Yay! Quartz!

[yakker]

So... I've been walking all over- just trying to get 'the lay of the land' as it were. I don't have access to places which yield artifacts, but I'd been finding things like these:



small-- tiny little crystals. And I don't mind tiny little crystals. They're very cool, if not photogenic...

But then today, I went out- looking in the same general area- knowing that there just had to be more... It started with this ( a wash-up along the river), which is always a good sign...



I know... who cares... But a green marble.. the luck of the Irish... what the heck??
Then I noticed a different 'sparkly' bank.
This is what I found:







Plus one cluster I gave away before taking pictures!

This is the area and what I saw (steep hill!):



Very, very happy with this day-- and I know I'll be going back out, because I know there's more!

Thank for looking
Yakker
p.s. does anyone have any tips for cleaning the 'rust' off these pieces?

 

[Rasputin]

Yes, soak in an oxalic acid solution. It is sold as driveway cleaner in hardware stores.

 

[Rasputin]

Also, if you are lucky enough to have found a quartz vein you have a very good chance of finding other rarer minerals such as beryl. They tend to crystallize under the quartz. (Why, I don't know.) I have dug many times at the Hogg Mine in Georgia and other pegmatites and the best material always came from under the quartz. Just don't undercut the ledge so much that it collapses on you. Good luck!

 

[yakker]

Thanks for all that good info Rasputin! I'm headed back out today to see what I can find. I'll also be picking up some oxalic acid. Crossing fingers

 

[DDancer]

Picking up some fine clusters yakker

 

[Red James Cash]

Yes, soak in an oxalic acid solution. It is sold as driveway cleaner in hardware stores.

Or use iron out.

 

[BurntBear]

Oh, lovely specimens Yakker! Looks like you're onto a sweet spot!

 

[yakker]

Thanks all! And there's more! Now that I know they're there, I just have to crawl around and look real hard- move fallen/rotting limbs and leaves. Not much time left- as the poison ivy and poison oak is moving in fast.
I'm going to let them dry for a few days (as recommended) and give 'em a good shot of acid and see what happens. CAN'T WAIT to see how they turn out! And I'll show them off when I'm all done





and a couple more smalls...I love the intricacy.



and... it's raining... washing new possibilities down the hillside for me to find!
Good luck in all you seek to find!
Yak

 

[Las Vegas Bob]

Real nice finds, thanks for sharing.

 

[yakker]

Got a question about cleaning:

I still have a fairly hard residue/scaling on crystals... I'm having to scrape them w/ an 'exacto' knife...per facet... I'm afraid of soaking them too long on acid, and am using muriatic acid... should I soak them again?? Or longer?? or is this typical? To have to soak and scrub and pick and scrape? The soil here is red. Red clay, and slick and a pain in the butt. I'm afraid of too much acid, but am also using toothpicks and tooth-brushes and a reg. brush and lots of soaking water (post acid). I just didn't think it would be this much crazy work.... Is this typical?

 

[Rasputin]

Perhaps I mislead you a bit and you asked for driveway cleaner at the hardware store and what they sold you was muriatic acid (which is just another name for hydrochloric acid.) You need to request oxalic acid specifically. It is sold as a dry powder and you mix it up yourself. It will remove all iron staining, but clay removal is necessary first.

 

[yakker]

Perhaps I mislead you a bit and you asked for driveway cleaner at the hardware store and what they sold you was muriatic acid (which is just another name for hydrochloric acid.) You need to request oxalic acid specifically. It is sold as a dry powder and you mix it up yourself. It will remove all iron staining, but clay removal is necessary first.

Thank you Rasputin. I asked for oxalic acid and they didn't have it but said if I diluted this it would work... perhaps misled by them??
The clay is mostly out (tho still present in some small cracks and hard-to-get places). I was reading on-line... I must have mis-understood. So oxalic acid is the thing-- or rust-off or naval jelly or something like that and NOT muriatic acid?
I'll see if I can find oxalic acid in town somewhere. I guess I should have known better, but they nearly seemed interchangable on sites I viewed. I was wrong. Clearly. Thanks again.

(beginning to feel like a dental hygienist...)
Virginia red clay will be my undoing.