Amethyst & other Purple rocks

[roc2rol]

I’m currently polishing a piece of amethyst and starting this new amethyst thread.

[cubfan64]

This is a large rock with amethyst crystals throughout it. I have no clue where it came from, but while cleaning out an old desk at work one day a year ago I came across it in a drawer and nobody claimed it so IT'S MINE!!!!

I really like the way it looks like a skull in the first photo - that's what originally caught my eye - it makes for a nice curio and paperweight.

As far as how to grow crystals, give me a couple days to link you to some really good sites for learning how to do it. The idea behind doing it is very simple, but in practice it doesn't always go as well as planned - there's lots of little tricks and parameters you can adjust to get things exactly the way you want them. The BEST part about growing crystals though is that if you fail to get what you want, all you have to do is add solvent (water in most cases) back to what you got to redissolve it all again and start over.

Here is the rock with the amethyst and a quarter next to it for scale.

[roc2rol]

I'd like to know if anyone can add any info on the
Four Peaks Amethyst Mine ?
its legendary
everyone speaks of it
but
its a bit of a mystery
thanks agrin
Ed

[cubfan64]

Ed, I can't see the photos of the amethyst cluster I posted after some of the transfers and issues with the new posts. It could be just on my end, but if you or other are having the same issue, let me know and I'll just repost them here.

I've heard a few things about that Amethyst mine, but I'd have to dig around to come up with the info. - It seems to me I heard some folks talking about it at the Rendezvous. I'll see if I can find anything and post it here.

[cubfan64]

Everything looks good to me again - I was having problems viewing photos on my end, it wasn't any problem with the forum

[roc2rol]

Thanks Paul for the visual

Purple rock is hard to come by


On the left is Sugelite
discover by a Japaneese geoligist name Suge

on the right is Charolite
this specimen show a sheen called chatoyancy

my pics aren't all that great
I only took 20 of them HA HA!!!

[cubfan64]

Thanks Paul for the visual

Purple rock is hard to come by


On the left is Sugelite
discover by a Japaneese geoligist name Suge

on the right is Charolite
this specimen show a sheen called chatoyancy

my pics aren't all that great
I only took 20 of them HA HA!!!

Neat - I had never heard of either of those minerals. It always amazes me what the earth is capable of with differing temperatures, hydration levels, combinations of elements, pressures, etc... It's almost never ending. Wish I would have taken a geology class when growing up.

[roc2rol]

Both rocks are failry rare
The Sugelite I paid 1.50 a gram
The Charolite is about the same
Both are silicate based and chemically complex

it is amazing what the earth turns!
someone once said:
God did his best work with rocks.

Here’s the suge & charo combined

I made it for Veterans Day

Ed

[cubfan64]

Do you just glue the two of them together after you've cut and polished them? How do you mount the metal loop so it can be used as a pendant?

I really shouldn't be asking all these questions because I have too many hobbies as it is, but my wife is into stained glass, and I was thinking this is something she might be interested in as well.

[LDMGOLD]

Ed:

My wife and I have made many trips over the years to the old Four Peak's mine. We even collected a few samples before the mine was blasted shut in the early 1960. My dad knew the old man who first filed on the site, I still have a few nice specimen from the mine. The hike from Lone Pine saddle then down to the mine is quite a trail. An old man told me once the trip required twenty rest stops going up for young people. He didn't say anything about older people. The last time I visited the mine was just before the Lone Pine fire and we did it on horseback that time. The finest samples I have seen have come from the Four Peaks Mine. I will look, but I believe I still have several photos taken in the area in the early 60's. The mine originally belonged to a man named Jocume or Jucome, anyway something like that.

Happy New Year and take care,

Tom K.