As one of the closest natural history and geological museums to Morefield mine (about 36 miles away), Lora Robins Gallery has a limited number of mineral samples from the mine. This museum is at the University of Richmond, my alma mater.
The following Morefield mine specimens were in their collections at my last visit, both in their exhibits, and in storage not normally visible to patrons. Please notice that the specimen names match those in the museum, not necessarily the newest names according to International nomenclature.
|
Specimen |
Museum Inventory & Location in Collection |
Source |
# and/or Note |
Photo ksw? |
|
Albite (matrix, with Tantalite, Amazonite and Almandine) |
Stevens collection |
R1978.01.1693 |
Yes |
|
|
Almandine (in Albite matrix, with Tantalite and Amazonite) |
Stevens collection |
R1978.01.1693 |
Yes |
|
|
Amazonite (2 crystals) |
Noted by Houle. Location: |
Museum purchase |
R1979.01.1934 |
Yes |
|
Beryl var. Golden Beryl. Also known as Heliodor |
Stevens collection |
R1978.01.1707 |
||
|
Feldspar matrix, with Mica var. Zinnwaldite) |
Noted by Houle. Location: In drawer in storage |
A UR-sponsored trip to the mine |
Yes |
|
|
Prosopite |
Location: Virginia Metalic (sic) Minerals It is unaccessioned (it is in the collection yet has never been added to the UR Lora Robins database; you can tell, because the label has no number).. Note: Why is this in a jar? Prosopite is Not Radioactive. It is a 4-5 on the hardness scale, so it is not as soft as, say Talc and easily damaged. It is nonmagnetic. |
Gift of Stanley Rudis, Richmond, VA** |
Note: This specimen is in a glass jar. |
Yes |
|
Pyromorphite |
Noted by Houle. Location: Matthew couldn’t find this, neither in the database nor in the Gallery ACT: Check to see whether our key collectors have a sample of this to photograph. |
No |
||
|
Quartz var. Smoky Quartz |
Location: Location: In drawer in storage |
Yes |
||
|
Tantalite Source - noted “Moorefield” (sic) |
Noted by Houle. Location: Virginia Metalic (sic) minerals |
Stevens, collection |
R1978.01.1715 |
Yes |
|
Topaz Source - noted “Moorefield” (sic) |
Noted by Houle. Location: Virginia Non Metalic (sic) minerals |
Museum purchase from Stevens collection |
R1978.01.1704 |
Yes |
|
Triplite (2 nuggets plus one larger in Albite / Quartz matrix with Amazonite) |
Noted by Houle. Location: Location: In drawer in storage |
A UR-sponsored trip to the mine |
Yes |
[insert my pix]
It should be noted that Lora Robins Gallery’s single largest collection from a Virginia mine comes from Rutherford #2, one of the mines from the Rutherford pegmatite, a few miles away from the Morefield pegmatite.
For more information, see https://museums.richmond.edu/
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