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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 08:32 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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vic rzonca wrote: | I agree with Tobi, I always enjoy the coverage of the field work folks do. Pierre, you certainly have spent your share of time out standing in your field. And hiking and fishing and camping and collecting and breathing in the wonder around you. Thanks for your reports and I trust they will continue. This site seems an ideal format for photo journalistic postings and articles like Pierre's. The collection section and the show reports allow room to spread out in a coherent way. Thanks to Jordi and the team. |
Hi Vic. I agree with you with regards to the platform created by Jordi and his team. Perhaps there are some members who also have interesting collecting trips from the past who can share them with us. How about it? What is news on your side Vic; you have been very quiet? Regards.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera
Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 62
Location: Sant Esteve de Palautordera (Barcelona)
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 09:38 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Very good friend Pierre, fantastic report, beautiful quartz!
Best Regards ;-)
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 09:56 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera wrote: | Very good friend Pierre, fantastic report, beautiful quartz!
Best Regards ;-) |
Hi good friend Joan, thank you.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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GneissWare
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 1287
Location: California
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 11:29 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre Joubert wrote: |
... I first wash the specimens with a good blast with a hose, then I leave them in a Oxalic acid solution for a few days in the sun. I repeat the hose and the Oxalic acid bath treatment till I have a satisfactory result. I often use a toothbrush and a thin sharp stick for the more resistant dirt. Regards. |
Hi Pierre,
As always, a fascinating report, and the landscape photos capture a spectacular setting. Being able to collect and fish at the same place is a slice of paradise...actually it must be Eden and there is the ubiquitous snake! Thanks for sharing.
As to cleaning, you may want to look at one of the water guns. They are available on eBay and other places for under US$100 and will make the sharp stick unnecessary. Also, if you can find Super Iron Out (google it to find a chemical equivalent in SA), it will likely shorten your iron-stain removal times.
Look forward to more photos as you progress.
Bob
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Dec 31, 2014 12:31 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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GneissWare wrote: | Pierre Joubert wrote: |
... I first wash the specimens with a good blast with a hose, then I leave them in a Oxalic acid solution for a few days in the sun. I repeat the hose and the Oxalic acid bath treatment till I have a satisfactory result. I often use a toothbrush and a thin sharp stick for the more resistant dirt. Regards. |
Hi Pierre,
As always, a fascinating report, and the landscape photos capture a spectacular setting. Being able to collect and fish at the same place is a slice of paradise...actually it must be Eden and there is the ubiquitous snake! Thanks for sharing.
As to cleaning, you may want to look at one of the water guns. They are available on eBay and other places for under US$100 and will make the sharp stick unnecessary. Also, if you can find Super Iron Out (google it to find a chemical equivalent in SA), it will likely shorten your iron-stain removal times.
Look forward to more photos as you progress.
Bob |
Hi Bob. Thank you for your kind comments. We are indeed blessed. I have looked at one of those waterguns and it is on my shopping list. I will look for something similar to iron-out. Best regards.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jan 23, 2015 01:20 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Some time ago, I was approached by a student, that read this thread 'Quartz collecting outings in South Africa', about joining me on an outing. We planned a trip and a few months ago we visited one of our collecting sites. With him, he had 2 fellow students/friends, none of which had previously collected quartz. They camped on the farm and the first available afternoon we walked to a quartz reef where I showed them how to find crystals and, if lucky, a pocket. After a while of searching and everyone finding the od crystal, I took one of them and went to a spot where Riana and I had previously removed a nice pocket, some with chlorite phantoms. After digging for a while, we found a few small specimens, nothing to get too excited about. I got up to fetch my bag at another spot and when I came back, the young man said to me he found a scorpion and some crystals. We found a number of scorpions that day. After a while he said: 'the crystals are still coming out!' I said, well, remove them. The short of the long is that this Theological student found a massive pocket on his first time out. Wow! Eventually he had his 2 friends help him and the next day 2 ladies who came with them. They removed a number of bags of crystals, most of them very nice. The organizer of this party, Nicholas, cleaned all the specimes and they distributed it amongst themselves. Here are a few photos.
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3 students busy removing a large pocket of exciting quartz. |
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Those smiles tell it all! |
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Marius, the person who discovered the pocket. |
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Quartz with chlorite, fresh from the earth. |
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One of the cleaned specimens; sorry no size. |
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Another cleaned specimen. Sorry, no size. |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
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Mike Wood
Joined: 16 Dec 2010
Posts: 456
Location: Northern England
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Posted: Jan 25, 2015 15:17 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Pierre, thanks for the report on your field trip, your students were really lucky finding such a big pocket on their first day out hunting for crystals! The quartzes are very nice too, pretty large and very clear with good phantoms. Have these guys asked to go on another trip with you or do they go collecting on their own now?
Best regards,
Mike
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Martin Rich
Joined: 15 Aug 2013
Posts: 127
Location: Lower Austria
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Posted: Jan 25, 2015 23:21 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Thank you Pierre for this nice report. This are very nice samples of quartz! I remember on one of my first collecting trips for searching quartz in the Austrian part of the Bohemian massive and I found.....nothing. That's life!
Martin
_________________ We are living on the matrix. |
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jan 26, 2015 04:30 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Thanks Mike. There is always a risk when taking people on an outing like this. This area is not one of our prime collecting areas and it is difficult to find crystals there. Permission can only be obtained through the farmer and he does not allow just anybody there. These students were a delight to have around and I fully trust them. One of them stays with a friend. We are planning a future dig, hopefully when it is cooler. Best regards.
