For those who are familiar with the Morefield Mine in Amelia
County, Virginia, this article appears in the January 1997 issue
of The Collecting Bag, the newsletter of the Richmond Gem &
Mineral Society.
 

Sam Dunaway's
Morefield Gem Mine
 

by Sandra Childers
 

     The Richmond Gem Club was privileged to have Sam Dunaway and his wife
Sharon, the new owners of the Morefield Mine, as guests for the December
meeting. They graciously told us about their plans and answered our eager
questions.
 

     Sam, a newly-retired mining engineer from Anchorage, Alaska, first
visited the Morefield when he was twelve and living in Newport News.  But that
recollection is more his mother's than his own.  He remembers meeting Mrs.
Morefield when he was in his twenties and going into the mine.  It looked like
a water hole then.  In the years since, his mining career has taken him to
California, Tennessee, and most recently Alaska.  Why is he here now?  Because
he's a miner, and he's always wanted to have his own mine.  And both Sam and
Sharon believe God wants them here.
The Short Range Plans
 

     The Morefield is now open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 to 4:30 for
collectors.  For June, July, and August, it will be open Monday through
Saturday, 9:00 to 4:30.
     In January the adult admission will be $8, children under 12 the same
$5.00, and little ones three years old and under are free.
     There will be as separate area for "sure finds" for children or others
new to collecting who have only a short time to hunt and need a reward for
their efforts.  In other areas, he says he wants to move a lot of rock and he
intends to have a much larger dump. In the spring, there will be buckets of
enhanced material also available.
     He wants to get a web site, too, but at the moment he has not even had
time to set up a computer.  My guess is that this will happen soon.
 
The Long Range Plans
 

     The present mine is 45 feet below the surface and 279 feet long.  Sam's
plans are to increase the mine to 770 feet in length. Sam also wants to go
down to the hundred-foot level to see what is there.  Other plans are to
explore more of the deposit, and tunnel northeast to a possible intersection
with a quartz vein and tunnel southwest into a basalt dike swarm where there
may be some interesting mineral chemistry.  Though it was asked by one of our
members, Sam has no plans to tunnel to the Rutherford.
 

The Long, Long Range Plans
 

     Underground tours.  Liability is the greatest problem and an interested
insurance company is yet unknown, but the eventual plan, or maybe a dream, is
to be able to offer tours of the mine.  What a wonderful way to fascinate and
delight the old folks and to inspire the budding geologists who now scavenge
the dumps as Mini-Miners.
      We know all who love the Morefield will be as delighted as our club to
meet the Dunaways and to get back in and hunt.
 

Minerals of the Morefield
 

Mineral list from Virginia Geologic Survey Bulletin 33, Arthur Pegau USGS Bulletin 248B 1952.
Dr. Lance E. Kearns, James Madison U. 1992
Dr. Michael Wise, Geologist, Dept. Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution
Prepared by Fred Magnusson, Northern
Virginia Mineral Club

1. Rockhound Info.
2. Va. Fossil Location Info.
3. Rock Classifying Links
4. Specimens from our collection
5. Cedar Mt. Stone Quarry
6. Non rock related Virginia links
7. Previous Page

web counter