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Post by washingtonrocks on Mar 14, 2015 20:53:22 GMT -5
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 14, 2015 21:01:08 GMT -5
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Post by washingtonrocks on Mar 14, 2015 21:06:38 GMT -5
Thanks, gingerkid! This shares some of the same minerals found in Schalenblende, but I believe it has to come from it's type locality to get that name? I could be wrong on that.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Mar 14, 2015 22:00:00 GMT -5
I love the blue in contrast to the other bright colors.
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Post by snowmom on Mar 15, 2015 4:41:35 GMT -5
well it has the septs alright. you can almost figure the blue laid there, dried and cracked and was filled in... any way you look at it, its very pretty! With the galena in there, how hard is it?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,687
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 15, 2015 9:02:32 GMT -5
Liking that!!!
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 15, 2015 10:30:02 GMT -5
Hi, washingtonrocks! Will you display your slabs? Is the sphalerite alongside or in the banding, and is it orange? Sphalerite is one of the prettiest gems to me when it is faceted. This shares some of the same minerals found in Schalenblende, but I believe it has to come from it's type locality to get that name? I could be wrong on that. I checked mindat this morning for localities and it is found in Colorado and Wisconsin. www.mindat.org/min-3556.html
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Post by washingtonrocks on Mar 15, 2015 11:20:07 GMT -5
snowmom, it's pretty soft material all around. I estimate it's in the moh's 3.5-4 range with the areas of quartz/agate being a lot harder of course. Might be a little tricky to cab with the mixed hardness, but I'm definitely going to attempt it. gingerkid, thanks for that mindat link! I had no idea similar stuff could be found in CO and WI. I'm still not sure if I should be calling my rock Schalenblende or not, but I do have some other examples of this rock that more closely resemble the specimens shown on mindat. The red and orange banding is Sphalerite, the greyish blues are from the lead content (Galena), and the areas of purple are Manganese.
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 15, 2015 11:30:40 GMT -5
WoW! That is beautiful stuff, washingtonrocks. The patterns in it are amazing. Even though your material doesn't have calcite in it, I thought you might enjoy reading this thread from a mindat discussion. www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,11,102957,102957 In your first post, does the material have areas of agate banding?
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Post by washingtonrocks on Mar 15, 2015 11:49:16 GMT -5
Your link didn't go through. Took me to the main forum page...I've had several specimens tested and some of it does have Calcite as well as a whole host of other minerals. Don't have the report in front of me, but it's a good sized list of minerals. There's even a little Silver in some of it. The patterns are amazing, right?
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Post by washingtonrocks on Mar 15, 2015 11:55:03 GMT -5
Oh, and yes, there's some quartz with agate banding in the first specimen. In fact, there's a large pocket of druzy quartz on that first rock that I carefully cut out and plan on keeping that bit as a specimen piece.
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Post by gingerkid on Mar 15, 2015 12:12:57 GMT -5
Your link didn't go through. Took me to the main forum page... washingtonrocks, please highlight and copy the link and see if you may access the mindat discussion. Sure would like to hear the report results of your material. It sounds like it has a bit of everything in it. I read that septarium may also have sphalerite in it. Didn't know that. "Several minerals have been found to occur as constituents of the septa. Examples include "run of the mill" barite, calcite, dolomite, fluorite, galena, sphalerite and witherite and also a few relatively rare minerals that have been sought, collected and sold to discriminating collectors and museums. Two especially noteworthy examples of the "collectables" are the whewellite crystals and gemmy golden barite crystals from septaria that occur near Elk Creek, Meade County and near Hoover, Butte County, South Dakota (Campbell and Roberts,1986 and Campbell, Campbell and Roberts, 1987)." source: "Septarium" stoneplus.cst.cmich.edu/Default.htm
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Post by gingerkid on Jul 3, 2015 12:17:40 GMT -5
Dragging this thread out of the depths... Hi, washingtonrocks! Have you had a chance to cab or polish slabs of any of the galena w/ sphalerite and agate yet? I have a slab of schalenblende that is being held for me, and wanted to ask you if you may have any tips on how to polish the slab since its makeup is very similar to your material? Thank You!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2015 13:02:45 GMT -5
I used to find this stuff once in a while but it falls apart so I have not tried to cut it. Seems to be calcite filled in around mud. Kind of cool but worthless. Jim
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Post by gingerkid on Jul 3, 2015 17:47:31 GMT -5
That's some cool material, @wampidy, and too bad that it crumbles apart when you try to work it. It looks like some kind of septarian. Found some photos of Huge septarian concretion boulders that are found in New Zealand. "Moeraki boulders" in New Zealand Source: Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeraki_Boulders
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Post by adam on Jul 3, 2015 18:16:53 GMT -5
Unusual material but looks good. The quartz part looks great. Hope you have great results if you pursue polishing!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2015 3:16:09 GMT -5
Wow, that does look a lot like what I have found only in a way cooler shape. I can see it forming on the flat pretty easily but in the round is beyond me. Crazy mother earth. Thanks for that gingerkid. Jim
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