Working the Tripp mine

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Toveco
Beryl crystal that cracked out of the quartz matrix nicely.

Beryl crystal that cracked out of the quartz matrix nicely.

We finished the mine clean up at the end of May. It’s surprising how much waste rock we stored in the mine working area. In retrospect last year’s fuel cost made us very creative in storing the waste rock. The plan is to move the road to the south wall from the present pit side location. Then we will bring the pit sidewall down to the pit water level. Before we move the road, we are now dropping the wall side area down and storing the waste rock for the new road. Continue reading →

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Promoting Mineralogy and Gemology.

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Toveco
vm-for-mining-minerals

55 Pleasant St. Grafton, Vt. 05146

One person walking the talk is Sue Hadden, which started her third year as owner and promoter of the Vermont Museum of Mining and Minerals in Grafton VT. I just put a mineral & lapidary display in the museum. This display consisted of items from the Wise Mine project (1994 to 2003) and the Tripp Mine (2004 to now). This museum and ones like it are needed more than ever.  They awaken there local communities populace and its visitors to the area’s past and present mining heritage which is being forgotten and ignored.  Continue reading →

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Mine clean up almost done.

Posted on May 5, 2009 by Toveco
With last years high fuel cost we didn’t remove all the waste rock from the mine working area. So now with the cost down we started removing all the waste rock from the working areas. As all ways this task has taken a lot longer then planed and is still being done. This clean up task has kept us from a full mining effort. but we have had 2 blasts since the mine opening in mid April. The first was into a mostly low-grade feldspar area that lived up to its expectations with little beryl crystal to show. The second blast was better it was shot into a higher grade feldspar with blocky quartz (chowder). Continue reading →
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A new mining season starts.

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Toveco

Spring 2009, Tripp Mine looking south

Spring 2009, Tripp Mine looking south

The mining hat gets put on and the gem cutting hat is almost on the hook. This past week and half we have been getting the Tripp mine ready for production. Every year is different depending on what the winter weather left and how well the equipment stood up during  it’s dormant period. This year was not too bad (as per now). Continue reading →

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Mineral club shows

Posted on April 9, 2009 by Toveco

Toveco Booth, 2009 Connecticut valley mineral club show

2009 Connecticut Valley Mineral Club show, Toveco booth.

My favorite shows to work are the club shows. It gives me a great opportunity to talk rock and catch up on what is happening rock wise in the particular shows area. The event becomes a weekend party for me.

My last show was the Connecticut valley mineral club show that has been changing its venue location the past few years. They have hit a home run with their new location at the Holiday inn in Holyoke Mass. It’s a show that one should check out in 2010. 2 other shows to check out for 2009 are the Maine symposium in Augusta Maine & the Gilsum rock swap in Gilsum NH. Continue reading →

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Broadening the hobby

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Toveco

14 carat x 16.3mm octagon star, combination cut Natural New Hampshire aquamarine

14 carat x 16.3mm octagon star, combination cut natural New Hampshire Aquamarine

When I started the Clark / Tripp project, I did not expect to be so evolved and like the lapidary sciences. The Clark / Tripp project is now moving me into jewelry fabrication. Just as I have pointed out before, when you work a pegmatite, you are getting into the gemstone market. The gemstone market has now moved Toveco into the jewelry market. I started having Toveco designed jewelry made about 2 years ago. It has now grown to the point where I knew I needed some formal training. I am now taking a first level jewelry course at the NH institute of art. The course has already paid off. I highly recommend taking a jewelry fabrication class. Continue reading →

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Show – March 28 & 29, 2009

Posted on March 11, 2009 by admin

Toveco will be displaying its full inventory at the Connecticut Valley Mineral Show March 28 & 29. The show is being held at the Holiday Inn, Ingleside, Holyoke, Mass. (Exit 15 off I-91). The Toveco inventory consist of NH pegmatite mineral specimens, NH rose & smoky quartz gem rough, NH Aquamarine cut gemstones, beads, cabochons and finished silver / gold jewelry.

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2009 Tucson Show

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Toveco

8.5 CARAT, 13MM HEXAGON STAR, COMBINATION CUT, Natural New Hampshire aquamarine

8.5 carat, 13mm Hexagon Star, combination cut, natural New Hampshire Aquamarine

The Tucson show ended last weekend. I have not been to the show in the past 5 years. So the next best thing is checking on the blogs about the show. Just checking out the pictures of the area makes me warm. If you have never been to the show I highly recommend it. In addition, if you live in New England just getting away from the winter weather is great.

The main them with the dealers this year as with all things is the economy. Continue reading →

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More Concave Cutting

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Toveco

all-3-stones

One of the enjoyable aspects of concave cutting is that you do not follow a set gem stone design recipe. This is very helpful because I only cut natural untreated material. Natural material with its imperfection as jardin, inclusions, haze and so on will cause design changes. When working with natural material you learn to improvise your design as the imperfection arise. Concave cutting gives the cutter more design options then using flat faceting. Continue reading →

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It looks good!

Posted on February 13, 2009 by admin

This could be a nice specimen!

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