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Post by Michael John on Mar 5, 2008 13:00:50 GMT -5
These are pics of some cool stuff in the wash, on the way to my Chrysocolla claim. I've mentioned before that there's big thrusts of Indian Paint Stone in the wash. The pics aren't the greatest, but you can get a pretty good idea... Here's a section that's about 15' high: Here's a section about 6' high: Here's a close-up ... not too clear, but you can make it out: As I've also mentioned, this entire mountain is very rich in copper. As copper becomes more rare and valuable, this whole mountain will undoubtedly be leveled. Evidence of the thick saturation of copper is readily seen throughout the mountain and washes. Heres a massive, beautiful cliff which is obviously over-laden with copper. It's about 40 feet high: Here's a good shot of the copper banding in a thrust: Thanks for looking.
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Post by Titania on Mar 5, 2008 13:06:59 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing these, Michaeljohn! I find them fascinating since the landscape out there is so different from here, it might was well be another planet! So how can you tell there's a ton of copper out there? Is it just from the veins you see running through the cliffs? (Forgive my ignorance...)
Is the Indian Paint Stone nice enough to bother getting?
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Post by Michael John on Mar 5, 2008 14:06:15 GMT -5
Copper-laden soil is real easy to identify, to even a casual observer. Once you know what it looks like, it's a no-brainer to spot. The massive presence of multiple veins of Chrysocolla couldn't exist without the copper needed to create them.
Indian Paint Stone is soft, and generally unusable for lapidary purposes, but it is very pretty. It's cool for landscaping, but it's on BLM land, so you'd be limited to a backpack full a day, and it's about a 2 mile hike from the paintstone in these pics to where I have to park the truck. Perhaps if you just had a small landscaping project you wanted to use it for, it may be worth a few trips, to some people.
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floydrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 177
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Post by floydrocks on Mar 6, 2008 9:16:31 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing. So different from here. Like taking a trip without leaving the house!!!
Cheryl
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Post by Cher on Mar 6, 2008 20:15:31 GMT -5
Thanks for taking the pics to share with us, it's really neat to see things I'd otherwise never get to see.
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181lizard
Cave Dweller
Still lurking :)
Member since December 2005
Posts: 2,171
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Post by 181lizard on Mar 6, 2008 22:33:52 GMT -5
Awesome pics michaeljohn. I've seen some cabs from IPS. Not glossy but very pretty.
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Post by Michael John on Mar 7, 2008 2:09:52 GMT -5
Yeah, if you looked through a bunch of Indian Paint Stone, you could probably find sections where there's enough figuring in a small area to make it do-able, but I'd still be concerned with it's durability. It's not only soft, it's brittle, too. If the finished piece were pretty enough to warrant it, perhaps a silver setting with a solid back to set the stone on would be cool.
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