The mountain was mined by Combustion Engineering for the kyanite, which was roasted to form mullite and ground up to make spark plugs. The mine was abandoned in the 1980's when cheaper sources of mullite were developed. Minerals and Collecting Collecting is with permission in advance only. A pull cart or hand truck is suggested as well. Although Graves is a single location and a single body of similar material, there are several areas around the mountain to collect different minerals.
Rutiles are random and sparse and can be found where they're found.
Rutiles may be more concentrated where quartz veins border or cut veins of pyrophyllite. However, beautiful, large, reflective rutiles have been found as far as 100 yards from these tunnels and pits. Micro minerals are found in cavities and vugs in the solid kyanite quartzite. Where you find one nice cavity is not necessarily where you'll find the next. Breaking rocks and boulders that appear to be solid and have nothing can be very rewarding.