FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Pierre Joubert]

Hi Martin, Reinhardt, Don and Peter. Thank you very much for the kind comments. I did also send Jordi a personal thank you for the privilege to post this contribution and the honour to have it featured.

[Enrique Llorens]

Great post, and good new finds Pierre.

Regards,

Enrique.

[Pierre Joubert]

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

Hi Pierre,
Following your advice I went to a local beach where there were quartz outcrops, the quartz was milky and clearish in some parts, so I went about following quartz veins and looking in all the funny crevices as you explained and started seeing small crystal faces but nothing exciting after about half an hour of searching in between the rocks I found a large pocket of crystals but they were heavily water worn but this gave me big hope that there must be more decent crystals. I followed a vein a few meters up and found a small whole in the rock, there was small crystals peeking out at me so I put my fingers into this rain water filled whole only to feel a big crystal face, and my first pocket :D I worked to open the pocket and found my main specimen followed by a few smaller ones. I noticed there was red iron staining on some of the crystals and while digging around in the pocket came across an old rusty bolt that must have fallen into the pocket, as such I decided to remove the mayoralty of the iron staining on the crystals using warmed vinegar. I just want to thank you greatly for sharing these wonderful tools with us, its something that will be with me for many years to come. see attached photo's of my find.

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

view2

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

same crystal

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

other crystals from the pocket and a scale view of all ( 15cm ruler )

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

before cleaning

[Psax]

Gelukwensing Reinhardt! Nice piece!

And all glory to Pierre. :)

[Reinhardt van Vuuren]

Thanks Psax, yes Pierre did a wonderful job on the article, I'm sure this will help many other rock hounds too :)

[Pierre Joubert]

Hi Reinhardt. Well done! There must be more and bigger and I am sure the bug has bitten. There is no cure! :-)

Dear Psax, NO glory to me. I often think the crystals have gotten to my brain. I am always looking for the stuff!!! haha

[cascaillou]

Some more prospecting tips:

-First identify some interesting areas from mineralogical websites featuring locality pages (mindat is a good place to start, but there are also websites which are more country-specific). Of course, if any books have been written about the mineralogy of this region specifically, you will likely find even more informations in those.
-See what minerals have been reported from those places.
-Learn about the genesis conditions of the minerals you're looking for (meaning in what geological context they are known to occur, and also what are the associated minerals). You will find that information in any good mineralogy book or website such as Mindat and handbookofmineralogy . org
-Get a detailed geological map of that area to locate where the geology is adequate for those minerals to occur. Notably, pay attention to contact zones (for instance contact between igneous rocks and carbonate rocks), which are usually interesting to prospect.
-Compare with a map of the area showing relief, access roads and hiking tracks.
-stuff your maps and compass in your rucksack, then go and explore by yourself.

Of course, the reverse thinking is that when you find a given mineral, then you should check the geological map to verify what the geological setting was at the exact place where you had found the mineral, so the map will show you how far and in which directions that setting extends, or if there are other spots with similar geological setting in the area.

[Jordi Fabre]

[cascaillou]

geological maps are a blessing :-)

[Pierre Joubert]

Thanks Jordi. I gave up on that one due to the spam filter :-)