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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 3, 2014 21:38:44 GMT -5
This is a 10 pound cobble I dug up in my yard a while back. It sat around for a long time....probably because the white rind on the outside of this thing made it seem unremarkable to me and it was low on the slabbing priority list. I finally got around to cutting it today and found a really nice light blue/almost minty green interior. My first thought was that it was nephrite, but it doesn't look like any of the other jades I've found in this area. The fracture is granular and I estimate its hardness at 6.5. Anyone have any ideas based on my limited description? The water did bleed a white-ish color like other nephrites I've cut. Could it be a jasper?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 18:16:03 GMT -5
Jasper would have a conchoidal break. Not 'granular' as you describe.
How did you estimate the hardness?
To my eye it looks like a carbonate, but they would scratch with a pocket knife and react with pool acid.
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 4, 2014 20:37:18 GMT -5
I wondered, too, if it might be magnesite, so that isn't a bad guess, but a knife blade won't scratch it. The feedback from my saw blade also confirmed this being fairly hard. It's not at all brittle like you'd think a carbonate would be. It's got a vitreous, glass-like luster. SG test will be next.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 4, 2014 21:08:00 GMT -5
Lots of nephrite in Washington. I've got several types but none that color. The only blue I have is mingled with dark green, but jade from Washington comes in a bunch of colors. Washington has good jadeite jade too. I've cut jadeite cabs from there in a light green and it does have that sort of spotted blotchy look to it....Mel
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2014 22:17:44 GMT -5
Yes SG is important. Recently someone was selling Washington state origin sky blue serpentine. It would have a hackly break. It also might easily be misidentifed. Any number of materials are in between nephrite and serpentine. Some of which will have a hard mohs. Perhaps Bluesky78987 will have some insight regarding this material. I don't find magnesite/dolomite/marble to be brittle at all.
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 4, 2014 23:23:46 GMT -5
Sabre52 - I've got quite a few chunks of local jadeite in my collection, but most of it tends to be sort of a dull gray, blue-gray or black. Nothing quite as 'colorful' as this...some of the black stuff is quite pretty, but I've really never done anything with the stuff. I've always preferred the look of nephrite more I think. It would be pretty cool to say I have jadeite in my backyard though. There's actually an old jadeite mine about 45 minutes north of me. I've always wanted to take a day trip up there, but I've heard its private land now used by the timber industry. @shotgunner - I know the kind of serpentine you're talking about. Some of it is actually pretty nice quality in its own right and harder than most, but it's still not as hard as this specimen. Although, as you mentioned also, it could be a meta-jade or a combination of materials which could potentially skew certain ID tests. I haven't had the chance to do an SG on this yet, but I'll post the results when I do. Thanks, guys, for your feedback.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Feb 5, 2014 0:16:58 GMT -5
Whatever it is it's purty stuff. Are you going to try to polish some any time soon?
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 5, 2014 14:25:42 GMT -5
Are you going to try to polish some any time soon? Definitely! I've cut a few preforms and hope to start a few cabs tonight. It's expensive, but I want to send a slab of this to a lab to be analyzed. The suspense of wondering what exactly this stuff is will likely kill me if I don't.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 18:26:24 GMT -5
$80 at GIA gets you a near complete analysis.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 18:26:53 GMT -5
BTW love the raptor in your avatar. Is it an Osprey?
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Feb 5, 2014 22:04:56 GMT -5
Are you going to try to polish some any time soon? It's expensive, but I want to send a slab of this to a lab to be analyzed. The suspense of wondering what exactly this stuff is will likely kill me if I don't. You can send me a slab and I'll analyze it for you for free You might not learn anything new other than that it's a blue rock heehee.
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 5, 2014 23:22:47 GMT -5
$80 at GIA gets you a near complete analysis. Man, that's good info. I'm going to look them up. I was thinking my only option was the geology department at UW which probably would be more expensive and generally more of a pain in the arse. Good call on the bird! Yep, it's an osprey....commonly known around here as a seahawk. What can I say, I'm proud of our teams' first Lombardi trophy after 30+ years in existence.
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 5, 2014 23:25:07 GMT -5
Tommy _ LOL Well, it'll probably turn out to be nothing too exciting, but maybe I can find the time to send a little slab your way anyway.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Feb 6, 2014 0:45:19 GMT -5
Haha no worries. I've never met a rock I didn't wish I had and I'm a sucker for light blue. If it ends up polishing up like ocean jasper we may have to talk about a trade for something
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Mattatya
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Post by Mattatya on Feb 6, 2014 3:06:23 GMT -5
You might look into Western Washington university in Bellingham. I've heard over conversation that they have a really good geology department.
Great looking specimen and I've bookmarked this thread. Looking forward to ID update.
Matt
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using proboards
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 6, 2014 9:57:51 GMT -5
Love them Ospreys. We have on on our lake here on the ranch that eats turtles in addition to fish. First one I've ever seen hunt turtles. They are a really big cool raptor and super fun to watch.....Mel
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 6, 2014 14:41:00 GMT -5
Where abouts are you located, Mel? Very cool you've got one you can watch in the wild. I'm not sure I've ever seen one first hand.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Feb 7, 2014 8:58:13 GMT -5
Sorry for a quick hijack on your thread but I was fishing with my brother on lake Shasta a couple years ago and had just released a good sized trout that decided to float instead of swim away. We were circling around to get it when this enormous osprey decided he had other plans for it :-) This happened about 30 feet from our boat - I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 7, 2014 9:51:46 GMT -5
Washingtonrocks: We're located in the Texas Hill Country between Kerrville and Fredericksburg, a major flyway for a lot of hawks. We have two lakes on the ranch so get a lot of birds associated with bodies of water. When we owned our ranch in California, we used to go through a small town called Merced Falls and there was a power pole there with an osprey nest. Used to watch the babies grow up every year. They are really cute little boogers.....Mel
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Post by washingtonrocks on Feb 7, 2014 23:19:38 GMT -5
Tommy - You can "hijack" my thread anytime with a story like THAT. And pictures of the event to go with it?! Very cool, my friend. The whole Mt. Shasta area is so beautiful. Been a long time since I've visited the area, but maybe I should plan on a fishing/seahawk watching/rockhounding trip down there this summer! Mel - That's amazing, for some reason I don't associate birds of prey with Texas Hill Country....but that's just ignorance for not having been through your beautiful state. I need to see Texas someday soon. I've always heard your rocks are fun to hunt too.
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