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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 13, 2017 8:41:34 GMT -5
icatz is Quartzsite still going on? I did look it up but it seems the info is all over the map 😂 We can fly into Yuma and hit those spots yes... drocknut will you be Rockhounding any or there just for the show part? Does ANYONE know anything about Santa Cruz county, Nogales, Bisbee areas??? I've been looking over the geological and topo map an it seems to have a very high content of porphyritic copper deposits.
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 13, 2017 10:15:57 GMT -5
drocknut , I can fly into anywhere with an airport just looking for some general direction. Would love to find Malachite Azurite possibly fire agates. Any cool areas an hour or so near a major airport that you know of? There is lots of malachite and to a lesser extent azurite about an hour from Las Vegas. This is malachite from Southern Nevada. The cab was made from a slab of a 91 pound chunk I brought down. 20160525_190709 by James Sloane, on Flickr Some of the azurite: 20160517_153136-2 by James Sloane, on Flickr And a mix of copper minerals: 20160517_153334-1 by James Sloane, on Flickr Beautiful!
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Post by Peruano on Feb 13, 2017 13:09:03 GMT -5
Its going to be raining in Az and NM next weekend, but probably not much. Its going to be cool, but not too cool. Me I'd consider flying to Albuquerque for easy collecting of pet wood, and agates within 40 miles (I'd provide specifics) and then if time permitted a quick drive to Holbrook Az to hit the colored wood from that area. Jim Greys can fill in for anything you didn't collect yourself. I know pretty rocks are available around Phx, Yuma, etc, but probably not any easier to come by unless you have a specific source of directions. Just saying.
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 13, 2017 15:23:38 GMT -5
Its going to be raining in Az and NM next weekend, but probably not much. Its going to be cool, but not too cool. Me I'd consider flying to Albuquerque for easy collecting of pet wood, and agates within 40 miles (I'd provide specifics) and then if time permitted a quick drive to Holbrook Az to hit the colored wood from that area. Jim Greys can fill in for anything you didn't collect yourself. I know pretty rocks are available around Phx, Yuma, etc, but probably not any easier to come by unless you have a specific source of directions. Just saying. Thank you BUT I will have to do Arizona in a few weeks. My husband is a "city" man. He will wait around on me for HOURS to lick rocks any where I wish to go, rain... He's OUT! He won't tent camp either 😂 Hotsprings, Arkansas is having beautiful weather this weekend and we can use our plane for there.
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Post by captbob on Feb 13, 2017 15:49:39 GMT -5
Posted in your other thread. Two threads on the same subject is confusing.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2017 19:47:05 GMT -5
Its going to be raining in Az and NM next weekend, but probably not much. Its going to be cool, but not too cool. Me I'd consider flying to Albuquerque for easy collecting of pet wood, and agates within 40 miles (I'd provide specifics) and then if time permitted a quick drive to Holbrook Az to hit the colored wood from that area. Jim Greys can fill in for anything you didn't collect yourself. I know pretty rocks are available around Phx, Yuma, etc, but probably not any easier to come by unless you have a specific source of directions. Just saying. Thank you BUT I will have to do Arizona in a few weeks. My husband is a "city" man. He will wait around on me for HOURS to lick rocks any where I wish to go, rain... He's OUT! He won't tent camp either 😂 Hotsprings, Arkansas is having beautiful weather this weekend and we can use our plane for there. Well, city boy with a plane is a pretty good mix.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,652
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Post by Tommy on Feb 13, 2017 20:16:01 GMT -5
Hotsprings, Arkansas is having beautiful weather this weekend and we can use our plane for there. A rockhound with an airplane at their disposal ...
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 13, 2017 21:41:53 GMT -5
Hotsprings, Arkansas is having beautiful weather this weekend and we can use our plane for there. A rockhound with an airplane at their disposal ... Now you know how Bill feels! LOL!!!!!!
