Three generations of Griffith men carry on spar mining tradition
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[All the big fluorspar mining companies left Hardin County years ago, but there are three miners still looking for strips of the translucent gem in the Rosiclare sandstone.
Guy Griffith, his son Gary and grandson Walter are still hoping to find the mother load.
"You get started digging and it gets in your blood," Gary said.
The three began their three-man mining operation in 1991. When they began they sold commercial grade fluorite by the ton to 52 companies east of the Mississippi River.
The demand for fluorite is still strong, the Griffiths say, but the large mining companies found it hard to compete with cheaper fluorite being sold in China. For three men with an excavator, bulldozer, a skid steer loader and a cattle operation, the Griffiths make ends meet.
The three live in two neighboring houses on their farm in rural Elizabethtown. During these hottest days of the summer, the mining is on hold.
"It's dirty, hot, nasty work," Gary said.
Finding the mineral is a challenge. Most minerals grow at faults. But some faults are filled only with mud.
"You look for rock formations, faults, different types of rock," Gary said.
"And mostly, luck," Guy said.
The fluorspar may be in gravel form of 2 to 3 inches and there may be single piece with no other chunks around it. Sometimes the spar is covered with a glittering layer of quartz.
Sometimes there will be a pocket of the glittering stone intact, ready for the excavator bucket to extract.
"Jackpot," Gary said.
"It's kind of like the old boy who plays the lottery and goes walking down the street and there lays a $5 bill," Guy said.
While the vast majority of the Griffith spar goes to companies in the steel, aluminum, glass and gas business, the family sells some to individuals who simply want a chunk of spar.
Some people will pick out a chunk and one of the men will chisel it into the traditional diamond shape.
During World Wars I and II, flourite was in high demand with U.S. Steel, Alcoa Aluminum, Ozark Mahoning, Penwalt and Minerva Oil all mining in Hardin County at one time or another. Now, besides the Griffiths, the only miners are the Hastie Quarry who sell any fluorspar they happen to find in the rock.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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