Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 7, 2010 7:52:34 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Just a few more from yesterday. Thanks for looking.....Mel Agate I collected years ago from the Big Diggins south of Deming, NM. These actually have a hit of pink and purple but are much less colorful than most I've cut from this area. Good ones actually often resemble Laguna agate. Firefly Jasper from a site I discovered back in the hills near our old Hornitos ranch. Pink and white poppies against a purple/black silicified hematite background.
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Post by frane on Jul 7, 2010 7:55:24 GMT -5
Oh SWEET! Really nice slabs Mel!!! Fran
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Post by Toad on Jul 7, 2010 11:37:31 GMT -5
Like them both. Thanks for the pics.
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Jul 7, 2010 17:49:07 GMT -5
That Fire Fly jasper is really pretty! I bet it makes some awesome cabs!
Donnie
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 7, 2010 19:45:46 GMT -5
Donnie: This what the Firefly looks like cabbed and tumbled:
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Jul 7, 2010 20:51:30 GMT -5
That's really cool Mel. You've got a garden full of poppies there! Is this "big diggins" a ranch or collecting site? I have friends heading there next week, so I'd like to share the info.
Thanks, Nate
Edit : I googled it, and found the agate list you and Lowell put together. Doh, shoulda looked there first!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 7, 2010 22:06:34 GMT -5
Nate: The Big Diggins is a series of claims on eroded volcanic domes of rhyolite and ash south of Deming, New Mexico. The agate there is very similar in a lot of ways to those agate sites in Chihuahua, Mexico. When I collected there, many years ago, some of the claims were run by Lindberg's Rockshop in Deming. They'd give you a note and a map and send you on your way on the honor system. You'd collect and then go back to the shop for weigh in and pay 15 cents a pound for your rough. They had the Baker T-Egg claims down by Hermanas at that time too so I'd hit the Diggins and then go down and camp and dig at Baker afterward as the camping there was much nicer. I think the egg claims are owned by the Geode Kid now and the Diggins maybe by the Deming Chamber or the local rock club. Not sure but they have trips there during their rock show each year. Hear the dig is kind of a gyp though because the club members high grade the dig before the public goes in and sell the agate at their commercial booths...Mel
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Post by Roller on Jul 8, 2010 15:13:34 GMT -5
really nice stuff ... i like that firefly ...havent seen that before ..
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Jul 8, 2010 15:48:21 GMT -5
Thanks a million for the info Mel. I'll see Jeff this afternoon at work, and tell him they will need to go to Lindburg's Rock Shop and inquire from there. I know they have the Gem Trails book, but I'd bet they'll get better info this way.
Nate
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 8, 2010 17:52:17 GMT -5
Nate: I suspect the Lindbergs have long ago gone to that big rockyard in the sky. I suspect any rock shop in town will have information on the claims though. If not, the Geode Kid has a shop out by Rockhound State Park and he's a wealth of information plus he controls the Baker T-Egg claims.
Roller: Yeah, a buddy and I found the site and I dug a few hundred pounds the first year before it was so overgrown by thistles that I quit digging. So far as I know, it was a one shot deal as the area is really hard to reach and even harder to dig or carry material out of. The brush is so deep that you could literally walk right by it and never even see the small, maybe fifty foot square, deposit. My friend and I found most these old deposits dating from the 60's by crawling through the brush ( mainly under the brush) and dragging our bags and such along behind us. It's truly unbelievable how many different poppy deposits we found and we were still finding more until the day I sold the ranch. I've always wished I'd taken in a camera because a couple of the deposits ( one of bright red brecciated jasper in particular) were so huge as to be astounding. One area even had a gold mine dug straight into a hundred foot monolith of jasper. Guess the miners were better diggers than us because my buddy and I could barely get a pick or chisel into the stuff ..Mel
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