Parking can be found at the posted coordinates (7am - 9pm) or along
Green Road (which does not connect through (for cars) to Green
Lane, even though Google thinks it does). There may be paths going
in the right direction, or an easier route in, but I did not find
anything.
In the early 1700s, John Reading discovered this iron ore vein,
which became the site of the oldest iron ore mine in the United
States. Suckasunny Mine was named after the Suckasunny area, itself
taken from the Lenape word for the dark, iron rich rocks in the
area. Mahlon Dickerson (you may have heard the name somewhere)
owned the mine (now called Dickerson Mine) by 1810. By 1882,
approximately 800,000 tons of iron had been mined here. Dickerson
also built his mansion Ferromonte near here. [source - New
Jersey Historical Society]
To find this cache, use the following coordinates:
N 40° 52.(Sveite CIM (leave out the decimal point))
W 74° 36.7(Khamrabaevite CIM (leave out the decimal point))
Use some online resources to find the Hey's CIM reference, or from
Third Edition of Hey's Mineral Index, A. Clark, Dept. of
Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, London. It should be pretty
simple... it's not advanced calculus or abstract chemistry or
anything like that!
The area near the cache is typical post-mining geography -
beware of grout piles, filled-in adits, etc. There is a nearby
fenced-off area which looks like possibly part of the main mine
area. I do not encourage or condone passing the fence. If
you know more about this area, please post in the logs (including
(non-spoiler) photographs)! Also, there is the full gamut of local
flora and fauna, including (but not limited to) Poison Ivy, pricker
bushes,deer ticks (4 less than there used to be), and evidence of
hunters along the way. Please use your normal geocaching caution.
The area east of the cache site is owned by Canfield Building
Associates, who want to build townhouses that will someday suddenly
sink into a subsidence pit. Mine Hill may buy the property as "open
space", but the cost may be prohibitive.
There are many mine sites in Mine Hill, and many artifacts of
the mining industry to be found if you know what you are looking
for. I don't, but if you do, feel free to leave some notes in your
online log!
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.