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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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 Posted: Apr 09, 2014 07:50 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Joan Martinez Bruguera wrote: | Congratulations friend Pierre and Riana by the finding of these beautiful crystals, a great time watching me pics of your reports. Keep it up, very nice.
Best Regards |
Hi Joan Martinez. Thank you for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed the photos and comments. I also love to read and view articles about mineral discoveries.
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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: Apr 09, 2014 08:06 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Chris Rayburn wrote: | | Congratulations on another successful dig Pierre and Riana! The clear points are just beautiful. |
Sorry Chris, I missed your comment on the previous page. Thank you. We are the only people (and a few of our friends that occasionaly join us) that dig here. Loose crystals are fairly easy to find (mostly broken) but the pockets are not that easy. It mostly requires hours of searching and spot digging, but hard work is often rewarded.
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Chris Rayburn
Joined: 07 Oct 2013
Posts: 51
Location: Arvada, Colorado
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| Posted: Apr 10, 2014 09:36 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| If finding pockets was easy, it wouldn't be nearly as thrilling!
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: Apr 10, 2014 10:48 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Chris Rayburn wrote: | | If finding pockets was easy, it wouldn't be nearly as thrilling! |
Hi Chris. That may be true, but I am more than willing to give it a try (easy pockets):-)
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Mike Wood
Joined: 16 Dec 2010
Posts: 456
Location: Northern England
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| Posted: Apr 10, 2014 15:00 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Pierre,
nice to see you've been out digging again. What lovely quartz crystals they are!
Looks like you have been much more successful than I have recently - I went to Skye again a couple of weeks ago and came back with only ONE mediocre specimen!
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: Apr 10, 2014 15:31 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Mike Wood wrote: | Hi Pierre,
nice to see you've been out digging again. What lovely quartz crystals they are!
Looks like you have been much more successful than I have recently - I went to Skye again a couple of weeks ago and came back with only ONE mediocre specimen!
Regards to yourself and Riana,
Mike |
Hi Mike. Nice to have a comment from you. I know that feeling. Somedays I have a very strong feeling I am going to hit the mother of all pockets, then I come back with nothing of note. This time I said to myself, I will be happy to find 10 nice specimens, no matter what size. Well, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. It is that hope that drives us and the knowledge that they are there somewhere. I wish you good fortune next time. Regards from both of us.
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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: May 17, 2014 14:45 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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The exciting report by Joan about a friend and his quartz outing, as well as John's report on the Peterson mountain outing, was enough motivation to find a time for me to go digging crystals. Riana has a bad cold and after doing my daily chores today, I was off to the place I mentioned in my last report. It was bitterly cold with an icy wind cutting through the few layers of clothing. I started digging in the immediate area where I had the success last time and found one super double terminated crystal and a number of smaller ones, but nothing else of particular note. That did not worry me too much as it is the outing that really matters. I moved about a meter back and suddenly hit a fantastic pocket with beautiful crystals coming out regularly. By this time I had to use my headlamp and it I felt like a block of ice. Finally, I just could not bear the cold anymore and packed up and walked down to my car. The car and heater was a very welcome haven and I had a lovely drive home. I could not help but clean a few of the best crystals and hope to show them soon.
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| This was the first really good double terminated crystal that popped not long after I started digging. |
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15782 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
| The pocket that yielded most of the crystals. I took this photo by flash. |
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15789 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
| A close up of the pocket which was only a few inches under the surface. |
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15781 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
| Some of the uncleaned crystals. |
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15788 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
| And a few more. There is yet another bag with, mostly lower quality crystals. |
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| Viewed: |
15782 Time(s) |
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera
Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 57
Location: Sant Esteve de Palautordera (Barcelona)
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| Posted: May 17, 2014 15:20 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hello friend Pierre!
Congratulations on the doubly terminated quartz very nice.
I see that after seeing my report I have caught wanting to go get crystals for your country, but then cold.
P1310394 see the picture, you have a cup of tea or coffee to pass the cold. ;-)
I hope to see the good clean quartz.
Best regards;-)
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: May 18, 2014 09:23 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Joan Martinez Bruguera wrote: | Hello friend Pierre!
