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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Jul 09, 2013 04:26 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Joan and Mike. I always enjoy feedback! Thank you. Some of these crystals were removed from pockets that extended more than 2 meters into solid rock and we used an extension pole (used for painting) with a small rake at the end. Fortunately the crystals sat in yellow clay, which helped to protect them. The specimens from this area are just lightly washed with water, nothing else. Oxalic acid will ruin the lovely iron oxide coating.
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Riana in action. I discover and then put her to work (not that she minds!). |
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28619 Time(s) |
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This deep pocket extended for more than 2 meters into the rock and required a lot of hard work to clean out. |
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28659 Time(s) |
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The same pocket with quartz barely visible right at the back. |
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28641 Time(s) |
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Women take a little bit more care when removing crystals than men. |
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28698 Time(s) |
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_________________ 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: Jul 13, 2013 12:09 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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A few more self collected specimens.
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 71 x 65 x 32 mm The capping on the terminations is a unknown mineral, perhaps coloured limestone. |
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28616 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 120 x 87 x 47 mm Quartz crystals, of this size, from our direct vicinity, are not common. This one is a floater. |
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28566 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 120 x 87 x 47 mm Same as above. |
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28639 Time(s) |
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Quartz with rutile Van Rhynsdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 84 x 61 x 41 mm This specimen is a very sad story! It had a good number of Rutile needles exposed and I dropped a pencil on it, damaging it badly. |
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28677 Time(s) |
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Quartz with rutile Van Ryn'sdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 84 x 61 x 41 mm Same as above. |
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28602 Time(s) |
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Quartz, Feldspar and Rutile. Van Rhynsdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 56 x 49 x 38 mm |
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28573 Time(s) |
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Quartz, Feldspar and Rutile. Van Ryn'sdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 56 x 49 x 38 mm Same as above. |
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28584 Time(s) |
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Quartz with feldspar and rutile Van Rhynsdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 56 x 49 x 38 mm Same as above. |
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28580 Time(s) |
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Quartz, feldspar, dolomite and rutile Van Ryn'sdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 94 x 69 x 64 mm |
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28620 Time(s) |
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Quartz, feldspar, dolomite and rutile Van Rhynsdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 94 x 69 x 64 mm Same as above. |
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28572 Time(s) |
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Quartz, feldspar, dolomite and rutile Van Ryn'sdorp, Western Cape South Africa. 94 x 69 x 64 mm Same as above. |
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28596 Time(s) |
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_________________ 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: Aug 04, 2013 14:53 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Here are a few photos from recent outings in our vicinity.
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A favorite hunting ground where we have found a number of quartz pockets. |
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28425 Time(s) |
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A pocket with the sticks (pointing to the inside) indicating where crystals are. |
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28430 Time(s) |
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A crystal as found from the above pocket. |
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28402 Time(s) |
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Another from the same pocket. |
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28422 Time(s) |
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Yet another from the same pocket. |
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28453 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 48 x 41 x 20 mm One of the above crystals after partial cleaning. |
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28446 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 48 x 41 x 20 mm The same as above. |
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28406 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 58 x 24 x 16 mm Another one of the above crystals after cleaning. |
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28392 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 58 x 24 x 16 mm The same floater as above. |
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28389 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 49 x 38 x 13 mm From the same pocket. |
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28390 Time(s) |
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_________________ 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: Aug 04, 2013 15:11 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Here are a few more pictures from the same area as mentioned above featuring Riana's find and a few others from that same area.
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Riana found a pocket a while ago and decided to continue her search which yielded some of the following crystals. |
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28356 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 68 x 19 x 15 mm |
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28344 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 57 x 17 x 14 mm |
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28373 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 45 x 07 x 05 mm |
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28323 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 31 x 11 x 10 mm |
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28366 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 56 x 15 x 12 mm A very clear and gemmy crystal. |
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28376 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 36 x 17 x 13 mm Another very clear crystal. |
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28359 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 30 x 13 x 09 mm Another very clear crystal with a nice diamond facet. |
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28422 Time(s) |
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Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 33 x 12 x 10 mm Double terminated crystal. |
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28320 Time(s) |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Don Lum
Joined: 03 Sep 2012
Posts: 2856
Location: Arkansas
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Posted: Aug 04, 2013 16:08 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre and Riana,
Thanks for taking us to one of your favorite spots. It looks like you found some nice and good-sized quartz.
