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Post by woodman on Jan 25, 2018 12:46:37 GMT -5
And while we're looking at plumes, here is a rock I spotted on a vendors table as I was walking out to the street. It was totally out of place with the rest of her merchandise. She said it was collected by her father but she had no idea where. I gave her the very last of my money, but it was well spent. About 12 pounds... The prize inside: It will cut a dozen or so slabs like this one. I also cut some small slabs with denser plume off the side and the end to get to the less densely packed plumes in the center. Craig Looks Like MAury Mountain moss agate.
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Post by captbob on Jan 25, 2018 12:52:58 GMT -5
People make money with rocks?
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2018 12:56:38 GMT -5
People make money with rocks? Your vendors certainly do! Ha!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 25, 2018 13:03:57 GMT -5
Tommy - Very insightful post. Thanks for a peek inside your mind. Lynn
Lynn, without reading all the previous posts to this, I thought - Eww, that's a scary thought! Inside of Tommy 's mind....
But after further scrutiny, I see what y'all were talking about!
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 25, 2018 13:09:17 GMT -5
And while we're looking at plumes, here is a rock I spotted on a vendors table as I was walking out to the street. It was totally out of place with the rest of her merchandise. She said it was collected by her father but she had no idea where. I gave her the very last of my money, but it was well spent. About 12 pounds... The prize inside: It will cut a dozen or so slabs like this one. I also cut some small slabs with denser plume off the side and the end to get to the less densely packed plumes in the center. Craig Looks Like MAury Mountain moss agate. Maybe from a distance, but it's almost all plume. I have quite a bit of Maury Mountain and the structures don't match. Here are close-ups of a couple areas of the slab above. I've sent pictures to a couple of knowledgeable folks I hound with and the guesses are Arizona Agate Mine near Bloody Basin and West Texas, but not Walker/Woodward area. My first guess when I picked it up was Bloody Basin area. Maybe Mel Sabre52 will see this and have ideas, too. Thanks for your help.
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 25, 2018 13:18:55 GMT -5
Tommy Thanks for your insight. We're pretty much on the same page. Most of what I bought was in the $4-$8 range for the small stuff...real bargains in my mind. The bigger slabs anywhere from $20 to $40 depending on material and cab-alishousness .
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 25, 2018 13:23:20 GMT -5
WOW! Craig socalagatehound , you picked up some really nice stuff! They are all really cool, but the Orbicular Burro Creek is off the charts! Never seen that in orbicular flavor before. Also nice to see the Cornstalk Agate. I think I may have some of that. Picked up a few pieces from an old collection (father and daughter rockhounders that collected all over SoCal and the SW US). Had no idea what it was, or could be. Thanks rockpickerforever, I had never seen it before. Very glassy material. Should polish up fantastic.
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Post by fantastic5 on Jan 25, 2018 13:46:16 GMT -5
@shotgunner Loved your post. Especially that table of Fordite!! WOW!! Living in the SE I don't get to dig much agate, but I do have access to a farm with a LOT of staurolite. And this just doesn't look like what I've dug before. Staurolite has 'flat' ends. I think this looks more like dogtooth calcite?
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Post by nowyo on Jan 25, 2018 14:44:16 GMT -5
Some awesome pics on here. I didn't take any pictures-finally pulled my camera out on Sunday and the battery was dead. Duh. That table of Fordite was pretty impressive indeed, I just glanced and kept on moving like I do with all the high end stuff. It's nice to see it, but it's way beyond my lack of skill. Thanks all of you for posting.
Russ
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2018 15:10:18 GMT -5
@shotgunner Loved your post. Especially that table of Fordite!! WOW!! Living in the SE I don't get to dig much agate, but I do have access to a farm with a LOT of staurolite. And this just doesn't look like what I've dug before. Staurolite has 'flat' ends. I think this looks more like dogtooth calcite? He had a whole table of pure "X" shaped pieces. For some reason that image didn't make it. I guess it could be misidentified dogtooth calcite. I liked the halite the best. Love them cubes. Ha! ETA Fordite: my opinion it wasn't worth cutting at any price. It was all one set of colors. Silver, white, a few laters of black, a few laters of red and one layer of blue. Cabs would have been boring for my eyes.
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Jan 25, 2018 20:18:48 GMT -5
Awesome pics everybody! socalagatehound, now I know who cleaned out the Sonora Plume bucket! There were two slabs in it when I got there on Friday. ;-) But that's ok. Loove the brecciated burro creek, wow! I got one of those Bed 79 egg slices - will be my first. And it looks like Craig and I will both be in the feather ridge doublet business! Can't wait to cut mine.