Congratulations on the doubly terminated quartz very nice.
I see that after seeing my report I have caught wanting to go get crystals for your country, but then cold.
P1310394 see the picture, you have a cup of tea or coffee to pass the cold. ;-)
I hope to see the good clean quartz.
Best regards;-) |
Hi Joan. It is a pity we are continents apart, otherwise we could have gone digging together. I have recovered from my 'temperature' ordeal yesterday evening and started the cleaning process. The final result will probably be completed in a day or two's time. Meantime, here are a few photos of the crystals pre-cleaned and ready for the acid bath where they will rest for a day or two. There are some real stunners in the lot, many with small green ball-like inclusions. There are also a few clusters not shown here.
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| Quartz ready for the acid bath. |
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15731 Time(s) |
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15723 Time(s) |
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| Quartz in oxalic acid. The small container has holes in. |
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15719 Time(s) |
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera
Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 57
Location: Sant Esteve de Palautordera (Barcelona)
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| Posted: May 18, 2014 09:34 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hello friend Pierre, whether it is a shame to be so far, we would have certainly come together.
The doubly terminated crystals are very transparent, very hyaline.
Greetings!
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: May 22, 2014 14:28 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Joan Martinez Bruguera wrote: | Hello friend Pierre, whether it is a shame to be so far, we would have certainly come together.
The doubly terminated crystals are very transparent, very hyaline.
Greetings! |
Hi friend Joan. Indeed, some are extremely transparent. Here are a few photos as I promised. Note, most of the specimens have small green balls of an unknown mineral inclusions. As soon as Riana is well again, she will clean the rest of the pocket out. Hopefully it is a large pocket:-) Regards.
| Description: |
Quartz with unknown mineral.
Western Cape, South Africa
36 x 33 x 14 mm
This little specimen was worth a trip or two and will surely end up in our collection. |
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15480 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion
Western Cape, South Africa
36 x 33 x 14 mm
Same as above. |
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15490 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion.
Western Cape, South Africa
36 x 33 x 14 mm
Same as above. |
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| Viewed: |
15487 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
61 x 17 x 13 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15484 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Bent Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
86 x 25 x 25 mm
Quart that broke and re-healed. |
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15493 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Bent Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
86 x 25 x 25 mm
Same as above. |
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| Viewed: |
15490 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
73 x 18 x 16 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15484 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
61 x 16 x 12 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15519 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
50 x 32 x 20 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15491 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
53 x 15 x 08 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15502 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
68 x 22 x 20 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15485 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
46 x 30 x 24 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15491 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
63 x 23 x 10 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15489 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
40 x 13 x 12 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15505 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
51 x 44 x 36 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15484 Time(s) |
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera
Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 57
Location: Sant Esteve de Palautordera (Barcelona)
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| Posted: May 22, 2014 14:42 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Very nice quartz friend Pierre. Good collection.
They are small but very transparent and with some interesting inclusions, to see what they are about.
Best regards;-)
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: May 22, 2014 14:46 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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A few more. I still have my stained 'voting' thumbnail!
| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
57 x 44 x 22 mm |
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15485 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
32 x 11 x 07 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15476 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
50 x 08 x 07 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15462 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
46 x 13 x 10 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15471 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
40 x 06 x 05 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15469 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz
Western Cape, South Africa
36 x 15 x 11 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15460 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion.
Western Cape, South Africa
32 x 13 x 12 mm
I first thought that this inclusions were chlorite, but I am doubting it now. |
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| Viewed: |
15459 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion.
Western Cape, South Africa
28 x 11 x 07 mm |
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| Viewed: |
15487 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion.
Western Cape, South Africa
32 x 07 x 06 mm
Close up |
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| Viewed: |
15459 Time(s) |
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| Description: |
Quartz with unknown inclusion.
Western Cape, South Africa
Field of view, approx. 13 cm |
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| Viewed: |
15481 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: May 22, 2014 15:01 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Joan Martinez Bruguera wrote: | Very nice quartz friend Pierre. Good collection.
They are small but very transparent and with some interesting inclusions, to see what they are about.
