Rock Hunting Trip - Scadding Gold Mine

Greetings everyone!
We have a new adventure to tell you all about. Well actually, to tell the truth, we went on this adventure mid-summer but I've yet to sit down and write about it. The pictures in this Blog Posting are pieces of Pyrite and Chalco-Pyrite. (sorry folks no gold.. we only found a teeeny tiny spec of it and even then? We're not so sure that it's not Pyrite).

This summer we had the opportunity to visit an old Gold mine in the Sudbury Ontario region. The mine is called "Scadding Gold Mine" and is located East of Sudbury off Kukagami Lake Road. We had permission to visit as the property. The area itself no longer has any mineral workings - no equipment or buildings can be viewed. The only remnants I was able to see is the area on which one of the buildings used to sit. This is not an operational gold mine.

The area is difficult to find if you don't have someone with you who knows exactly where to turn off the road and it is suggestible that you drive a truck into the area (a few folks had cars in our convoy and I'm pretty sure there were some sceptical "um.. should we really be going here?" thoughts.... A short drive off the road (through pot holes, small trails and such) takes you to a clear opening that you can park.

During mosquito season, it's a good idea to bring bug repellent, extra water to drink, GOOD walking shoes (no sandals), a hat, gloves to pick up the stones with and your collecting tools. This location is pretty *in the bush!*. If you are going alone, a compass is a good suggestion as it is quite easy to get turned around in this area - there are few markings and it is easy to get lost.

Here's a bit of info I found on line about the mine:

Geologically, the most prominent feature in the
area of the Scadding West claim is an igneous
complex of rocks that are best known for their
content of gold, nickel, copper, platinum and
palladium.  Igneous rocks are formed from
molten lava which has hardened on or below
the surface of the earth.  Minerals contained
in these rocks are dyke-related, that is,
they are contained in a tabular body of igneous
rock that cuts across the structure of adjacent rocks, and are hosted by
quartz diorite, norite and gabbro rocks.
Quartz diorite is a medium-gray-colored, coarse-grained, igneous rock,
often with a salt-and-pepper appearance.Norite is a coarsely
crystalline igneous rock containing the mineral labradorite
as the main component.  Gabbro is a dark, coarse-textured, 
heavy rock composed of calcium feldspar and augite with a
small amount of quartz.

We had a great tour guide bring us thru
from the Sudbury Rock and Gem Show)
that included a lot of history on Scadding
Mine and where all the super picking spots
were.

We came home with bug bites, a pretty good
sun burn and some of the most fabulous
pieces of Pyrite!~ And some pretty cool
chalco-pyrite shiny blues).. some of these
were in really neat cubic shapes!  The
sparkling gold colours really fascinate
family members who come over for visits..

"You found this outside? Near here!?"
We only live about 3/4 an hour away).

I hope you enjoyed our adventure!

Hummingbirds

This year has been a wonderful year for hummingbirds in the yard.

We've captured them (on camera) doing the neatest things! This was the first time ever, I have been able to get a picture of a hummingbirds long tongue. (There is a picture in this blog that shows that.. you just have to scroll down a bit).


I thought I'd post a few here for you to enjoy

Need help identifying this rock

Even we get stuck sometimes...

Rob and I have an *idea* of what this might be but we're not sure... I thought I'd post a few pictures and see if anyone has any ideas of what this is.

The rock is gray with a bit of white and these long rectangular green slices that are quite beautiful.

We've sprayed water on the surface so you can see how deep the greens are.

Anyone have any ideas?

Identify this flower??? Help?

I'm hoping someone can help identify this flower that has decided to pop up in my garden/rock garden.. here's a few photos... Help?? Anyone?

The leaves and the stems are very soft (like velvet)..

The stalk itself is quite strong and tall.

The flowers are yellow.

And there is only one of them in my yard..

Can someone please tell me what this is?

Summer at Wicked Stones

I thought I'd spend a bit of time filling you in on how things were around here this summer. My coffee is full so I've got the will to sit and type for a while.

It was the SUMMER OF CATERPILLARS!! Please excuse my toenails.. We had a horrible summer of these little guys this year. For a while, we thought they would not bother us as they didn't seem to be eating our main plants. But little did we know, they were nesting in all of our newly planted Spruce trees that we put in! All our baby blue spruce had nests of these little darlings chomping away all of the branches! YIKES! Rob and I are "anti-chemical" when it comes to the yard so we spent hours and hours picking these nasty creatures off our trees.. finally we just had to give up as we could not keep up with the chomping. Our trees survived, but they all look like Charlie Brown Christmas trees.. sigh.. If anyone has any natural suggestions on how to stop these eaters? PLEASE do let me know..

It was also the Summer of Rock Gardens in our yard.

Rob took a month off from work this year (yippee!) and he spent a lot of time moving huge rocks across the property and from the hill to the East of us. He had this crazy sled attached to the back of the truck with ropes and would drive wayyy back in the bush and find these monsters to put in the yard. It was kind of interesting watching him coming back looking like a futuristic dog sled team with these rocks following him on a purple snow sled. That sled has become a major part of our gardening supplies as the circular sleds can carry trees, rocks and more goodies that are too heavy to life and just need to be slid into place. We planted some really nice willows and flowers in these beds and finished them off with mulch. They look simply beautiful!! Jeepers, you think we lived here instead of renting!!

This summer also brought a new treasure to our home!! Much to my total surprise, my parents gave me a wonderful gift for my birthday (in July). They arrived for a visit with a camera in tow.. oh it was my dream camera! A new digital Pentax SLR!! Oh I had been dreaming about this for over a year!! Thanks Mom and Dad! I just LOVE love love it!! So the next months everyone felt quite "stalked" as I'd creep around catching everyone in the yard! This camera has brought about a new feel to our website (Wicked Stones) as now the pictures are crisp and clear and quite a lot more beautiful!


Rob also found me some treasures for my birthday.

We found an add in the local Bargain Hunter for "Free Rocks". Well...of course we called (apparently I have a "rock problem" as Rob puts it..
So off we went! Only to find the most beautiful limestone pieces that are now center showpieces in our yard... That's Rob in the picture doing his "strong man" routine.

It was a pretty great summer!

Where did the Summer Go?

WOW!
An entire summer has come and gone again!
So what has the team of "Wicked" been up to?

Well it's been a great summer! It's been busy around the shop - we've had customers ask to drop in and check out our mini-studio (which was very pleasant).. gone on a few road trips (to my sister's wedding) and did a bit of camping (Fitzroy and Balsam Provincial Park in Ontario). Although we do like to camp a lot more "north" of these locations, it was a nice change from staying hotels while we visited family over these hot summer months.

It's been a summer of new birds coming into the yard and a lot more wildlife visiting our deck (including the bear cub and mother who turned over my tomato plants quite a few times that were on the deck!). What a mess that made! Quite a few times I had to send Rob out to the end of the driveway to fix the wooden garbage box that everyone in our section of the village uses.

This morning was the second week back to school and the first morning in months that we had to turn the furnace on. *sigh*... the leaves have yet to turn any colours but the cold weather is here.

I think I'll post a few pictures and fill you in on what we've been doing.