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MINE TOURS 1. When are you open for tours? The normal schedule is: March: weekends only. April through November: 7 days a week. December: weekends only, but daily from December 26 through December 30. We are closed during the months of January and February, and open other times only by chance or special appointment. Click Here for an updated schedule. Morning hours during weekdays (Monday – Friday) are generally reserved for school tours. Group tours for other groups can be reserved for any time of day by calling 973-209-7212 at least a week ahead. In addition, we hold a public tour at 1:00 p.m. every day, weekends included, no reservations required unless you are bringing 10 people or more. 2. What does it cost? As of this writing (January 2007), tour costs for adults are $10, seniors $9, and children under twelve $7.50. For the latest prices and information, Click Here. 3. Do I have to schedule a tour beforehand, or just show up? It depends on how many people you are bringing. If it’s just you and a few family members and friends, there is no need to call us beforehand – just show up for the 1 p.m. tour. For group tours (10 or more people), however, reservations are required. For details Click Here. 4. Can group tours be booked by e-mail or notification by letter? No. Tours can be booked only by calling the mine at 973-209-7212 and speaking to a reservations clerk. Merely notifying us that you are coming with a group is insufficient, as your group may conflict with another already scheduled, or we may not have enough tour guides on hand to accommodate your group. In either case you may be denied entry. 5. May I take a tour on my own, or must I be accompanied by a tour guide? Visitors are welcome to view the outdoor exhibits of mining equipment on the parking-lot level on their own, but entry to the mine and our exhibit halls requires the presence of a tour guide. 6. How far in advance should I schedule a group tour? As soon as you can. Our morning tours for school groups fill up quickly, and it is often necessary to schedule a tour months in advance. During the summer break and on weekends our schedule is normally much more open, but it is still advisable to schedule a tour as soon as you have a firm date in mind. 7. What else should I know about scheduling tours? It’s best to have two or three alternative dates in mind before calling us to schedule a tour. We do not schedule “placeholder” tours – that is, we will not hold a date for you while you check on whether that date works for your school, or if buses are available. This must be done beforehand. Once you schedule a tour, it implies a commitment both on your part and ours. If you must cancel a tour or request a change of date, please call us as soon as possible so you will have maximum opportunity to reschedule, and so we may fill the vacated time slot. 8. What will we see on the tour? What’s there? The first stop is the Zobel Exhibit Hall, where more than 20,000 mining-related items are on display. Included are displays on miners’ cap lamps, blasting equipment, tools used in the mine, the local minerals, and much more. The Oreck Gallery in the exhibit hall features 15 large glass cases of beautiful minerals from worldwide localities, and nearby is a large safe containing numerous specimens of gold from high-grade veins in mines. Visitors then go underground into the Sterling Hill mine, where they will spend a full hour learning how zinc ore was taken from the earth and see some of the ore, still unmined, fluoresce in bright colors of red and green in the dark. Each visitor will select a piece of this zinc ore to take home with them as a memento of their visit. Upon exiting the mine visitors enter the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence, where more than 600 items, all of them fluorescent, are on display. The grounds of the museum also feature outdoor exhibits of large pieces of mining equipment such as drum hoists, sinking buckets, and stamp mills. 9. What’s it like in the mine? Is it dangerous? Cold? Wet? Dark? It’s not dangerous or we wouldn’t take 35,000 people in there every year. The entire tour route is well lit, and the temperature year ‘round is 55o, so it feels cool in summer and warm in winter. Water drips into the mine here and there, but you won’t get wet unless you want to. A few more words about safety: though most people have heard news stories of horrific mine accidents from time to time, nearly all such accidents take place in operating mines where drilling, blasting, and transport of ore are taking place. Sterling Hill, however, closed in 1986. Moreover, Sterling Hill is a zinc mine, not a coal mine, so there is no danger of coal fires or explosions from methane or coal dust. It’s probably safer to be in the mine than in your house. 10. What about bats and snakes? We used to have many hundreds of bats, but they left as most of the mine gradually filled with water. Only rarely has a bat been seen on the tour route in recent years. Snakes, too, are rarely seen, and if we find one during our morning rounds we simply take it back out again before the tour groups arrive. 