While staying in Brattleboro, VT we saw a brochure for a mine that had mined for mica and other minerals for many years.  We decided to take a day trip and go see it.

It’s called the Ruggles mine, and mica was first found there in 1803.  During the next 150 years the mine was in operation.  Mica is a mineral that can be flaked off in very thin, almost transparent sheets.  It was used for many years in lanterns and as oven windows so the cook could see that the fire was burning.  For many years the material was carted down from the remote location of the mine in secret trips in the middle of the night to avoid having others know where the mine was.  In the mid-1900s mica started to be imported from Brazil and was much cheaper than that mined in the U.S., so production fell off.

When the mine stopped operating it was re-opened as a tourist attraction.  People can now go into the mine and bring or rent tools to do their own mining.  Any minerals found can be kept.

We had a lot time looking around at the various rock formations and watching children tap on the rocks and bring interesting samples to the guides who could tell them what they had.  We didn’t use a hammer but we picked up some interesting samples of mica, citrine, feldspar and quartz.

The website for the mine is at: http://rugglesmine.com.

Here are some pictures we took of the mine area: