FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[vic rzonca]

Collecting quartz on the eastern edge of the Little Falls dolostone, in December.

[vic rzonca]

Quartz hunting.

[Pierre Joubert]

I love your entry! Love quartz. What an excellent way to break rock.

[gemlover]

And to think about 40 years ago, those rams were the state of the art in vehicle crash rescue, now that is a much better use. Love the crystals.

[vic rzonca]

Pockets in the dolostone yield quartz.

[John S. White]

Fantastic Vic, can't wait to see the piece with the large crystal in the vug once the reduction in size has occurred. Please let us know how you accomplish the reduction.

[Pierre Joubert]

[vic rzonca]

You have both nailed it. Now what. First thing to do is nothing. Sometimes the act of releasing the blocks from their place of formation allows the dolomite to take a breath and cracks are either induced or enlarged, kind of self trimming to a point. Then diamond chain saws, careful chisel surgery or hydraulic trimming. Pesto!! It breaks right through the best part. Sometimes.
Mineral prep and presentation is an art and all respect to those who do it well. I've got piles of failed attempts.

[John Medici]

Right on, Vic; best results seem to be to sit back and check the specimens visually for a while, before deciding on a point of attack for such quartz pockets.

[Tobi]

Great report, Vic!

[vic rzonca]

A very useful tool for the field collector. The threaded adjustment allows for great flexibility, 0 to 18 cm. between anvils. Chinese made and rather stout, just turning the hand wheel sometimes is all that is needed for a trim, and the force of the hydraulics has scared me. I got this one from Dennis Beals and it has served me well.

[vic rzonca]

More from the mine.

[John S. White]

Those quartzes exhibit a really strange habit Vic. What a neat find.

[vic rzonca]

For a while now, off and on, we've found some rather odd floater quartz crystals at the site. This one qualifies as the oddest. After showing it to John White, I thought I'd have a good image taken to share with the forum. These fine shot's were taken by Jeff Scovil, at the East Coast show, far better than anything I could take, and much more informative than trying to explain an inferior photo. I would be interested in what you folks think might be the process that produced this form. Much of the quartz we find is associated with anthraxolite, a compact hydrocarbon that was present with the silicified fluids that grew the quartz. Many of the crystals found are the classic Herkimer form, no point of attachment, but this one is really something else. It would be interesting to know if anyone has ever seen another crystal of any species with a similar form. We have found a few of these. This, the best so far. I look forward to your input, and thanks for viewing.

[Pierre Joubert]