Regards,
Don
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Aug 05, 2013 03:37 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Don Lum wrote: | Pierre and Riana,
Thanks for taking us to one of your favorite spots. It looks like you found some nice and good-sized quartz.
Regards,
Don |
Hi Don. Thank you for your comment. Even though we have been on similar outings many times, each new opportunity remains special to us.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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vic rzonca
Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Posts: 820
Location: MA
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Posted: Aug 05, 2013 06:40 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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What could be better? Beautiful day, nice quartz pockets, and someone to dig out the pockets, I mean great companions. Thanks for taking us along. Pierre, what is the country rock this quartz is found in?
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Aug 05, 2013 07:30 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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vic rzonca wrote: | What could be better? Beautiful day, nice quartz pockets, and someone to dig out the pockets, I mean great companions. Thanks for taking us along. Pierre, what is the country rock this quartz is found in? |
Interesting question Vic. This area has prolific quartz veins, some several meters wide, that run in between layers of mostly shale. I am adding a photo to show weathered quartz veins in the direct vicinity. To find these pockets is not as easy as it may seem, but, as you know, hard work from enthusiasts bring rewards.
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28246 Time(s) |
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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: Aug 06, 2013 12:29 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Thanks for posting these photo's of your collecting trip Pierre; Ceres looks a wonderful place to wander around.
Do you ever see anyone else about when you're collecting in these places? The countryside looks rather 'empty'.
Regards to yourself and Riana,
Mike
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Aug 06, 2013 13:08 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Mike Wood wrote: | Thanks for posting these photo's of your collecting trip Pierre; Ceres looks a wonderful place to wander around.
Do you ever see anyone else about when you're collecting in these places? The countryside looks rather 'empty'.
Regards to yourself and Riana,
Mike |
Hi Mike. Thank you for the regards. I have only once encountered another crystal digger on my outings (in the Western Cape), and that was a manager that worked on an apple farm. There is a club that offers the odd outing but as for the rest, it is every man to himself. It seems to me that few have an interest to do a bit of trouble to find mineral specimens (or simply do not know where to start). We have taken a number of people with us on outings (free of charge), but even of these, few return. I suppose we South Africans are spoiled with an abundance of mineral specimens for sale (at very reasonable prices), so few will do the trouble to search for them. Maybe you, Vic and others like us are a bitter different?! Best regards from both us.
_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Don Lum
Joined: 03 Sep 2012
Posts: 2856
Location: Arkansas
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Posted: Aug 06, 2013 13:25 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hello Pierre,
Do you and Riana encounter any interesting or dangerous wildlife other than poisonous snakes on your outings?
Don
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vic rzonca
Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Posts: 820
Location: MA
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Posted: Aug 06, 2013 14:16 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre, in a satellite image of the terrane around Ceres, I see that it is more or less surrounded by black rock hills. To the west, north of where Rt. 46 breaks through the pass, there is a large dam and reservoir. I wonder if this is the area that Riana and you do your exploring?
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Aug 06, 2013 14:36 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Don Lum wrote: | Hello Pierre,
Do you and Riana encounter any interesting or dangerous wildlife other than poisonous snakes on your outings?
Don |
Hi Don. Last week I had a close encounter with 2 huge bulls (I suppose the Spaniards will find this interesting).
Leopards are very common in our mountains although you hardly ever see them as they move just about exclusively at night. We have heard them 'coughing' while up in the mountains at nightime, sometimes very close. They fear man, so I do not worry to much about them; besides, Riana is better meat than this old tough piece! Hahaha
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: Aug 06, 2013 14:47 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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vic rzonca wrote: | Pierre, in a satellite image of the terrane around Ceres, I see that it is more or less surrounded by black rock hills. To the west, north of where Rt. 46 breaks through the pass, there is a large dam and reservoir. I wonder if this is the area that Riana and you do your exploring? |
Hi Vic. The area you are referring to is just about all sandstone mountains. The reservoir is probably our town reservoir (see photo below). I have 'scanned' this area for quartz pockets, but with limited success. Some collecting areas are 30; 80; 120 km and even further. All these areas, I have discovered by myself (with the exception of Van Rhynsdorp). Stopping looking at Google and come visit us :-)
_________________ 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: Aug 06, 2013 14:57 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Sorry Vic, I forgot the photo of our town reservoir (about 3 km from our home). Here it is.
