Quartz Crystals

[chatmangreer]

Been digging at Diamond Hill in SC over the past year and wanted to share a couple pics with you guys. I have alot of pieces, some VERY nice but didn't have many pics on my usb drive at work.

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[mamabear]

nice crystals. they're fun to dig aren't they

[chatmangreer]

I love it. I used to see stuff like this at some of the "Gem Mining" place in TN along time ago and thought they were neat. A friend of mine turned me on to this hobby and it's been full blast since. We both hit the mountain areas in Oconee county SC for gold panning/sluicing and it's a blast too. I posted a message on the "Indian artifacts" thread asking how those guys find the nice arrow heads and things so I got some input on that so I have something else to get into now. Can't wait. I am also very glad to come across this site. Info galore about anything just about. I love it.....

[Eu_citzen]

We also find lots of quartz locally, but most is covered in a horrible clay. Difficult to clean properly.
Yours look very nice, did you have to clean them?

[chatmangreer]

After the water hose and brush of course, I soak them in Iron Clean for a week, brushing on some every day or two and also I use Oxylic Acid and soak for a week. Some I use Iron Clean on then put them in Oxylic Acid after. Others I use either cleaner only. Just depends, they both clean very well. I get white deposits on some. It's soft enough to get off with a dental tool. I've heard it's talc but don't know how to get it off without manual labor. The Oxylic Acid, if left in longer than a week will leave a yellow deposit that is a little hard to get off but most come out nice and clean.

[Eu_citzen]

Sounds like your cleaning is pretty easy.

Such rust removers will not do much of anything for the clay-ish stuff on our specimens, sadly.
Am thinking some kind of water gun, actually.

[chatmangreer]

You know, I have thought about a light duty pressure washer. For now I use the hose and jet setting and brush. That get em pretty clean for the cleaner cause the cleaner will not eat the clay that's for sure.

[StoneWhisper]

Just wanted to ask you @Chat.. I hope you don't leave your crystals or colors minerals in the sun all the time.. I think you just did the pics above to show your collection.. it really bugs me when I see others leaving their minerals in the sun or heat treat them..

This one shop new SC or GA I can't recall.. was an old service station that converted to a rock shop.. seeing how they didn't have enough room they took old tables and line them up in a fenced in area just beside the station.. table after table of rocks, minerals and crystal left in the sun.. permanently.. needless to say I was really upset after seeing this.. But doesn't help telling the owners about these things.

[chatmangreer]

Just wanted to ask you @Chat.. I hope you don't leave your crystals or colors minerals in the sun all the time.. I think you just did the pics above to show your collection.. it really bugs me when I see others leaving their minerals in the sun or heat treat them..

This one shop new SC or GA I can't recall.. was an old service station that converted to a rock shop.. seeing how they didn't have enough room they took old tables and line them up in a fenced in area just beside the station.. table after table of rocks, minerals and crystal left in the sun.. permanently.. needless to say I was really upset after seeing this.. But doesn't help telling the owners about these things.

I don't leave them in the sun. These were just after I had cleaned them. I have a couple shelves in the house I put them on. (need to make room now though)

[Ark]

Hi,

We recently bought a piece of farm land , in the beautiful hills of the Sahyadri range of mountains in western India. About 100 km from Mumbai.

While levelling the land with a JCB, we picked up some intresting rocks. Couldn’t haul the larger ones in our car, but managed to pick a few of the smaller ones. Our land seems to be littered with round rocks, which I presume are amethyst rocks. . .

Have attached a few pictures,,, would sincerely appreciate if you could help me identify these ….. There might just be a hobby as a bonus with the land my wife & I wish to retire on !

[Ark]

A couple more :

[Bajahunter]

Ark
You should have started a new thread for these rocks.
Looks like several different types of chalcedony, the first is a beautiful piece of jasper.
The last pic looks like calcite or something much softer than the other rocks.
Your round rocks might be geodes, rocks with crystals inside. Those crystals could be amethyst (purple tinted quartz) or some other form or silicon dioxide.
Looks like you should invest in a rock tumbler at least.

[Ark]

Thank you @ Bajahunter. And my apologies all around for posting on the wrong thread ( @chatmangreer).
Thank you for identifying the Jasper, have found about a dozen of these, some twice as big. Will take your advise on the tumbler, and also figure out how to cut / polish these rocks.

[TENNESSEEGAL]

Just wanted to ask you @Chat.. I hope you don't leave your crystals or colors minerals in the sun all the time.. I think you just did the pics above to show your collection.. it really bugs me when I see others leaving their minerals in the sun or heat treat them..

This one shop new SC or GA I can't recall.. was an old service station that converted to a rock shop.. seeing how they didn't have enough room they took old tables and line them up in a fenced in area just beside the station.. table after table of rocks, minerals and crystal left in the sun.. permanently.. needless to say I was really upset after seeing this.. But doesn't help telling the owners about these things.

I'm curious, what does leaving them in the sun do to them?