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At the time this image was captured, the Ruby Violet red beryl mine was an open-pit operation. The red beryl crystals were more or less randomly distributed in the white rhyolite host rock. Local enrichments of red beryl occurred in expansion fractures that formed in the rhyolite as the magma cooled after emplacement. Tons of host rock were drilled, blasted, and moved in search of fractures where red beryl crystals might occur. After the Kennecott and subsequent large-scale exploratory work, the open pit workings were filled and the surface restored with native vegetation. As of early 2012 little or no red beryl was being mined from this area.
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