11. What about claustrophobia? None of the mine tunnels are cramped, and the entire tour route is well lit. Most people who tell us they are claustrophobic experience little or no difficulty in the mine, but those who still feel uncomfortable are welcome to sit out this part of the tour and rejoin their group later on. 12. Is the tour strenuous? Stairs? Long walks? Nearly all of the tour takes place on level ground, with the exception of a gentle decline in the mine. The normal tour involves climbing two flights of stairs, but we can reconfigure the tour route to eliminate them (prior notice appreciated). The total walking distance, spread over two hours, is about 1/3 mile. While in the mine you’ll be walking on hard-packed gravel, not mud or rock. 13. Is your facility ADA compliant? Yes. Wheelchair ramps are provided for all buildings with elevated doors, and our restroom facilities and corridor widths in our exhibit buildings meet ADA standards. 14. What should I wear? Sturdy shoes – and bring a light jacket or sweater. It’s 55o in the mine, and you’ll be walking on a surface of hard-packed gravel with shallow puddles here and there. Don’t bring your dress shoes or Ballroom gown. 15. Do you offer custom tours for special-interest groups? Yes. Please call us if you’d like the tour customized to your particular interests or age group. We offer everything from child-friendly fun tours to content-heavy tours for university students majoring in geology, mineralogy, or mining engineering. Extra-length tours are also possible by prior arrangement. 16. What about special-needs groups? We have done numerous tours for a wide variety of special-needs groups. Prior notice is appreciated so that we can assign the most appropriate tour guide to your group and make any accommodations you might require. We especially appreciate prior notice if your group includes mainstreamed students so we can best meet their needs. 17. Why is the tour not recommended for children less than six years old? What about toddlers? The tour is two hours long, and some young children can grow restless or uncomfortable when asked to behave and remain quiet for such a long period of time. The six-year “cutoff” is simply a recommendation based on experience, nothing more. If you are reasonably sure that your toddler or young child would enjoy a two-hour tour and not become uncomfortable, by all means bring him or her. All are welcome. However, please realize that if a child becomes persistently disruptive we will ask the parent or guardian to leave the tour, in deference to our other customers.
GIFT SHOP 18. What are your hours? We open the gift shop shortly before the first school tours arrive, which is generally about 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning. The gift shop closes when the last visitors from the 1 p.m. public tour leave, which on most days is about 3 – 3:30 p.m. 19. Is the gift shop open even on days you are closed for tours? Sometimes, but only by chance or prior arrangement. Anyone contemplating a visit to the gift shop outside our normal schedule should call ahead to inquire if the gift shop can be opened that day. It is best to call ahead in any case, even during the normal museum schedule, because the gift shop might be closed and museum personnel working elsewhere if tours for a particular day were canceled. 20. What credit cards do you accept? Visa and MasterCard and we DO take Discover card. 21. Do you offer purchases by mail? No, not for items in the gift shop – all sales must be made in person. For mineral sales, however, we do offer mail-order service. (Click Here) for information; see also the section on Mineral Sales below.
OTHER FACILITIES 22. Should I bring my own lunch or do you sell food there? Many people bring their own food, but our snack bar offers an assortment of food and drink items for the hungry and desperate. Hot items include personal pizzas, hot dogs, corn dogs, and miners’ pasties (Cornish meat pies, a traditional miner’s lunch). Other snack items include candies, cookies and crackers, popsicles, ice-cream cones and sandwiches, and gum. Drinks include the Snapple line of beverages, assorted sodas, bottled water, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. 23. Where can we eat? Seating is provided for approximately 60 people in the snack-bar building, and an additional 80 people can be seated at 10 picnic tables beneath a covered pavilion outdoors. During cold or inclement weather large groups can be seated in the Geotech Center. 24. Where are the restrooms? Restrooms are provided in three separate locations: in the gift shop building where one purchases tour tickets, in the main exhibit hall, and in the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence in the Geotech Center. At no point will an anguished visitor be more than a short walk (or run) from the nearest source of relief.
