Ruggles Mine
| Ruggles Mine | |||
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| General information about the mine | |||
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| Mining technology | Open pit | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 1803 | ||
| End of operation | 1960 | ||
| Successor use | than tourist mining | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Feldspar, beryl, mica slate, uranium | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 43 ° 35 '22 " N , 71 ° 59' 32" W | ||
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| Location | Grafton | ||
| State | New Hampshire | ||
| Country | United States | ||
The Ruggles Mine is a disused open pit mine located approximately 40 miles northwest of Concord, New Hampshire near Grafton, New Hampshire in the US state of New Hampshire . Finally, the mine was with its numerous small tunnels and caverns used as an open pit operation with visitors, where it was allowed visitors, the minerals break down and take the finds.
History and geology
The mine was opened by Sam Ruggles (born August 3, 1770 in Boston; † May 27, 1843 ibid) as the first commercially used mica mine in the USA and bears his name. At that time, mica was used for fireproof furnace windows and lampshades for oil lamps. Ruggles started out as a grocer and retailer of Indian goods in Boston , Massachusetts . According to tradition, the mine started in 1803, but this is not documented. Ruggles first bought a plot of land in Isinglass Hill in Grafton on July 5, 1805, and enlarged it through acquisitions in 1806-1810. On November 9, 1825, he first published an advertisement in a newspaper for his mica sheet "sheet isinglass". In 1831 his company was listed as a dealer in mica foils in the Boston Directory - a kind of dealer directory. Since Ruggles never lived in New Hampshire, his shop and warehouse has always been in Boston.
In 1834 Ruggles sold the mine to his son George Haskell Ruggles (* 1802 - 6 May 1863), his son Charles (* 1809 - 13 April 1869) became a clerk and bookkeeper. The two sons ran the business until Sam's death in 1843 and from then on George was the sole operator until his death in 1863. Sam Ruggles nephew Joseph D. Gould continued the business as a trustee until 1879, the grandsons George H., Charles L. and Samuel H. Randall until bankruptcy in 1896. The business was continued, in 1912 the mining of feldspar for porcelain production began .
Between 1932 and 1959 the mine belonged to the Bon Ami Company, which made scouring powder from the mica . In 1960 mica was mined for around 12 million US dollars. Mica was used for new products in the cosmetics industry, as an additive in concrete, roof coverings and as an insulation material for electrical devices such as B. Toaster required. In the winter of 1960 the mine was sold on to the Wahlstrom family, shortly afterwards the realizable price for mica fell and the family had to close the mine in the same year. In order to continue the mine, it was proposed, among other things, to turn it into a tourist attraction. The proposal prevailed and the mine was reopened as a visitor mine in 1963.
The mine was open to the public from mid-May to mid-October, but has been closed since 2015 and is for sale.
The New Hampshire deposits, also known as the Littleton Formation, date back to the Devonian and have been estimated by geologists to be 350 to 400 million years old. Over 150 different types of mineral have been found in the mine to date. Mainly they were minerals of the mica group , but also feldspars , beryl , amethyst , rose quartz , smoky quartz and garnets . The mine is also known for its colorful uranium minerals such as uranophane , torbernite , soddyite , Vandendriesscheit , phosphuranylite , kasolite , schoepit and autunite , which were mostly found together as gummit . The first Gummit find is that of Benjamin Shaub in 1936.
