This cache has been placed here with
permission of the San Juan Land Bank and the above co-ordinates are
on their land.
They were super helpful and excited about
having an Earthcache approved on their property.
Please do not climb on or vandalize the
kilns or I will be asked to archive this cache
There is no physical box to be found at
this site.
What is Lime?
Lime (Calcium Carbonate) comes from Limestone, a
sedimentary rock found all over the world. Limestone is formed by
the compression of marine invertebrate skeletons over many
years.
Quarrying
At this site, the mined calcium carbonate was heated to
immense temperatures inside these ovens in order to make the
material shed carbon dioxide and gain oxygen in order to transform
it into calcium oxide through a process called calcination. The
limestone mined here was one of the purest in the world at 98
percent, with the remaining two percent being iron, silica,
alumina, phosphorus.
In the beginning, the limestone was quarried with pick axes
and sledgehammers but as the operation grew, explosives were later
used. The mine carts were filled and then lowered on tracks to the
lime kilns below.
Creation of Calcium
Oxide
Loads of limestone would be dumped into the top of the kiln
and the inner chamber would be heated to 2,000 F (1,100 C) by wood
fires. The fires would use about 3.5 cords of wood per day and out
of the amount of limestone dumped into the kiln, 45% would be
produced in the end. When the lime cooled, it was inspected and any
defective portions would be dumped into the sea. Not great for the
environment, but it was a different time.
Shipping
Lime was a dangerous material to ship. When introduced to
water, it can heat up to 150 degrees Celsius and ignite anything
nearby. Bear in mind that ships were wooden back then. During the
mining operation, 200 pound barrels were either loaded onto carts
bound for Friday Harbour or loaded onto a ship via a dock which
once stood here. The lime would be sent to destinations such as
Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland or even San Francisco or
Hawaii! Unfortunately, although the quarry was rich in high quality
material, the shoreline was unprotected and storms could make it
treacherous for ships. It 1876, the San Juan Company’s
schooner Ontario was sunk by a storm.
To Log This Cache
In order to prove that you visited this site and learned
something, you will have to send me the answers to the following
questions through my geocaching.com account.
1.)Look on the interpretive sign at the restored
kiln. When was this restored lime kiln built?
2.) Look at the stains on the rocks were poor quality
material was discarded. What colors are these stains?
3.) Just up the hill you should find the quarry quite
easily. Find a piece of limestone if you can according to the above
description. How would you describe its attributes?
a.) Will it scratch glass? (Hardness)
b.) Grain size
c.) Luster
4.)
Internet/Library Question:
Is limestone a clastic, biogenic or evaportic sedimentary
rock?
5.) Optional: Find a nice spot near
one of the kilns and take a picture with your party and
GPSr.
Note that it does fizz with acid but it’s a
potentially dangerous test in the field, especially if you have
kids with you.