MINERAL COLLECTING 25. When can I collect minerals at Sterling Hill? Sterling Hill is open to the public for mineral collecting during the last Sunday of every month, excepting January and February when the museum is closed. Requests for collecting at other times are often honored if sufficient personnel are on hand to supervise. Inquire at the gift shop for current status. Note: Additional collecting opportunities are occasionally available to museum members and are announced through the museum newsletter. Click Here for new information posted July 26, 2007. 26. What is there to collect? The Mine Run dump includes not only hundreds of tons of zinc ore from the Sterling Hill mine, but also large piles of minerals from worldwide localities. Splendid willemite and franklinite crystals have often been found, as has much high-quality fluorescent material (chiefly willemite, calcite, wollastonite, and hydrozincite). Minerals from the zinc ores and from the Franklin Marble are available in the Passaic and Noble pits. 27. Where is collecting allowed? During scheduled collecting events the entire mine property is normally open to collecting: the Mine Run dump, Fill quarry, and the Passaic and Noble pits, unless otherwise announced or posted. Informal collecting at other times is restricted to the Mine Run dump. 28. Is there an age limit? Yes. You must be 13 years of age or older to collect at Sterling Hill. 29. What equipment will I need? You will need, at a minimum, sturdy footwear (no open-toed shoes) and protective eyewear, or you will not be allowed to collect. You should also bring a stout hammer (claw hammers are not allowed), a collecting bag or bucket, clothes appropriate for clambering over rock, and sunscreen as needed. Bear in mind that zinc ore is both harder and much heavier than normal rock. 30. What will it cost? An entry fee of $5 is charged for admission to the collecting areas, plus $1.50 per pound for all specimens selected. 31. Do you allow night collecting for fluorescent minerals? On rare occasions, yes. This privilege is normally extended to museum members twice per year, and occasionally to such groups as college students on field trips, or meetings of the Fluorescent Mineral Society.
MINERAL SALES 32. What minerals do you offer for sale? If you come here in person: Our normal stock includes minerals from the zinc mines here at Sterling Hill and nearby Franklin, worldwide fluorescent minerals, many types of inexpensive “student” minerals, collector minerals for the novice to advanced collector, large “garden rocks,” plus an ever-changing inventory of miscellaneous worldwide minerals that we obtain from numerous sources. We also offer bulk sales of minerals from the Sterling Hill mine (see below). If you order by mail: On our web site we offer fluorescent minerals from Sterling Hill, either by the pound for individual minerals or in mixed lots of 8-10 pounds each (Click Here for details). No other minerals are available via mail order at this time. 33. Do you have minerals for sale that are not listed on your web site? Yes, but these must be purchased in person. The selection changes from week to week, and many are one-of-a-kind specimens not listed on our web site. See previous answer for more information of what is normally available. 34. Is there a quantity discount for bulk sales? Not for material collected outdoors on our grounds – the cost is $1.50 per pound regardless of amount taken. For specimens selected from our general stock of worldwide and fluorescent minerals, however, customers buying in quantity may be offered a courtesy discount. 35. What are the associated pickup or delivery requirements for bulk sales? For pickup orders, you, the buyer, select the material you want, have it weighed, pay for it, load it, and take it away. For delivery, we ship large orders via UPS truck freight, but please remember that freight charges are now quite steep. You are responsible for calling UPS before placing your order to determine freight charges for the poundage you want, and then adding that amount to the check you send to us. No orders will be processed without prior payment. Click Here for further details on ordering procedure. 36. What about customized mail orders, such as selecting large pieces for carving? We will fill such orders, but please add $0.50 per pound for custom selection.
