FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Susan Hern]

Hi,
These stones which look like crystals come from my garden where they have been lying for 15 odd years. Can anyone identify them for me and tell me if they are worth cleaning.

[Les Presmyk]

Quartz on the right, brick on the left. The brick is useful for throwing, building a home (if you had about 10,000 more) or as a paper weight. The quartz is quite a bit better than that. It could even have some real value if you have any idea where it came from. I would keep the quartz and throw away the brick.

[Peter Megaw]

The one that isn't a brick looks like a quartz crystal. Try soaking it in a bucket with detergent for a couple days and then hose it off and let it dry. Then take another picture and resubmit it.

If you have no idea where it came from in the first place (locality = provenance) it makes what we call a nice "yard rock"

[Susan Hern]

Hi,
I have quite a few more, but can only post one image at a time since I'm posting from my iPad, where all images are called image.jpg when posted. What about this one?

[Susan Hern]

Or this one which I cleaned

[Susan Hern]

Hi,
I also have two boxes labelled FROM TUMEB MINE, left by my late husband. Some of which look like this. See image

[Les Presmyk]

Yes they are worth keeping. Just use room temperature water and dish soap to clean everything. If you want to spray them off with the hose that will be fine. The large specimen is either calcite or dolomite, probably calcite, and is relatively soft and susceptible to all acids. Yes, it is from Tsumeb, as is the dioptase (green crystals).

I would suggest trying to find a local gem & mineral club, a mineral museum or a mineral dealer to help you identify what you have and what the values are. The calcite looks quite nice. Do not assume because they are "rocks" (actually they are truly mineral specimens) they are indestructible. They are easily damaged and that will change the value dramatically.

[Peter Megaw]

Tsumeb is a famous locality and good specimens from there are quite desirable.