❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here

[Lefty]

I hope 7.62 has something nice and natural there. It's just that it looks so much like the opalescent glass "nodules" sold by the bucketfull at gem shows :| Apparently manufactured in China and meant to emulate certain opal/potch types. My mate picked out a handful from a large container containing kilos of them. They look a bit like crystal opal nobbies but seem more fragile (I've only handled a small amount of crystal opal but was surprised to find that it was a little tougher than I had expected).

 

[LONEWOLF]

Its very hard trying to ID something without actually handling it.... :Y:

LW.....

 

[nytmadie]

Hi just found this in the shed mixed in a box of opal wondering what it mite be Thanks

 

[user 4386]

Better focus would help. Things like lapis lazuli come to mind, apatite, kyanite, cordierite, azurite, zoisite. I mention some of these blue metamorphic minerals because it looks a bit like different layers of different composition in a rock are reacting together during metamorphism. Alternatively it could be azurite that has infiltrated along the bedding planes in a rock. However one would need an in-focus close-up to even guess (also hardness and streak).

 

[nytmadie]

Thanks Goldierocks I was thinking lapis lazuli but was great to see all the other names that it could be

 

[7.62marksman]

Shauno (Syndyne) gave me a bag of opal a couple of years back that was colourless, I think from memory he called them honey opal nobbies, they are a type of potch I think but can look attractive when cabbed. Ken, your stones look quite a bit like that stuff to me, they should flouresce mildly under UV light if they are the same stuff I'm talking about.

A suggested though, could be moonstone but doesn't really look 100% like it to me, looks closer to the opal nobbies Shauno gave me.

I will give the light a try and see what happens
Or maybe as was suggested post one to some one who knows about this stuff so then he or she will have hands on

 

[Mirrors]

My partner got a rock from a friend at work
Its from Mexico I think
She called it a g.o
A type of orb
Here Is a picture
Im after any history on it and how to open it
Ill google as well but thought I would ask here first

 

[Mirrors]

Its a geode but a mongrel to open

 

[Pat Hogen]

Its a geode but a mongrel to open

Take it along to a local lapidary club and put it on their 10 inch saw, that is the only way to "open" it, a hammer would just make a mess and a danger of taking your eye out.

 

[Lefty]

Yep, needs to be properly sawn open. It could be full of nice agate and/or crystals, hammers usually just wreck things.

 

[Mirrors]

How about a tile saw

 

[Pat Hogen]

A tile saw will work, as long as 1/2 the diameter of the blade is wider than the width of the geode and the saw is diamond sintered not just a steel blade.

 

[Mirrors]

Thanks guys
Ill post pics if successful

 

[Lefty]

Many smaller rock saws sold by lapidary suppliers are in fact converted tile saws. They usually supply a lapidary saw blade with them - the original tile saw blade is usually in the box and if it it a diamond blade it will work, it's just that tile saw blades are thick and chew up a fair bit of material.

 

[Mirrors]

I did a clean up from some crushed work from Beechworth
What could be the yellow in the pan ?
Sorry for the average picture

 

[Mirrors]

 

[Theduke]

This was a big clump of dirt with a little bit of quartz sticking out, was amazed by what was underneath the dirt after I washed it. Anyone know what I have here with the quartz? Found wave hill area

 

[Lefty]

Some kind of botryoidal chalcedony maybe?

 

[Firepanther]

Hi everyone. New to the forums. Just wondering if i could get help identifying this. I can't scratch crystal structure with a screwdriver and its very heavy. I found it near Hampshire in Tasmania and its not magnetic. Thanks in advance for any feedback

 

[Pat Hogen]

The Kara mine data will help with your identification.

The Kara mineral field is a group of mineralised skarn deposits, mostly worked for magnetite and scheelite, with some minor copper, lead, zinc and other mineral commodities. The deposits occur near Hampshire, about 30 km south of Burnie, in Northwest Tasmania.

The mines are a major producer of good specimen minerals, particularly andradite crystals, and there are also many rare and unusual minerals, mostly in crystalline form; the site is both a mineralogists and mineral collectors delight.

Collecting in the main open pit is heavily restricted and only available with the advance permission of the mine management, and is presently explicitly restricted to a few selected days/year. Collectors are advised to contact the Tasmanian Lapidary and Mineral Association or Northwest Tasmanian Mineral Club for details of trip times.

Go to: - https://crocoite.com/2018/03/19/kara-mine-hampshire-tasmania/