⭐ Gemstone & Mineral Show n Tell

[Lefty]

All those beautiful stones - back into the earth from whence they came.

 

[richo966]

when they sold the house the bloke who bought it found his grandfathers coins in the roof gold silver coins he cried when he found how much the bloke got selling them

 

[penfooey]

We are now at Uralla for a few days. Going to check out the Fossickers Way, firstly from Nundle then upwards (including Glen Innes and Inverell) back to QLD. Went to the info centre today and got some free publications and maps. Its raining at the moment but will head out tomorrow for a snoop around the Uralla fossicking field. I've read heaps of posts so if anyone has any specific info they want to share it would really be appreciated. Lefty, thanks for sharing your info and maps link on this forum. We will be heading around Rubyvale etc in the near future. Firstly have to catch up again with Pete the Pan and hopefully some of the other Qlder's that we have met. Loved Thane - Glendon Camping Ground - would go there again. We will be traipsing around QLD until early December before going back home in NSW for Chrissy - then off the WA.

 

[kawman]

my mate rented a house around the corner from me and swapped a car for cash and a bag full of sapphires... his kids got hold of the bag and more than half had been lost out in the yard..

 

[Sodabowski]

my mate rented a house around the corner from me and swapped a car for cash and a bag full of sapphires... his kids got hold of the bag and more than half had been lost out in the yard..

Makes you really think hard about designing a GPR for the masses... =p

 

[penfooey]

Heatho thanks for the PM info. Just gotta ask, is that you in the pics on the website? Looks like a great place, will definitely check it out. Happy fossicking!

 

[Heatho]

I was hoping no one would notice that. Well yes 1 of the pics is me.

You should do ok there, just call to confirm they are open over Winter, pretty sure they are. Hope you have a great time out there.

 

[Twapster]

I get my green sapphire back tomorrow. She has been cabochon bound due to the silk......i'm really worried that my green saph is not so special. I find out in the next few days if my 7 carat saph is ok......im excited but disappointed at the same time. Has anyone had a really good rough that had too many silk inclusions? Did anyone have the stone heated? Id love to know if anyone has had their stones heat treated!

 

[Twapster]

 

[richo966]

looking forward to seeing how it turns out good luck mate I have my fingers crossed for it to be a really nice stone

 

[Heatho]

Looks like a nice stone to me Twapster, Cabs can still be quite valuable if the stone looks attractive. The more I look into heat treating the less interested I am, maybe one day but I always end up with more questions than answers.

I'm keen to see the finished product. Where did you get it done?

 

[Twapster]

Yep ....disappointed..... got the stone back yesterday. Seems to have made the stone less transparent. Will try post some pics. I got it done in SA, wasn't expensive at $46 but I now feel I should have looked into heating. There are a reasonable amount of "silk" inclusions which were less obvious in the rough. I'm now thinking a heat treatment may have been the better option but i'm no expert. The stone used to shine yellow, now it shines more like a jade green. The cut itself is fine but it seems to have made the stone less attractive in this instance. It's still a reasonably big sapphire I haven't weighed it yet but must be around 3- 4 carats cut.

 

[Twapster]

The middle pic gives you a shot of the worst inclusion, the rest of the stone is just got an extreme silkiness all the way through.

I'm wondering if heat treating would have fixed that silkiness to clear it up?

 

[richo966]

is cab the only cut for stones like that one not what I was expecting looked pretty good to me can you heat treat the stone now or will that hurt the cut

 

[Twapster]

Yes there's a good 2+ carat final stone I reckon if it was heat treated and cut from this cab. I guess its just disappointing to have the stone become worse, not prettier. Ive got no idea what the treatment costs, maybe its prohibitive.

 

[richo966]

lamberts could get it done cheaply may be give them ago

 

[DanielGOLD]

Twapster can you take a photo next to a coin to give us some scale

 

[Heatho]

Bit of a pity. It may heat treat but heat treating is sometimes not a magical cure for every problem. Supposedly also Aussie stones are difficult to treat.
Lamberts don't do treating either, so even finding someone would be difficult. I'd just cop it and get back out and find some better ones. Treating can be done after cutting.

Hard to tell from pics but it did look a lot clearer than that before cutting.

To be honest Twapster it would still look ok to me if it were Blue, but that Green is a little too Green. Though may appeal to someone.

 

[Wally69]

Just need to get back on that highbanker horse there twapster and find a better one.

I would like to see it back under the same light as the original stone, the bottom of the rough looked quite silky but I was also hopeful of the clear part reflecting more light.

Still....something to brag about, yours are better than mine.

 

[richo966]

yes I don't have one that good I will race you to find the next one banker against banker