FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Goldfinger]

[Goldfinger]

Hi Everyone-

Just out of curiosity- whatever happened to this giant geode? Is it for sale? Is it in a collection. That's a magnificent piece and was wondering where it might be.

Does anyone know?

Steve

[Ru Smith]

I really enjoyed this story. Thanks!

[Pierre Joubert]

I tried to follow the links to view the saw, but as to yet, I still have to see the saw.

[James Catmur]

Pierre

Sadly I suspect the link has expired. But let's see if anyone knows where it is now.

James

[Pierre Joubert]

[Peter Lemkin]

That is quite some HUGE geode! [would make a great amulet for a necklace ;-)] That is an amazing location for amethyst geodes - in size, quality and quantity. Strangely they all come from a very thin formation [not much bigger than the entrances you can see lining the formation. I have a friend in Rio Grande do Sul I might visit soon, and wonder if it is possible to visit this location and watch the miners working? I realize all the miners are registered and visitors can only watch. ;-(

[Diamond]

It's an alien space craft :O ... But seriously wow what a job as well to sort it out! Nice.

[Bob Harman]

Thru out this old thread everyone called the extracted very large example a "geode". Of course it is not a true geode, as all the Brazilian examples from Rio Grande do Sul and those from Artigas Uruguay are actually voids in basaltic lava flows, lined by quartz variety amethyst, made to look like geodes by the way they are cut out from the surrounding basalt.

Over 30 years ago, on a tour of southern Brazil, our group visited the general area where these are mined and prepared for worldwide sale. I suppose it is still quite similar as these amethyst "geode" examples have been around forever, with many still on the market for decorator accents in office showrooms etc etc. The geographic area where these were found is huge as were the mining complexes.

At that time, after they were mined, their outsides were sprayed with a rubbery compound to allow their human handlers easier handling as the raw basalt was very very rough on bare hands and even gloves. The spray gives the outside its softer, greenish-black appearance and feel.

After the spraying, the examples were graded as to size, general quality of the amethyst, whether there were any secondary calcites and any other factors affecting quality/price.

About 20+ years ago you could go to Brazilian amethyst dealers in the tent areas of the Tucson show and occasionally find really unusually nice varieties with stalactitic quartz or "skunk calcites" for reasonable prices. Within the past 10 years or so, most all these hi quality varieties have been hi graded. Now looking thru the amethyst tent dealers from Brazil shows almost all specimens to be routine quality examples.

[Airborn406]

Very COOL!

[James Catmur]

Bob

It may come from the native language of the participants - in some languages "a pocket" is called, for example, "una geoda". When I translate from Spanish to English I have to look carefully at the context to work out if the correct translation is "a geode" or "a pocket".

Have a look at this from Linguee and you can see that the Portuguese "Geoda" is normally translated (often incorrectly to you and me) to "geode"

https://www.linguee.com.br/portugues-ingles/search?source=auto&query=geoda

[James Catmur]

Another example of the mistranslation of 'Geoda' into 'Geode' - this time the mistake is from the BBC, who ought to know better. I guess someone realised their error as they seem to call it both a 'cave' and a 'geode'

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220721-the-worlds-largest-crystal-cave
(link normalized by FMF)

The article is also wrong about who found it - the miners never found it. It was found by people I know, and they broke into the pocket of large crystals