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The Arch dam - Ceres, Western Cape |
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28102 Time(s) |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Greg Lilly
Joined: 05 May 2013
Posts: 75
Location: Tauranga
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Posted: Aug 06, 2013 22:03 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Pierre Joubert wrote: | ...I suppose we South Africans are spoiled with an abundance of mineral specimens for sale (at very reasonable prices), so few will do the trouble to search for them.... |
Hi Pierre,
I enjoy seeing the before and after photos and the photos of the collecting sites, thank you. We here in NZ have the opposite situation, few minerals ( NZ or overseas ) available for purchase and few good collecting sites so we collect whatever we can.
Its all good fun though:)
Thanks again Greg
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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Posted: Aug 07, 2013 01:58 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Greg Lilly wrote: | Pierre Joubert wrote: | ...I suppose we South Africans are spoiled with an abundance of mineral specimens for sale (at very reasonable prices), so few will do the trouble to search for them.... |
Hi Pierre,
I enjoy seeing the before and after photos and the photos of the collecting sites, thank you. We here in NZ have the opposite situation, few minerals ( NZ or overseas ) available for purchase and few good collecting sites so we collect whatever we can.
Its all good fun though:)
Thanks again Greg |
Thanks Greg. I still believe that those mountains in NZ have mind blowing quartzes. Do you know of anyone in New Zealand who are ardent quartz field collector/s? Perhaps, if such a person could be found, he/she could share their experiences with us.
_________________ 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: Aug 21, 2013 16:08 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Occasionally we find quartz crystals with interesting to fascinating inclusions. A few days ago I cleaned some material gathered some months ago and added a few other specimens from previous finds. I hope you can enjoy them as much as we did.
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa 25 x 24 x 16 mm |
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27719 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 33 x 13 x 10 mm |
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27780 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 33 x 13 x 10 mm Same as above. |
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27739 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 40 x 22 x 19 mm |
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27727 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 30 x 10 x 09 mm |
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27774 Time(s) |
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Quartz with a coating of manganese? Ceres, Western Cape, SA 34 x 17 x 12 mm |
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27768 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Villiersdorp, Western Cape, SA 32 x 14 x 10 mm |
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27766 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Villiersdorp, Western Cape, SA 23 x 09 x 08 mm |
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27754 Time(s) |
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_________________ 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: Aug 21, 2013 16:32 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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A few more.
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Villiersdorp, Western Cape, SA 25 x 11 x 07 mm |
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27718 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 20 x 10 x 09 mm |
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27751 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 20 x 10 x 09 mm Same as above. |
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27700 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 19 x 13 x 12 mm |
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27739 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 19 x 13 x 12 mm Same as above. |
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27732 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 19 x 09 x 08 mm |
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27696 Time(s) |
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Quartz with chlorite Ceres, Western Cape, SA 24 x 13 x 10 mm |
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27730 Time(s) |
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Quartz with chlorite Ceres, Western Cape, SA Fov approx. 5 mm |
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27720 Time(s) |
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Chlorite in Quartz Ceres, Western Cape, SA Field of view, approx. 1mm |
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27707 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 27 x 13 x 12 mm |
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27705 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 27 x 13 x 12 mm Same as above. |
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27727 Time(s) |
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_________________ 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: Aug 21, 2013 16:42 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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The last few for tonight.
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Quartz with chlorite Ceres, Western Cape, SA 26 x 15 x 07 mm |
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27692 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 23 x 11 x 07 mm |
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27680 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 35 x 13 x 08 mm |
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27674 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 29 x 17 x 07 mm A little floater |
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27688 Time(s) |
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Quartz with unknown inclusions. Ceres, Western Cape, SA 29 x 17 x 07 mm The back side of the above specimen. |
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27713 Time(s) |
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_________________ Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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