|
| Author |
Message |
TreasHunt
User is Offline
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 314
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: Collecting Gems |
|
|
Any one else collect amethysts?
I have a couple of cathedrals, those toll shaped ones.
And one that is like a tunnel, about 30 pounds. Pretty big and heavy.
Also some others, many that I don't know the name of. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
acanthite
User is Offline
Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Western hemisphere
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject: Re: Collecting Gems |
|
|
| TreasHunt wrote: |
Any one else collect amethysts?
I have a couple of cathedrals, those toll shaped ones. |
A few years back I went to one of the well-known areas where those amethysts you are talking about are mined (northern Argentina). The cathedral shape is actually a 'bubble' in a lava flow that is infilled with quartz after cooling and deposition (amethyst is quartz with iron/aluminum imurities which gives it the color). I have some much smaller examples in my mineral collection. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TreasHunt
User is Offline
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 314
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
acanthite:
And aren't they beautiful! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
acanthite
User is Offline
Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Western hemisphere
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
| TreasHunt wrote: |
acanthite:
And aren't they beautiful! |
Indeed they are! There are other types of colored quartz that are great also (gray, yellow, green, brown). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TreasHunt
User is Offline
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 314
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
Types, and colors, I agree.
How about geodes? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
acanthite
User is Offline
Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Western hemisphere
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
I've done a bit with geodes. The most fun I had with that in the US was in the SW corner of New Mexico, there is a special park place where you take your own hammer up on the side of a hill and bash away at any promising cobble. Didn't find much but the hunting was the fun part. Have done a bit of geode hunting in Egypt as well, haven't find anything spectacular however. BTW, the amethyst cathedrals you were talking about are technically geodes. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TreasHunt
User is Offline
Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 314
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
yup, I know, but they are described by collectors & dealers as cathedrals.
And, man, are they ever nice.
Even my wife likes them! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
imdaffy
User is Offline
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 344
Location: Moncks Corner, SC.
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The wife and I are heading out tomorrow, for the gemstone mines in Franklin, NC. Will post some pics of our finds next week.
_________________
A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.
Yogi Berra |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
imdaffy
User is Offline
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 344
Location: Moncks Corner, SC.
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Wife & I spent 2 days at the Gold City Ruby mine in Franklin, NC. Had a great time . We found Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Garnet, Smoky Quartz, Tourmaline, Moonstone, Sapphire, Silver Topaz, Ametrine, Emerald, Garnet and Rubys.
We found a nice high grade Emerald and a Ruby. I'm having them cut them down into 3 Ct. stones for her Anniversary present. I took a few pics of some nice Gemstones we found. Wish I had taken pics of the stones we had cut down. First Pic is Aquamarine, 2nd & 3Rd. pics are Emeralds. 4th pic is Rubys. 5th pic is Amethyst. Enjoy, Daffy 
_________________
A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.
Yogi Berra |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
AdamL
User is Offline
Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 540
Location: Central Missouri
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Very nice! Is that a place where you pay a fee to go searching for gems?
_________________
-Adam |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
imdaffy
User is Offline
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 344
Location: Moncks Corner, SC.
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yup! They all Charge.
_________________
A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.
Yogi Berra |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DJP7x0s
User is Offline
Joined: 29 Nov 2007
Posts: 2
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Alright, maybe you can help me out. I know almost nothing about rocks, gems, and minerals. But I did find something. I was on a jobsite in Conneticut where there had been alot of excavation going on. Anyhow I had to take a leak, so I went in the backyard, let loose and noticed that I was washing off a rock that had alot of green in it. So I dumped my water jug on it to finish washing it off. The rock is prob the size of a small chicken, but it has a thick green vein that runs through it. The vein runs right straight through the whole rock at about 2 inches wide. So its a pretty large vein. Anyhow, its a deep green color that almost looks like beach glass. Its smooth and very very hard. I tried polishing a small section with my dremel and the dremel didnt do anything to it. So it has to be very hard. Anyhow, the rock that the vein is in, is also one I dont recognize. But the weird part about the rock, it seems like it sweats. It sweats on hot days and almost feels like wax. Anyhow, Ill try to take some pics of it when I get some batteries for my camera. Is there anything else you would like to know about it before I manage to take pics??? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
acanthite
User is Offline
Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Western hemisphere
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
There aren't so many green minerals/rocks, a couple things come to mind, but none fit all the criteria of your description. The veinlike appearance and hardness of the mineral make me think it is epidote, a hydrous calcium silicate. The 'sweating', which I'm guessing occurs because water vapor in the air is attracted to the mineral and condenses there, this however would not be diagnostic of epidote. Other possibilities would be serpentinite, or some other metamorphic rock with a lot of chlorite. However, those minerals are not so hard, they can be scratched with a knife. Some pictures would be helpful. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Phoenix21
Moderator
User is Offline
Joined: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 324
Location: Altoona, PA
|
| Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
Welcome to the forum DJP. Hope to see you around! Acanthite and others are our resident rock experts, so if you want to learn about them, yo came to the right part of the forum!
Phoenix  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
coinlover
Administrator
User is Offline
Joined: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 315
Location: Festus Missouri
|
| Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
welcome to the forum djp! it sounds like you found a pretty neat rock! make sure you post some pictures of it!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
