Xiao Ping, Lauren, and Anthony investigate a small molybdenum deposit mined by locals many years ago. 


Xiao bóshì (Dr. Xiao) - our hosting professor at the China University of Geosciences.  He and I don't work together anymore because we have very different goals in the field - he's primarily focused on basic grass-roots exploration and consulting, whereas I'm only focused in trying to carefully document the geology of ore deposits and deduce the processes that form them so we can better explore for new deposits - but he's still a good guy.  


Waste rock pile at one of the mines we visited with typical onlookers


Molybdenum country in Hénán Province


Low-temperature magnesian skarn veins in dolomitic marble


Onlookers observing Americans - probably the first they've ever seen in their entire lives.


A small headframe for a shaft into one of the mines. 


One of the larger mines that we visited.  Molybdenum mining in Hénán is done on a different scale than I'm used to here in the U.S., but they get the job done!


Another observing onlooker. 


Old, abandoned barracks at one of the mines. 


Decent porphyry!  I was worried we wouldn't find any as we were whisked from place to place, but I found this in outcrop along one of our marches.  The holes are where hydrothermally-altered feldspars have been weathered out.  The gray blobs are quartz phenocrysts.  That's Lauren's finger for scale. 


One finds cute dogs all over the world and Hénán was no exception!


Miarolitic cavity in one of the granites we visited.  Miarolitic cavities are holes that form during the very last stages of crystallization of a magma.  As minerals crystallize from a magma, there is excess water and CO₂ - collectively called "volatiles" - that become concentrated in the residual liquid magma.  Those volatiles can form pockets of liquid within the main body of crystals plus magma.  After the igneous rock is completely hardened, the pockets of volatiles remain as little caves that can be exposed by weathering or mining. 


Underground at one of the small molybdenum mines.
It was strange wearing shorts underground, but going underground wasn't in the original plan that day.  When working in China, one must be extremely flexible because the plan rarely coincides with what one will actually get to do. 


Lauren and Anthony underground at one of the molybdenum mines. 


Ore carts in the mine were pushed by hand - just like mining in the old days!


After blasting, molybdenite ore was loaded by hand into the ore carts using a scoop like this one.  Loading a few hundred scoops of rock every day would sure build muscle!


Chinese miners wisely "barring down."
Barring down is a procedure practiced by miners everywhere in the world.  Miners poke at the rock with the long pole and listen to the sound.  Tight "tinking" sounds indicate solid, secure rock.  Hollower "thock" sounds indicate a fracture in the rock that could potentially result in a rock fall.  Barring down is the practice of testing the rock, then prying down any loose, fracture rock so it does not fall on you while you're working. 


Lauren and Anthony working underground


At the portal to one of the mines - Anthony, Lauren, Xiao Ping, and another Chinese student


Another cute puppy at one of the mines.


These sticks have nothing to do with mining, but we encountered them while visiting one of the sites.  The sticks have been drilled out with rows of holes in which ear fungus is cultivated for food.