What the hell kind of logic is that?” We banter back and
forth some more. Finally I say, “At least, let me hold the damn
thing!” He reluctantly hands it to me. Man, is it heavy. It must be
solid jasper inside. One side has already been chipped off showing
big orbs. Turning it around in my hand and looking at it, I can’t
help myself, but to have one more dig at Brian. I place it in the
wired basket on my ATV, right on top of the other smaller nodules.
“No way in Hell!” he says, grabbing it from the basket. Laughing
hard, I give in and say, “Ok, you can have this one, but I want the
next one.” Brian chuckles stating, “Gene already has that one.”
Shocked I get off the ATV and walk over to where Gene is digging.
Sure enough, there’s another one about the same size. I have Gene
hold it up, as I take a great picture of the smiling, proud, new
owner.
Gene's Keeper
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Brian's Keeper
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Blue Opal
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It’s
been over a week now and the two pits have been fairly productive
for the claim’s first dig. Fortunately, I don’t have to dig very big
holes to find good rock and in that respect, the closing of the pits
shouldn’t take too long. The nodules come in various sizes, ranging
from marble to soccer ball. The biggest ones tend, for now, to be
fractured in halves or thirds. I think, because of them being closer
to the surface, water and temperate variances of expansion and
contraction have occurred. Even so, the jasper in the nodules is
still high quality, dense, and has no spidery fractures. I think the
rhyolite covering protects them, in this respect. The rhyolite is
fairly “sticky”, stubbornly adhering to the nodules, making it more
difficult to clean. In some cases, when I plan on slabbing the
nodule, I let most of the rhyolite stay on. In this way, rather than
trying to clamp onto a round rock, it’s easier for the slab saw to
clamp and hang onto something. The other type of formation that I
found a great deal of here is a vein/blob formation which was always
brecciated. The most beautiful of the ones I dug out were the ones
with a black background and had colorful brecciate of green, red and
yellow. This type is more of a slabbing/cabbing material for
cabochons than of specimens.
Nodules with Brecciate
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