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 26, 2018 2:09:11 GMT -5
Awesome pics everybody! socalagatehound , now I know who cleaned out the Sonora Plume bucket! There were two slabs in it when I got there on Friday. ;-) But that's ok. Loove the brecciated burro creek, wow! I got one of those Bed 79 egg slices - will be my first. And it looks like Craig and I will both be in the feather ridge doublet business! Can't wait to cut mine. I can't wait either, but I've got to do a repair on my trim saw so they will have a wait a bit...darn
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 26, 2018 2:22:23 GMT -5
And, (I hope everyone is not getting tired of these) Here are some more results from my POW WOW shoporama... Morrisonite Dead camel jasper. All very solid pieces with predictable breaks. Mescalero jasper and Moroccan agate Orbicular Bloodstone These are Blue Mountain roughs with interesting patterns but no orbs. Better Blue Mountain slabs Just enough pics for one more post to wrap it up tomorrow. Craig
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Jan 26, 2018 9:51:17 GMT -5
Fantastic looking stuff socalagatehound! I find myself getting a few more slabs of mescalero every year. Have you cabbed it yet? it comes out GREAT!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 26, 2018 10:00:25 GMT -5
Craig, dang! You made a killing on awesomeness. There can never be too many pictures to look at.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 26, 2018 10:21:27 GMT -5
Ditto above post! Awesomeness and cab-alishousness!
Looking forward to the next post of the drool-worthy material you picked up.
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Jan 26, 2018 11:11:40 GMT -5
socalagatehound - Definitely not tired of seeing beautiful slabs. Jealous is the word! I think your haul is the best Qz stuff I've seen posted. Show us all of it! Lynn
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Post by socalagatehound on Jan 26, 2018 12:26:22 GMT -5
Fantastic looking stuff socalagatehound ! I find myself getting a few more slabs of mescalero every year. Have you cabbed it yet? it comes out GREAT! Yes! I really like the cabs but it breaks in it's own way. Not often I have gotten a cab that keeps its shape without some piece breaking off and I have to reshape. Or I just drop the slab and cab the shapes it breaks in to. Jeff was telling me that it's from an outcrop within sight of the outcrop that produces Dead Camel, but I think Dead Camel is far less brittle. I really like them both. I kind of slowly stockpile them too. Mescalero Dead Camel
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Post by captbob on Jan 26, 2018 12:30:22 GMT -5
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
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Post by Tommy on Jan 26, 2018 12:59:03 GMT -5
Not often I have gotten a cab that keeps its shape without some piece breaking off and I have to reshape. Or I just drop the slab and cab the shapes it breaks in to. Jeff was telling me that it's from an outcrop within sight of the outcrop that produces Dead Camel, but I think Dead Camel is far less brittle. All of these claimed materials, and new materials coming out of the Dead Camel Mountains are coming from the same basic location that Eva and I were hunting five years ago for what I was calling Lahontanite Jasper (and more recently Dragon Jasper). We found the way in by following an old 1960's rockhounding map given to my brother by the estate of an old timer who passed. People here on the board urged me to place claims but I didn't have the time or energy, (nor do I believe in the morality, validity, or ethics of claiming but that's a different story) and now what we have is a giant mess of greed and fighting led by the rarerocksandgems dot com guy Philip Stephenson. Phil writes on his website about how he found out about these hunting grounds when he stopped by and talked to the the old man at the closed rock shop, and saw a pile of the original Lahontan jasper the man has for sale. The old guy at the rock shop pointed him to the spot - and the result was Phil reviving the old Lahontanite claim and placing two new claims - Dead Camel and Red Falcon. Since that point many other's caught wind and new materials are coming out fast and furious - Mescalaro, Fire Ledge, Desert Fire, etc. According to my source, there is a lot of infighting and bitching and moaning occurring as Phil is apparently accusing others of jumping his claims. The reality is that Jeff's Mescalero (I can't vouch for the others) is coming from just outside of his claim zone - and the bigger reality is the entire mile-long ridge is practically made of rhyolite and it would be impossible to tell which named material is coming from which location. MOST of the material that I've collected on and around the ridge before all this started is really hit or miss on fracturing on the dendritic lines. I never had the equipment obviously to dig into the ground and locate the more stable material that now carries the Dead Camel Jasper name. As far as I can tell nobody has discovered my favorite outcrop that produces a small amount of Noreena look-alike if you are patient and weed through all the crappy float around the area.
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