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The great mineral deposits at Franklin and Sterling Hill have drawn man's attention for nearly three centuries. The first observers were likely Native Americans, the Lenni Lenape, who probably observed, collected, wondered, and passed by. Those who came later, however, the Dutch, English, and French, did so for the most part for commerce.
Most men originally came to exploit the vast wealth of the mineral deposits here, as businessmen, investors, and miners, and many of these had little in the way of other objectives. Others came to litigate and mediate and, in doing so, to create new mining law. Scientists came to study the deposits, their geology and structure, and especially the great number of uncommon minerals found here. Still others came to provide collateral support services, to record local cultural and mining history, to collect minerals, and for many other diverse purposes. Among all these groups walked men of distinction who reached beyond their basic objectives to contribute to the local culture, history, and quality of life, each in his own distinct way. The Franklin-Sterling Hill area has been well served by them.
The long history of these zinc deposits is concurrent with that of the United States as a nation, with the emergence of the domestic zinc-mining, zinc-paint, and zinc-metal industries, and with the development of the sciences of mineralogy and economic geology, later to be employed in the unlocking of secrets secured here by Nature well over a billion years ago. These events and activities are all intimately intertwined like the warp and weft of a fine tapestry. Such a great parallelism of events cannot be told all at once; this effort focuses on the mineral deposits, their history, geology, structure, exploitation, and, most importantly and extensively, the minerals found here. The Franklin-Sterling Hill area was richly endowed with very rich zinc ore in great quantities; it would eventually yield 33 million tons of ore. The primary ores are unknown as such anywhere else on Earth, and there is a great variety of mineralogical and geological problems to be solved. Hence, Franklin and Sterling Hill are a Mecca for mineralogists, and they have come here in great numbers.
Approximately 10 percent of all mineral species known are found here. Such a claim cannot be made on behalf of any other locality on earth, and this is a matter of intense local pride. More valid mineral species have been described from this locality for the first time (69) than from any other locality. Also, about 10 percent of the minerals found locally are found nowhere else on earth; they are unique to these deposits, a testimony, perhaps, to an uncommon genesis. One of the more wondrous aspects of Franklin's mineralogy is the large number of fluorescent minerals found here. These are unmatched for beauty, intensity, and texture by those from any other deposit.
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| Copyright © 1995 by Pete J. Dunn |
Website
by Herb Yeates
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Link
to homepage
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This
page created: January 16, 2001 |
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