roc2rol - I don't recall specifically, but I do remember quite a bit of it along a trail up to the top of Black Cross Butte and I think that's where that piece came from. I also ran across a bunch that looked identical while wandering around the Massacre Grounds off trail.

Itz a toilet!!! lol . I have used one simalar to that down in a mine my dad use to run called the trixxie in eureka utah.

Sorry guys !
I tried to get fancy and move some posts to the new topic I made

Mining Equipment

Hope I didn’t delete anyone’s post !

Being a mod is a learning curve
That why I like rocks
There anti-technology

Ed

Welcome to moderatorship!

If you want to bring all that wonderful lapidiary stuff to the Black Hills, I would gladly give you an entire room to get wet!

I had all that stuff (and its not cheap), but sold it all to a person who was going to do "on the spot" cabbing etc., at the Quartzite show a few years ago - and I miss it, soooooo much. (I'm definitely NOT an expert, and it would take me 10 minutes to make sure I had my angle right on faceting - but, I still loved it)

Boy, I cannot wait to get our stuff out of storage! We have about a 60 pound bag of different material (didn't sell that).
From amethyst to quartz crystals, some opal from California, apache tears from Arizona, lots of obsidian, some turquoise - real nice robins's egg blue - topaz, tourmaline, banded jasper, a few pieces that I think is catseye, and a bunch of other stuff - all self-dug. (now you know why I couldn't include them in my sale). I also have 4 or 5 dops of started stones, which I kept (I sold 20 dops with the faceting machine).

Your work looks great. How'd you get started on focusing on hearts?

Beth (Mrs. O)

I have a big chunk of Frazier River Jade. Does it hold any value? Also, buckets of agate, geodes etc. as well as obsidian from the chocolate hills, Ca. Some polished and cut some not.



Guz

Yo Guz

ubetcha jade is valuable! real valuable Certain types with the right color of emerald green & texture are considered precious stones. Big demand with artists who make knives or carve it. I think there's a Chinese saying :
jade is a piece heaven
Did you hound it? It would be great if you could take a picture and post it.
Like to see!

Have you opened any of those geodes?

Ed

Thanks so much!

I’m really stoked about helping build a solid rock foundation
I must a admit I’m a rock novice and so look forward to your help
My hounding skills are nil and I just started the lapidary last year.
But I really enjoy the hobby!
So much to learn!


I never have done any faceting! I think it something I’d really enjoy!
Compound angles on a gem. What an art! I’ve consider taking a class.
But can see the cost in machine an such is prohibitive right now.

Wow you hounded all those great rocks!! What a treasure and skill!

Heart shape rocks and making roc’n hearts is a long story.
Its funny! I’ve never really made a cab. I started making the 2part
hearts last year and couldn’t stop. Figure I made about 85 of them.

Here’s one that I made that I actually went out a hounded the rock



I call it found2finshe

thank agin!

That is really interesting Jim
ever since you made that statement I’ve been pondering it

opal is pretty light on the specific gravity of minerals
Borax 1.7
Opal 2.1
Corundum 4.0
Cinnabar 8.0
Gold 19.3
as a comparision

so that detector is really not bad
or is it detecting some other attribute of opal?

It's not specifically detecting the opal Ed. It's only detecting the difference between the density of the opal, and the density of the host rock, (that the metal detector was ground balanced to). When there is a hidden pocket of opal in the host rock, the detector loses it's ground balance, and the tone changes in frequency.

It does not matter if the opal is harder or softer than the host rock. It's just different. A pocket of air (or metal) in the host rock would do the same thing.

Jim

aww that makes mucho sense compradre !
you have me on quest about opal, Jim
and I’m learning some interesting things