fadeinlight
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 6
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Post by fadeinlight on Sept 30, 2015 11:00:49 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I've been lurking on this website for a few months, and gleaned quite a bit of wisdom. I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me to identify this saw-cut rock: Note that the left half is flat, and the right half is flat as well except for the top-most portion (where you can see the kerf from the unfinished cut). Here's the backstory: my mother's friend has a neighbor who's husband passed away. Apparently he had a mine near Chandler, AZ, and he would bring home rocks such as these from it (and some less attractive stuff as well). Apparently he was quite the rockhound. In all, he only pulled three rocks out of that mine that he considered gem quality. Apparently this isn't one of them, but in my opinion it's pretty amazing. I'm guessing it's some sort of rhyolite, common opal, or jasper...although I have to admit I have about two month's worth of experience identifying rocks. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's all I have right now. I haven't tested it for hardness, but I'm pretty sure it's at least a 6 on the Moh's scale (I'll be getting my own slabs soon to photograph and test). It dulls pretty quickly after drying (these photos were taken dry), but water runs off of it quite nicely. There are also a few cracks running through it, but they're healed over as far as I can tell. Has anyone seen something similar to this? The closest I've found is "Fancy Jasper" (more green as opposed to teal, with no white) and some of the stuff out of Oregon. I'll be posting more information in the upcoming week(s) as I get to work on it. Thanks for any input!
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Post by captbob on Sept 30, 2015 15:14:37 GMT -5
How about a high quality chert (flint)?
Nice looking material whatever it is.
Hopefully, someone from out in that area will have a definite answer for you.
Welcome to the forum!
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Sept 30, 2015 18:37:28 GMT -5
It's gorgeous imho - so many pastel colors. I especially like the little yellow lentil. Are you willing to sell any slabs?
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Post by Noosh9057 on Sept 30, 2015 18:49:15 GMT -5
Can't help with the identification but it sure looks nice.
Roger
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Post by braders on Sept 30, 2015 19:55:21 GMT -5
Sexy !!
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Post by mohs on Sept 30, 2015 21:46:58 GMT -5
That some quality rock !
like to more info on it what kind of mine?
anyway none of that's important
but someone should show up on here that will have some answers
I'm in the Phoenix area what's your name?
Ed
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fadeinlight
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 6
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Post by fadeinlight on Oct 1, 2015 11:36:38 GMT -5
Hey everyone, thanks for the responses and the welcomes I can't really say if any of the slabs will be going up for sale, since the rock belongs to my mother (I'll update if that changes). As far as what kind of mine it was, I really can't say...all I know is that he was an avid rockhound. I've seen one other piece that he pulled from the mine, and although it was a sort of jasp-agate (translucent, hard, and with conchoidal fracturing), when slabbed it looked like petrified vomit. I actually live in the California desert, and my name is John. I don't know how long it will take to get more info, but I'll post it if I get it. Thanks again
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Post by mohs on Oct 1, 2015 20:54:55 GMT -5
Hi John Welcome to RTH
My first thought is that it looked like petrified wood but you supplied enough info to discount that that seems to be a good size chunk of rock real quality!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,456
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 1, 2015 21:31:40 GMT -5
That actually looks like some of the material from the Goldfield, Nevada gem claims. Same colors and patterns. Maybe a similar material. Think the Goldfield stuff is actually a very high silica rhyolite like very high quality wonderstone. Maybe AZ has the same sort of deposits....Mel
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fadeinlight
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 6
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Post by fadeinlight on Oct 2, 2015 9:34:15 GMT -5
I think I've seen some of the Nevada stuff, and I was thinking that it was pretty close. I should be paying my parents a visit tomorrow, so I'll make sure to get some better photographs and do a better job of checking the hardness Pleasure meeting all of you
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 3, 2015 16:04:51 GMT -5
WOW! That is colorful, to say the least!
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fadeinlight
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2015
Posts: 6
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Post by fadeinlight on Oct 6, 2015 15:25:58 GMT -5
Okay, so I went over to my parent's house and gathered some more information and shot some higher-res pictures in the afternoon light (mostly wet): I wasn't able to scratch it with the corner of a steel file, so I'm guessing that it's at least a 6.5 on the Moh's scale. I got a little more backstory as well: it turns out that my mom's friend actually got it from a woman who was married to a jeweler that had passed away. The jeweler had a mine somewhere in Arizona (not necessarily near Chandler, as I was told). I guess the jeweler's widow was more than happy to be rid of the rocks for free...and apparently three of the rocks (even larger than this one) had "gems" inside. I'd love to see those! My mom picked up about four rocks from her friend, and this one is (by far) the best. I guess she has a lot more on her property, but they were too big for my mom to pick up (she's tiny). My father and I are going to slab this up and take pictures along the way. As you can see, there are a few partially-healed and unhealed cracks running through it. I may try to stabilize it using the method posted in one of the other forums, if I can manage to get a hold of a good heating plate. It's going to be a slow process, but I'll post pictures every once-in-awhile (if anyone's interested). Anyway, since this stuff doesn't seem to have a name, I'm going to call it "DTs Jasper," which is short for "Delerium Tremens." Think "pink elephants". Thanks again for all of your comments and help
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on Oct 6, 2015 17:45:32 GMT -5
Nice colors! That's some beautiful rock.
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 15, 2015 8:06:00 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, by the way. That's a great specimen. I'm often up in the Mojave/high desert area rockhounding. Maybe we'll run into each other!
Paul
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vwfence
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2013
Posts: 557
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Post by vwfence on Nov 28, 2015 23:19:12 GMT -5
From the looks of it, Its very similar to some of the Jasper/agate we get out of the Burro Creek area and it may have some pastolite in it also
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