Best regards;-) |
Hi Joan. In our direct area (a radius of about 100 km), we seldom find single crystals larger than 100 mm. I did find a crystal weighing more than 8 kg about a km from our house, but it was not transparent nor pretty. I must still show a nice crystal that I found which weiged more than 4 kg, but that was a distance away from our home. We also have veins of crystals, not high quality, running through our garden. I have often found them while digging there.
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Joan Martinez Bruguera
Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 57
Location: Sant Esteve de Palautordera (Barcelona)
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| Posted: May 22, 2014 15:13 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Fortunate to have the quartz near your home. I have them further. Congratulations specimens.
Best regards;-)
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4361
Location: Barcelona
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| Posted: May 22, 2014 17:05 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Pierre Joubert wrote: | | ...most of the specimens have small green balls of an unknown mineral inclusions.. |
They look like Chlorite...
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: May 23, 2014 02:31 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Jordi Fabre wrote: | | Pierre Joubert wrote: | | ...most of the specimens have small green balls of an unknown mineral inclusions.. |
They look like Chlorite... |
Hi Jordi. I am inclined to agree with you. I sent Cesar a sample to look at. Regards.
Thank you Joan!
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Mike Wood
Joined: 16 Dec 2010
Posts: 456
Location: Northern England
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| Posted: May 25, 2014 18:13 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hello Pierre, I've been enjoying looking at your quartz crystals, and wondered if it was possible the specimen pictured (P1310457.JPG -> https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/files/p1310457_155.jpg ) could be a doubly-terminated Japan Law twin?
Regards and hope Riana is well again.
Mike
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Pierre Joubert
Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Posts: 1605
Location: Western Cape
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| Posted: May 26, 2014 01:44 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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Hi Mike. I often pride myself on my knowledge on quartz, but my knowledge on crystal structures is fairly limited. Looking at the description of a Japan Law crystal structure in the Quartz page, I think you may have a point. Perhaps one of our experts on crystal structure can come on board.
https://www.quartzpage.de/crs_twins.html
(link normalized by FMF)
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Pierre Joubert
'The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ' |
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Pete Richards
Site Admin
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Posts: 648
Location: Northeast Ohio
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| Posted: May 26, 2014 20:41 Post subject: Re: Quartz collecting outings in South Africa |
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| Mike Wood wrote: | Hello Pierre, I've been enjoying looking at your quartz crystals, and wondered if it was possible the specimen pictured could be a doubly-terminated Japan Law twin?
Mike |
Jordi invited me to comment about this question. I am away from home and my books, but there is an excellent description of quartz twinning at https://www.quartzpage.de/crs_twins.html that I have consulted and recommend to you. (I just noticed that Pierre cited this page as well!).
Several observations are characteristic of Japan law twinning:
- A prism face from one individual is parallel to a prism face from the other - wiggle the crystals around and see if they reflect a distant light source at the same time.
- These two prism faces are usually co-planar or nearly so, forming a flat surface, and the contact surface between the two individuals is essentially perpendicular to this surface.
- the c-axes of both individuals make an angle with each other of 84°33'. This can be hard to measure with much accuracy on a crystal group like this.
- In addition, the twin is usually distorted with shapes ranging from a L-shaped plate to a heart-shaped plate.
- The two individuals apparently share a common origin of growth, and have been twinned throughout their growth history.
I think this group fails to meet most of these criteria, though it is hard to be sure from a set of images that don't show all different viewing directions. In particular, the two crystals are only partly in full contact - the back one sort of goes under the top one. This suggests they started growth in different spots and then grew into each other as they got bigger. This group also does not show the typical flattening. It is hard to tell whether a face from each crystal is truly parallel to a face from the other crystal, and whether these faces are both prism faces or not. In any case, they are not co-planar. The angle between the c axes is approximately right, but without some special way of measuring it (perhaps using crossed polarizers to find the "extinction directions" for each crystal) one cannot tell whether it is right or not - this should be a quite precise angular relationship.
I think it is more reasonable to considere these crystals to represent a chance intergrowth, and enjoy them as they are.
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Collecting and studying crystals with interesting habits, twinning, and epitaxy |
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