Your rarest material you've ever found.

[mohs]

right on Tim

I was up by Ray's mine about 9 months ago
before the fire


suppose a lot of that area is burned scarred
might make for easier rock hounding tho

other thing is a like to take a tour of the mine
not sure they do that ?
unless you have some connections

[AzRockGeek]

Thanks rockjunquie

My friend was 49er's supplier of this back in the day. Here are a few cabs of a small piece I gave a friend a while back.

[jasoninsd]

Nov 7, 2021 21:39:26 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

This has turned into a really neat thread. Seeing lots of neat things i'm now wishing were in my collection. Lots of really cool things you guys/gals are posting. I'll have to dig deep into my collection and pull out some other rare material I have, so I can share it with all of you. 

Hey, I just wanted to say a big thank you for starting this thread! There are some really amazing materials coming out of the woodwork because of this thread! 

[realrockhound]

Nov 10, 2021 20:17:39 GMT -5 jasoninsd said:

Nov 7, 2021 21:39:26 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

This has turned into a really neat thread. Seeing lots of neat things i'm now wishing were in my collection. Lots of really cool things you guys/gals are posting. I'll have to dig deep into my collection and pull out some other rare material I have, so I can share it with all of you. 

Hey, I just wanted to say a big thank you for starting this thread! There are some really amazing materials coming out of the woodwork because of this thread! 

I appreciate it. You guys/gals are posting amazing stuff that is making me super jealous haha. But at the same time, I’m glad someone has it and gets to enjoy it as much as I would.

[knave]

Many here have seen it but this specimen of Hemimorphite I found at an auction and it has exceptional color.
I did let it go but it is still in the neighborhood if I want to see it.
8 oz

[jasoninsd]

Nov 10, 2021 20:49:19 GMT -5 realrockhound said:

Nov 10, 2021 20:17:39 GMT -5 jasoninsd said:

Hey, I just wanted to say a big thank you for starting this thread! There are some really amazing materials coming out of the woodwork because of this thread! 

I appreciate it. You guys/gals are posting amazing stuff that is making me super jealous haha. But at the same time, I’m glad someone has it and gets to enjoy it as much as I would.

I will say the only problem with seeing all this material is my "to get" list gets longer and my wallet keeps getting thinner!  LOL

[realrockhound]

Nov 10, 2021 20:55:05 GMT -5 knave said:

Many here have seen it but this specimen of Hemimorphite I found at an auction and it has exceptional color.
I did let it go but it is still in the neighborhood if I want to see it.
8 oz

Holy crap!!!!!

[rockpickerforever]

I wouldn't call this rare material, more like cool.

You liked the Brenda jasper fish, here's a few more of my fossil finds.  I like fossils!
Agatized snail.  Don't know if this is a cast or just full replacement, I think the latter.  "Found" this at a rock show.








Small shells in palm bog, from Indian Pass road area in SE California.






Did not see the shells when I was slabbing the rock, saw them months later.  How's that for paying attention?  Doh!


Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA.  As found.



Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor.



I have not subjected it to myriad tests.  Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to.





Horn coral (I believe) my husband found at same location, on the same trip. 












Another chalcedony/quartz type rock, found in Midway Well area (Hauser Geode Beds) in CA south of I-10.


At first, I thought maybe a quartz replacement root?



But the bump in the end suggests not a root, but a branch nub on a stick?  Roots aren't generally shaped like that (90 degree bend).
The stub also has concentric layers in cross section.





Piece of badly cabbed Victoria stone from a Vintage / Antique Mall in San Diego.  For $3, I'm not going to complain too much.
This one photo doesn't show how badly it was cabbed - scratches, chips, mostly flat dome, inconsistent girdle, etc.
But all is not lost, it is still Victoria Stone!  Will rework it when the urge strikes me.



Maybe more later, if you can stand it.

[realrockhound]

Couldn't post the video from my phone, but here are a couple of stills from a chunk of fire obsidian I'll make some cabs from.

[rickb]

Nov 12, 2021 13:34:47 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

I wouldn't call this rare material, more like cool.


Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA.  As found.



Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor.



I have not subjected it to myriad tests.  Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to.





Maybe more later, if you can stand it.

www.1stdibs.com/furniture/decorative-objects/sculptures/figurative-sculptures/lost-wax-casting-brain-circa-1940-1950/id-f_16751291/

[dshanpnw]

I have to say that orbicular jasper is about the closest I have gotten to rare, but this one is probably a little harder to find than most orbicular. 

[rewdownunder]

What a great thread, so much cool and interesting material Thanks to all

[drocknut]

Nov 9, 2021 18:49:58 GMT -5 Mark K said:

Remember when we went to that one spot and I blew the rock apart? One of the chunks has a seam that goes through and is 1/2 inch thick and about 8 inches in any direction wide.

Someone totally mined that spot out by the way. Chunks of stone the size of cars gone and I can't find any evidence of how they did it. It is just gone.

Actually I don't remember you blowing a rock apart. Guess my memory ain't what it used to be.

[drocknut]

Nov 9, 2021 17:11:55 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Nov 9, 2021 12:04:33 GMT -5 drocknut said:

I did not find a fish. Yes, it was me who found that piece of gem silica in Brenda Area (although Jim claimed it was his because I found it in the road when I was getting ready to take a picture for Jim of him sitting at the base of a cactus). Mine was pretty but not that big or clear. I don't really remember seeing a thousand dollar chunk of gem silica anywhere.

Diane, I was just ribbing you about who found the GS, lol. I know it was you who found it.

As for the $1000 piece of GS, I think that is a totally unrelated thing Mark K spoke of, not a value of the rock you found.

As one gets older, stories tend to get jumbled, and we misremember things.

I know you were just ribbing me. It's to be expected...lol.

I agree, as one gets older stories tend to get jumbled and sometimes we just plum forget what happened.

[Mark K]

I imagine that it just blended in with all of the epic adventures you have had in the quest for wonderful stuff.

[RWA3006]

Arizona pietersite.

[AzRockGeek]

Nov 23, 2021 20:04:14 GMT -5 RWA3006 said:

Arizona pietersite.

That is a nice piece of chrysotile, I like the banding in it.

[perkins17]

Awesome! That reminds me of tiger eye. I love this thread!

[stephan]

Nov 10, 2021 19:12:51 GMT -5 mohs said:

AzRockGeek

intersting Tim

thought it was some copper derivative
butte looking up conichalcite
I guess not

what was the general location it was hounded in ?

thanks
EdMohs

You weren’t wrong. It’s got copper in it — CaCu(AsO₄)OH would be calcium copper arsenate hydroxide

[stephan]

Nov 12, 2021 17:58:47 GMT -5 rickb said:

Nov 12, 2021 13:34:47 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

I wouldn't call this rare material, more like cool.


Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA.  As found.



Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor.

I have not subjected it to myriad tests.  Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to.


Maybe more later, if you can stand it.

www.1stdibs.com/furniture/decorative-objects/sculptures/figurative-sculptures/lost-wax-casting-brain-circa-1940-1950/id-f_16751291/

LOL. You beat me to the “petrified brain” crack