MISCELLANEOUS 37. What is your policy on web-site links? In general we link only to educational web sites that offer authoritative information on topics relevant to our museum. We do not link to commercial or personal sites unless these offer much educational material as well, and we do not link to sites that offer mostly “recycled” material from other sources. Please contact us via e-mail if you wish to link to our site or would like us to link to yours. 38. Can scout groups meet requirements for geology merit badges at Sterling Hill? Yes, and many do. In most cases a scout can accomplish everything he or she needs for a geology merit badge with a single trip to Sterling Hill. Note: participation in the Rock Discovery Center is necessary to this goal, and is an add-on to the basic tour. Please call us beforehand to make your needs known and to book a tour that includes the components you will need to fulfill merit badge requirements. 39. Do you have employee records or photographs of former workers at Sterling Hill? We have numerous photographs depicting Sterling Hill and some of its employees when the mine was in production, but all employee records were destroyed when the zinc company suspended operations. Photographs featuring people are mostly group shots rather than of individuals. 40. What is in your archives? Can I search them? Our archives feature numerous old maps, photocopies of historical documents such as mine leases, property sales, stock prospectuses, and testimonies from legal proceedings, and photographs of local mining operations. We are not a lending library and do not encourage curiosity-driven inspection of our holdings, but qualified researchers are welcome to call for information and an appointment to visit. When time allows we also try to assist those wishing to locate information on a family member that worked here. 41. Do you have information on Thomas Edison’s activities in the area? Yes, some. Thomas Edison spent years developing a large iron-mining operation on Sparta Mountain, just two miles east of Sterling Hill. This complex once employed 500 people but went out of business in the early 1900s. Edison also opened the historic Lime Crest marble quarry in nearby Sparta. We have some records of Edison’s activities in this area, but far more information about Edison and his life’s work can be obtained from the Menlo Park Museum (Click Here) for their web site), to view The Edison National Historic Site (Click Here), or the New Jersey Historical Society (Click Here). 42. Do you host special events such as birthday or graduation parties? Yes – we often host birthday parties and graduation parties, and also weddings and corporate retreats on occasion. Some people supply their own food, but we can provide snacks, refreshments, and sheet cakes for celebrations, and refer you to local caterers if you wish to have full meals. We do not serve alcohol. It is not necessary for participants in your event to take a mine tour, though many do. It is necessary, however, to make a reservation with us well in advance if you wish to hold a party or other function here. 43. Are you affiliated with the Franklin Mineral Museum? No. However, the Franklin Mineral Museum offers an excellent tour, and we recommend it highly. Franklin is so close to Sterling Hill (2.5 miles) that some people elect to visit both museums the same day, generally Franklin in the morning and then Sterling Hill for the daily public tour at 1 p.m. 44. What else is there to do in the area? The Sterling Hill Mining Museum is located in the scenic Highlands (really, no kidding) of New Jersey, a region of forested hills, farmland valleys, and rural villages. The countryside offers opportunities for hiking, biking, fishing, canoeing, birding, horseback riding, swimming, camping, and boating. Golf courses, museums, and dairy farms open to the public offer additional enjoyments. (Click Here) to link to recreational opportunities as described by the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce. 45. Where can I stay? What motels or campgrounds are in the area? For a list of local motels, B&B’s, and campgrounds (Click Here.) 46. When did the Sterling Hill mine open? In truth the only correct answer is “We don’t know.” The presence of a piece of “zinc” in a Native American burial site on Minisink Island, along the Delaware River not far from here, might refer to a piece of zinc ore from Sterling Hill, but could just as easily refer to pewter obtained in trade from some of the early European colonists. In any event, the Sterling Hill orebody, like that at Franklin nearby, outcropped in plain sight of the Wallkill River, and small excavations on the outcrop had probably been made since the earliest years of Dutch and English exploration and settlement. All we know for sure is that a small mine pit (no longer extant) at Sterling Hill was worked and abandoned sometime before 1739, a date established by tree-ring analysis of trees that had taken root in the pit. The orebody might have been worked in a minor way much earlier, but the 1739 date already makes Sterling Hill one of the oldest mines in the United States. In the nineteenth century the Sterling Hill property was broken into lots, and sometimes the rights to the zinc and iron were sold separately, so there were different operations mining the ores at or near the surface, and a lot of entangling litigation, until all the local zinc mining interests at Franklin and Sterling Hill were consolidated under the New Jersey Zinc Company in 1897. Organized underground mining at Sterling Hill began around the end of World War I, after two decades of development work, mill-building, etc. The Sterling Hill mine closed in 1986, but the surface workings have been preserved as part of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum.
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