Red Cloud Mine Wulfenite

Our rock club went on an outing to Red Cloud Mine.  The mine is located north of Martinez Lake and north of the visitor center for the Imperial Wildlife Refuge.  The road to the mine is pretty rough and its best to have a high clearance vehicle with 4 wheel drive.  We rode in a friends jeep and it was a long rough ride.  When we got there we were met by the caretaker of the mine.  He is also the guy who is mining small amounts of wulfenite from the underground portion of the mine. 

We were allowed to dig through the tailing piles above ground for a small fee.  It was a perfect day to be there because it had recently rained so the orange crystals (wulfenite) were easier to spot.   We found the two small pieces in the picture and more tiny ones.  The two large specimens with crystals imbedded in the rock I purchased for a small amount of money.  Red Cloud Mine wulfenite is world famous.  It is found in rock museums all over the world.  It is well known because of its unique orange color.  Most wulfenite found elsewhere is yellow.  The only other place that has any amount of orange wulfenite is a mine in South Africa.  Wulfenite is very fragile so its pretty much just a pretty specimen rock.