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Post by drocknut on Feb 14, 2017 15:36:18 GMT -5
icatz is Quartzsite still going on? I did look it up but it seems the info is all over the map 😂 We can fly into Yuma and hit those spots yes... drocknut will you be Rockhounding any or there just for the show part? Does ANYONE know anything about Santa Cruz county, Nogales, Bisbee areas??? I've been looking over the geological and topo map an it seems to have a very high content of porphyritic copper deposits. The shows in Quartzsite are winding down for the year. A lot of vendors are packing up and leaving but there are still a few die hard vendors in Desert Gardens. I do rockhound this area but mostly get jasper and some agate. I've not had much luck finding azurite, malachite, or chrysocolla near here. As far as fire agate I haven't really done much hounding for that but know there is a site just off I10 called Saddle Mountain where fire agate has been found. I don't know anything about Nogales, Santa Cruz county, or Bisbee. I know that Bisbee is famous for turquoise but the mine is not open for collecting.
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 14, 2017 18:08:59 GMT -5
A rockhound with an airplane at their disposal ... Now you know how Bill feels! LOL!!!!!! Y'all are to much 😂 It does come in handy at times but it's just a little 🛬.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Feb 15, 2017 7:37:44 GMT -5
icatz is Quartzsite still going on? I did look it up but it seems the info is all over the map 😂 We can fly into Yuma and hit those spots yes... drocknut will you be Rockhounding any or there just for the show part? Does ANYONE know anything about Santa Cruz county, Nogales, Bisbee areas??? I've been looking over the geological and topo map an it seems to have a very high content of porphyritic copper deposits. The shows in Quartzsite are winding down for the year. A lot of vendors are packing up and leaving but there are still a few die hard vendors in Desert Gardens. I do rockhound this area but mostly get jasper and some agate. I've not had much luck finding azurite, malachite, or chrysocolla near here. As far as fire agate I haven't really done much hounding for that but know there is a site just off I10 called Saddle Mountain where fire agate has been found. I don't know anything about Nogales, Santa Cruz county, or Bisbee. I know that Bisbee is famous for turquoise but the mine is not open for collecting. Bisbee is a great visit, the mine tour by train is amazing, but I've never heard of anyone rockhounding the area. The Lavendar open pit mine is mind-blowing. The massive trucks at the bottom look like tonka toys, it's so deep. I've been to Saddle Mountain about 7 times. Lots of chalcedony and agate, and even got some nice fire agates, maybe 2 times out of the 7. I hear if you're willing to hike up the mountain there are supposedly better finds near the actual mine, but I've never been that ambitious. It's pretty mined out, but a peaceful area in pretty desert. A little further west from there is an area for fluorites, but you need some pretty heavy elbow grease to dig it out. Was with a group and the guys would do the work with the picks and hammers and I'd poke thru their tailings. Not super great quality though, but nice cubic structures in matrix. If you'd like directions for this area let me know. Neither has any copper content, though. There are mines near Wickenburg where you might find some good stuff. Vulture Mine comes to mind. There's fluorite, amethyst, lots of other stuff but I don't think any copper material. You have to pay a small fee. If you like fossils, there are great areas up on the Rim, near Payson. Also found a massive amount of red horn coral near there, and there's a place that's supposedly great for quartz points (Diamond Hill or something like that) but could never find any, even though it's marked. I don't quite have the "nose". Hope this helps. I don't know anything about Quartzsite. Never been there during the shows. I've hunted south of there and found a few pieces of petrified palm wood, but not much of anything else. You should check out the book Rockhounding Arizona, the newest edition you can find. Some areas have been closed by the state and some you can only pick up what you find on the ground, no digging at all, so it's important to have the newest book. The real copper bearing mineral winner is near Superior/Globe, in the mountains. That's where the Sleeping Beauty mine is, among many others. They're all closed. WARNING: the roads to these mines/tailings are seriously treacherous, hard to find, and you must have 4WD. The mines are in terrible states of decay and very dangerous. I won't bother telling you what I got there because you'd be too tempted! I went with 5 seasoned geologists so I wasn't too worried but it was still one of the dumbest things I've ever done (but I'm glad I got to do it once). Good luck.
