RockWoofSketch map
Woof’s favorite find
Friedensville Mine
We picked it because its USGS record mentions 1 gem or collectible mineral (Quartz) and 2 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Zinc. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Pyrite. Approx. location 40.554, -75.405. USGS record.
Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.
Field cards: what kind of sites?
Produced ore or material at some point in the past.
The mineral was noted here, without development.
Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.
Was producing when the record was made.
Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.
Mineral cards
Magnetite
Mohs 5.5–6.5. Black and strongly magnetic. Mindat
3 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
1 site
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
1 site
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
1 site
Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.
Minerals recorded here
Limonite 21Magnetite 3Molybdenite 1Sphalerite 1Smithsonite 1Hemimorphite 1Pyrite 1Greenockite 1Chalcopyrite 1Goslarite 1Sauconite 1Slate 1Commodities
Iron 225Zinc 8Molybdenum 1Slate 1Dimension 1Manganese 1Granite 1Graphite 1Cadmium 1Limestone 1Sites (first 40)
| Site | Commodity | Minerals recorded | Status | Approx. location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bortz & Kochst Mine & 7 Additional Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.567, -75.600 |
| Emaus Iron Co. Mine & 6 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.527, -75.502 |
| Reinhart Mine & 15 Additional Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.544, -75.533 |
| Smoyer Mine & 14 Additional Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.542, -75.577 |
| Weiler Mine & 7 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.531, -75.605 |
| Butz & Beldens Mine & 8 Additional Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.531, -75.634 |
| Unnamed Pit and 8 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.565, -75.567 |
| Unnamed Pit/Miller Mine | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.650, -75.484 |
| Steiningers Mine & 9 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.569, -75.637 |
| Keck & Ritters Mine & 9 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.550, -75.477 |
| Glick Mines & 4 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.575, -75.523 |
| Wenners & Crane Iron Co. Mines & 6 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.628, -75.549 |
| Ritter's Mine & 8 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.656, -75.524 |
| Samuel Sieger's Mine & 11 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.639, -75.586 |
| Ironton Rr Co. Mine/8 Additional Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.671, -75.568 |
| Unnamed Banks | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.533, -75.675 |
| Unnamed Banks/Hesinger Et Al./Kaiser/Meckley Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.500, -75.622 |
| Unnamed Pit & 3 Additional Mines | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.651, -75.450 |
| Scherer's Mine | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.628, -75.514 |
| Seam's Mine | Iron | Limonite | Past Producer | 40.568, -75.458 |
| Schell Ore Mine & 4 Additional Mines | Iron | Magnetite | Past Producer | 40.481, -75.529 |
| Fink Mine | Iron | Magnetite | Past Producer | 40.517, -75.484 |
| Jacob's Mine & 2 Additional Mines & 3 Residual Fe Deposits | Iron | Magnetite | Past Producer | 40.499, -75.580 |
| Vera Cruz | Molybdenum | Molybdenite | Occurrence | 40.500, -75.500 |
| Penn Big Bed Slate Quarry No. 2 | Slate, Dimension | Slate | Past Producer | 40.749, -75.660 |
| Friedensville Mine | Zinc | Sphalerite, Smithsonite, Hemimorphite, Pyrite, Limonite, Greenockite, Chalcopyrite, Goslarite, Sauconite | Past Producer | 40.554, -75.405 |
| Ludwig, Hertzog and Liess Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.515, -75.596 |
| Jonas Kreischmann Mine No. 2 | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.513, -75.592 |
| Calvin Guths Mine | — | — | Past Producer | 40.634, -75.561 |
| Schmidt and Ritter Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.550, -75.550 |
| Ephraim Wenner's Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.625, -75.506 |
| Whitman Mine No.2 | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.565, -75.460 |
| Greene Fe Mines Nos. 232-234 | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.551, -75.417 |
| Alwyn Bortz Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.561, -75.604 |
| Gaumer Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.522, -75.577 |
| G Schell Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.485, -75.526 |
| James Weiler Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.529, -75.604 |
| Jonas Kreischmann Mine No.3 | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.513, -75.592 |
| Haines Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.565, -75.629 |
| Jonas Bastian Mine | Iron | — | Past Producer | 40.563, -75.562 |
Fossil collections
The Paleobiology Database lists 4 fossil collection records in Lehigh County. These are research records, not public dig sites.
Nearby counties
Berks County · Northampton County · Bucks County · Carbon County · Schuylkill County
Pennsylvania mineral guides
- Mica in Pennsylvania
- Magnetite in Pennsylvania
- Pyrite in Pennsylvania
- Copper in Pennsylvania
- Silver in Pennsylvania
Back to all Pennsylvania counties.
How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.
Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.
Updated