Hi Martin. Thank you. I imagine finding a pocket in that areas you mentioned, is no easy task. Perhaps many have been there before you too! I have been on many outings looking for quartz and returned with only a few pieces, worthy only to be placed around a potted plant. Try again and again. The big pockets are waiting for you!!! Regards.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
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Reinhardt van Vuuren
Joined: 10 Mar 2015
Posts: 55
Location: Port Elizabeth
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Posted: Mar 10, 2015 09:57 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi, you have clearly mastered the skill of finding these quartz crystals and it has been amazing to see your adventures. would you be willing to share your knowledge as to how you go about finding these crystals, what are tell tale signs where to dig ect? this is would be most interesting as i live in Port Elizabeth and would be keen to apply those same steps locally to see what one can come up with.
Kind regards
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Mar 10, 2015 12:19 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Reinhardt van Vuuren wrote: | Hi, you have clearly mastered the skill of finding these quartz crystals and it has been amazing to see your adventures. would you be willing to share your knowledge as to how you go about finding these crystals, what are tell tale signs where to dig ect? this is would be most interesting as i live in Port Elizabeth and would be keen to apply those same steps locally to see what one can come up with.
Kind regards |
Hi Reinhardt. I will send you a private message with my Email address. I have been eying Jordi's post 'How to dig a pocket' to contribute to it (but have not had the time), but I see that it is now locked. Yes, I have years of experience and have developed a good eye for finding a pocket. I will approach Jordi and see where the best place is to share my experiences. Regards.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Mar 10, 2015 14:22 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre Joubert wrote: | ...I will approach Jordi and see where the best place is to share my experiences... |
Please use: How to find a pocket?
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Mar 11, 2015 02:28 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Jordi Fabre wrote: | Pierre Joubert wrote: | ...I will approach Jordi and see where the best place is to share my experiences... |
Please use: How to find a pocket? |
Thank you very much Jordi! Regards
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jun 01, 2015 06:48 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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I planned a trip up a gorge just 6km from our home on Thursday, to attempt to catch brown trout and at the same time look for crystals. A large cold front changed my plans and I rather opted to drive out to a farm to look for quartz crystals. It was a good choice as I found some interesting specimens. I first visited a place where we removed a lot of crystals in the past. I found just a few small crystals at first but fortunately found an extension of a vein with quartz crystals in a manganese and hematite mix (I have an idea that more minerals are involved, but I need to send some samples of this away to be tested). After a few hours of removing zillions of small crystals, not much bigger than 25 mm, I decided to give my stiff legs a bit of exercise. I walked for about 30 meters from where I was digging and suddenly saw a rock that looked just a little promising. I started digging and immediately was into a lovely pocket. Unfortunately I damaged the first crystal I found. It was bitterly cold, but I had a most enjoyable day. Some of the crystals are in acid at the moment and I hope to show some photos once they are clean. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures from my day. I must stress that we have been on a number of outings since my last entry and pockets like these are NOT encountered on every trip. The cold front has produced very cold and wet weather here, with some snow on the mountains. It has been very dry and we welcome the rain.
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The first place where I found many small crystals, often on manganese rich matrix. |
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A close up of the above pocket. There are still many crystals waiting to be removed. |
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The second pocket, about 30 m from the other. |
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A lovely single crystal from the second pocket. |
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A nice sized specimen of Quartz on matrix. |
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All the crystals shown are a portion from the last pocket. |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
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Mike Wood
Joined: 16 Dec 2010
Posts: 456
Location: Northern England
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Posted: Jun 01, 2015 14:21 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Pierre, thanks for taking the time to take photographs in the wild of your finds, especially with it being very cold. Those quartz crystal groups look very good, I can see why your day was enjoyable!
Best wishes, Mike
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GneissWare
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 1287
Location: California
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Posted: Jun 01, 2015 14:45 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Pierre. As always, an enjoyable read of your collecting adventures. I look forward to seeing the cleaned specimens.
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jun 01, 2015 15:06 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Mike and Bob. Your comments makes the experiences of finding and sharing even more enjoyable! Thank you!
_________________ Pierre Joubert
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jun 02, 2015 13:42 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Here are a few of the cleaned specimens. I hope to show just a few of the larger specimens later. They are still in the acid.
Mineral: | Quartz |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 83 x 26 x 25 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | Quartz crystal 19 x 15 x 15 mm |
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I am not sure about the dark mineral/s. It could be a mixture of goethite, hematite and manganese. I don't know. |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 57 x 43 x 26 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 47 x 35 x 32 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 45 x 35 x 27 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 32 x 22 x 20 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 58 x 43 x 40 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 52 x 27 x 21 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 40 x 17 x 15 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 37 x 20 x 12 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 33 x 28 x 23 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 20 x 19 x 10 mm |
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Mineral: | Quartz with goethite |
Locality: | Ceres, Warmbokkeveld Valley, Ceres, Valle Warmbokkeveld, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province, South Africa | |
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Dimensions: | 60 x 25 x 17 mm |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
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chris
Site Admin
Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 538
Location: Grenoble
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Posted: Jun 02, 2015 14:11 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hello Pierre,
Great report. Looking forward the next ones.
Christophe
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James Catmur
Site Admin
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Posted: Jun 02, 2015 14:15 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre
Wonderful, as usual. Also good to see more specimens from your Ceres.
James
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