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 15, 2017 8:37:12 GMT -5
icatz, oh my... it seems you an I must talk. You say dumb an I say ummm very interesting!!! My ears perked up ready to write notes. I'm very adventurous and I'd leave the hubby at home to explore some of those great places and take my 2 grown sons. They help their mama on some of these kinds of trips. Both avid hunters so they are good with hand held gps devise, strong to help with digging things out if I don't have enough rear end to do it and carrying heavy rocks. Plus if they go with me their concern for my safety and mine for theirs keeps us from going from adventurous to stupid 😂
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Feb 16, 2017 7:18:43 GMT -5
A guy I was just in contact with yesterday has a new book out with some great spots. Demantoid Garnets! Peridot! And how to get permission to collect them. I just ordered his book. You might want to check it out if you have time. Hope this link works. If not, just search the book name. It has some blue fluorite on the cover. Rockhounding ArizonaIf you want to know anything else, PM me.
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Post by captbob on Feb 16, 2017 19:21:40 GMT -5
When is the trip?
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 16, 2017 19:37:37 GMT -5
Thanks icatz I'll look that up. Not sure captbob but I'm going soon! Even if it's by my dang self. I ain't sceared! Plus I have all of THESE!!
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 16, 2017 19:38:37 GMT -5
A guy I was just in contact with yesterday has a new book out with some great spots. Demantoid Garnets! Peridot! And how to get permission to collect them. I just ordered his book. You might want to check it out if you have time. Hope this link works. If not, just search the book name. It has some blue fluorite on the cover. Rockhounding ArizonaIf you want to know anything else, PM me. Haha that's one of the books I bought!!!
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Post by captbob on Feb 16, 2017 19:47:17 GMT -5
Not sure all those books are gonna be much help if you are headed to Arkansas.
Arizona would be too much fun. I'd need a month there if I went. Two months if I could time the rockhounding to follow the Tucson show.
Tucson show is on my Must Do Soon list. Just figure I need 50 grand set aside to do it right!
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Post by melhill1659 on Feb 16, 2017 20:14:35 GMT -5
Not sure all those books are gonna be much help if you are headed to Arkansas. Arizona would be too much fun. I'd need a month there if I went. Two months if I could time the rockhounding to follow the Tucson show. Tucson show is on my Must Do Soon list. Just figure I need 50 grand set aside to do it right! 50k??? Why are you planning on buying an RV to go? Had to cancel Arkansas as well 😡 We were going in our plane and it's going to be overcast. Very low ceilings with no visibility sometimes can get sticky. Needless to say my best Vday present ever turned into me living in my shop a lot this week!
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Post by captbob on Feb 16, 2017 20:29:12 GMT -5
Oh heck no. An RV for Quartzite would be handy though! 50k at Tuscon flies home with ya in a briefcase. Sorry about the weather messin' up your trip. Shop time is all good though.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,775
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Post by gemfeller on Feb 16, 2017 21:27:10 GMT -5
Oh heck no. An RV for Quartzite would be handy though! 50k at Tuscon flies home with ya in a briefcase. Sorry about the weather messin' up your trip. Shop time is all good though. LOL, 50K will about pay your greatly inflated hotel bill, rental car and meal costs for a month! Last time I went (I've attended many Tucson shows over the years) I itemized everything: goods bought, plane tickets, costs mentioned above and decided I'd have to charge two or three times average retail to make money reselling my purchases. That's slightly exaggerated but only slightly. It used to be a great event but it's metastasized like a cancer and costs are so high there now I doubt I'll go again. The real winners these days are the show promoters and local businesses. Many vendors reported very slow business this year and many foreign sellers said costs are so high they won't be back. Still it's an amazing spectacle for gem lovers and a great experience if you can afford it. The best thing is to have friends in Tucson with a spare bedroom.
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