Rock identification - help needed

[Bjelka]

Could someone identify this rock, please? It came with other stuff from an estate. I have been googling to find out what it is with no success at all. Thank you in advance.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Mookaite...... :Y:

LW....

 

[Bjelka]

Thank you very much! Wow, it was better than I thought.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Yes not a pretty example, but it is still Mookaite... have a google and you will find a few fine examples...

Yours looks more like Brecciated Mookaite.... Mookaite is a type of Jasper...

LW.....

 

[user 4386]

The technical term is chert or silcrete, and this one probably formed in the soil on an old weathering surface, but it might not and be older (I have not been to Gascoyne Junction in years so cannot remember).

 

[user 4386]

Jasper is also a reasonable name...

 

[Deepseeker]

Welcome back goldierocks, It's great to see you back

-D.S

 

[user 4386]

Tx - been a bit ill, wife more so (neither covid) and had to move house and all furniture 150 km - so preoccupied for a bit. Fine now but never want to move again.

 

[LONEWOLF]

'Welcome back Cobber'.... Its fun moving isn't it..... Not... Especially if you have lots of boxes of Rocks... :argh:

LW...

 

[user 4386]

'Welcome back Cobber'.... Its fun moving isn't it..... Not... Especially if you have lots of boxes of Rocks... :argh:

LW...

Yep, I used to be mine geologist on the Tsumeb mine in Namibia - Google it some time

https://www.irocks.com/galleries/tsumeb-fine-mineral-specimens-for-sale

 

[LONEWOLF]

I just did... Wow I can imagine Your collection after working in a place like that.... Some stunning pieces have come out of that place... erfect:

Its a bit like Broken Hill's Minerals, only Better I think...

LW....

 

[user 4386]

I just did... Wow I can imagine Your collection after working in a place like that.... Some stunning pieces have come out of that place... erfect:

Its a bit like Broken Hill's Minerals, only Better I think...

LW....

There used to be huge cavities that you could walk into underground, with walls lined with crystals of all types - one had to be careful not to cut yourself on the sharp crystal faces.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Torrington in NSW was like that too... Room size 'caverns' lined with all sorts of Crystals... The old Miners stood in front of them for a Pic, then threw in Dynamite to destroy them to chase the Minerals hidden further behind them....

I would say some are still out there, waiting to be found... I wish I could find just 1...

The most valuable ' Item' in a Miners kit at Torrington were Potato Sacks, as Shoes or Boots were very expensive, they used these to wrap around their Feet to prevent cuts from the Crystals...

Sharp little buggars aren't they... I have even got Stitches digging up some Crystals... :awful:

Ah the good ol days...

LW...

 

[user 4386]

Slightly different approach at Tsumeb. We had the highest misfire rate in southern Africa. When explosives fail to go off, the shift boss is required to go in and make things safe. So if miners opened a cavity towards the end of a shift, they would do a deal with the next shift boss. So he would go in at the start of the next shift (with a helper) and they would mine and bag the crystals with picks. Then he would declare it safe and miners could enter and mining could continue. No blasting of crystals there. The lumps with crystals would then go up in the cage - or (dangerously) on its roof so someone up in the headframe at surface could lift the specimens off. I once saw a one metre diameter lump go up the shaft that way!

Crystal-rich stopes on 30 level had a steel door and lock placed on the stope. Miners climbed a thousand feet up the ladders on night shift and blew the door off....the miners would fly to Germany with suitcases full of specimens on their holidays, to make some extra income and pay for their holiday.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Buggar that for a job.......I would have loved to see some of them... Sneaky Fellas...

I have seen a plate of Smokeys from Torrington that would have been 1m... It was the biggest piece off a 3m+ plate they could get out in one piece...

Its also a shame they have turned off the Pumps at Naica now.. All flooded back in... That would have been one hell of a place to Visit..

I also saw an article not long ago, that they have found some new Caverns in the same area... That place amazes Me... There must be lots more to find...

LW...

 

[user 4386]

Yes, although Naica was dangerous and one person even died of heat exhaustion - I think you were only allowed in for 15 minutes. Amazing though. There are similar mines in Chihuahua state such as Santa Eulalia, but none a fraction as spectacular. They have similarities to Tsumeb. There are some identical to Tsumeb in Angola, DRC, Congo Republic and Gabon but I don't see many specimens coming out of there.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Yes 15-20min max... I read about the Death and the Rescue... They were also very close to passing out retrieving the Body...

Chihuahua is one of the most Dangerous places in Mexico... Murders every day and a full-on Cartel area...

LW...

 

[user 4386]

Yes I was there 2 years ago (simply walked across the Rio Grande in Texas to spite Trump). Miners' graves:

 

[user 4386]

This is the border (Rio Grande). Big Bend region of Texas on right. Chihuahua state on left. Not many illegal immigrants here (hot and dry) but a few drug mules try to come across here.