julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Apr 25, 2019 14:39:46 GMT -5
I was told it was "chrysocolla" by my friend who collected it. How can I better describe it?
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fishnpinball
Cave Dweller
So much to learn, so little time
Member since March 2017
Posts: 1,491
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Post by fishnpinball on Apr 25, 2019 15:19:00 GMT -5
Looks like beautiful azurite. Would love to find something like that, congratulations.
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Post by miket on Apr 25, 2019 16:02:48 GMT -5
I know how else you can describe it... Beautiful.
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 460
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Post by jimaz on Apr 25, 2019 16:04:07 GMT -5
That's a very nice piece of material. I find some chrysocolla, and occasionally some low quality malachite, but nothing anywhere near as nice as that.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 25, 2019 16:26:44 GMT -5
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 25, 2019 16:55:48 GMT -5
Beautiful. I lover copper ores.
Hate when people use the generic term "chrysocolla" though as this leads to confusion. Chrysocolla is a copper silicate and too soft to really be cabbed without stabilization. Many people though loosely use the name chrysocolla to name any unidentified copper ores.
What you have is mix of copper minerals. The glassy dark blue looks more like turquoise. The bright blue looks like rosasite and the dark blue in the spot on the right is azurite. Those are your copper minerals. Herd to tell from the pic, but the reddish brown is most likely cuprite (copper oxide) or could possibly be limonite (mix of iron oxides and hydroxides). Cuprite is generally reddish brown to black. Limonite is generally shades of brown to black. The matrix looks most likely like calcite. Often copper ores are found in a matrix of dolomite and calcite. Crystal structure looks too fine to be dolomite though. If you have a scrap piece of the white area you can put a drop of acid on it to see if it fizzes. If it does this would indicate calcite. Even though calcite and dolomite are both calcium carbonate dolomite will only fizzes easily when finely powdered first.
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Post by rmf on Apr 26, 2019 4:12:47 GMT -5
Chrysocolla is a hydrated copper phyllosilicate mineral with formula: Cu2−ₓAlₓ(OH)₄·nH₂O or (Cu, Al)₂H₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄·nH₂O. The structure of the mineral has been questioned, as spectrographic studies suggest material identified as chrysocolla may be a mixture of the copper hydroxide spertiniite and chalcedony. Usually Chryscolla has a bit more green due to the copper ions Cu+ as opposed to Azurite that is blue due to Cu++ ion I would say your cab has azurite in it due to the color. Still a copper ore.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
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Post by Tommy on Apr 26, 2019 8:53:57 GMT -5
It's beautiful Julie! Nice work on the cab. If it were mine to sell I would probably describe it as chrysocolla quartz without a lot of elaboration. It's my understanding that this piece came from the same region (by way of catmandewe ) according to the person I got the slab from. The Quartz is a little more pronounced in mine but I'm betting the makeup is very similar to yours.
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julieooly
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Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Apr 26, 2019 9:24:44 GMT -5
Thanks! I'll go with chrysocolla quartz for the title then all the fancy stuff can go down below. So what's it worth? 2.71g 29 x 18 x 4mm I have it listed at 26$ free shipping.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Apr 26, 2019 11:01:09 GMT -5
So what's it worth? 2.71g 29 x 18 x 4mm I have it listed at 26$ free shipping. That sounds like a decent place to start - I would probably start somewhere in the mid thirties just on general principle. My general state of mind is that my hand crafted work is worth more than $30 or I wouldn't be doing it. I never never make a piece that I don't honestly think will sell for $30 or above. You are probably well versed on this already but I'm a firm believer in perceived value. When I cannot sell a piece it's because I have devalued it in the eyes of the potential customer it by pricing it too low or posting unflattering photos. It's a process that occurs within the first few seconds of a customer laying eyes on the product. More than a handful of times I have taken a piece that is slow to sell, changed the photos around to the most flattering one up front, raised the cost and relisted it as new and boom, it sold.
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Tommy
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Member since January 2013
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Post by Tommy on Apr 26, 2019 11:10:08 GMT -5
You are probably well versed on this already but I'm a firm believer in perceived value. When I cannot sell a piece it's because I have devalued it in the eyes of the potential customer it by pricing it too low or posting unflattering photos. It's a process that occurs within the first few seconds of a customer laying eyes on the product. More than a handful of times I have taken a piece that is slow to sell, changed the photos around to the most flattering one up front, raised the cost and relisted it as new and boom, it sold. After writing my last post I looked at my store and realized that the piece I showed here was priced at $27. As an experiment to make my point I just now changed the photos and relisted it as new at $36 so lets see what happens
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julieooly
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Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Apr 26, 2019 12:13:26 GMT -5
I agree with your thoughts BUT I only have an handful of stars and sales on Etsy. I make the assumption that buyers won’t pay top dollar from an inexperienced seller. I invite anyone with a trained eye and general knowledge to critique my listings (through Etsy please) for price, composition, description etc. sunshinescabshoppe
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 26, 2019 15:22:04 GMT -5
I agree with your thoughts BUT I only have an handful of stars and sales on Etsy. I make the assumption that buyers won’t pay top dollar from an inexperienced seller. I invite anyone with a trained eye and general knowledge to critique my listings (through Etsy please) for price, composition, description etc. sunshinescabshoppe While that is true about being new- and I have thought so, too- remember: If your customers get used to low prices, they may run away when you start raising them. I think it is probably better to start in a higher range than a lower range. I'm with Tommy- I think it's attractive in the 30.00 - 35 range. It's a beautiful cab and beautiful material.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 26, 2019 15:35:51 GMT -5
I meant to add- I have taken to calling these copper stones a copper complex stone ala vegasjames. Like a chrysocilla copper complex cab. I just finished a GORGEOUS stone from some rough I got from him, but damned if I know what is in it. It's all copper stuff. I'll be posting it later for him to id, but I am learning from him. I believe it is cuprite, quartz (probably calcite, but not dolomite) and rosasite. Before, I would have just called it a chrysocolla and been done with it. But, that rosasite it just too damned pretty not to make a name for itself.
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julieooly
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Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Apr 26, 2019 16:03:15 GMT -5
Tommy I have also heard that 30$ point from others, but many of my cabs are under 30mm. I'd love more direct input from you if you're interested. No pressure, but please! lol @rockjunkie let's make up a new name? did you mean to spell that chryso-cillia? I actually decided to call this cab "Azurite - Mixed Copper Ores" Maybe we can make up some new word using the first letter of each mineral like ChryAzRoCuTurquartz sounds good to me. Or Turquartz that's fun! I've bumped up my prices a bit, (especially considering I'm mailing with tracking which isn't something I want to change) I guess I need a solid price-point for those common materials under 30mm, and to work myself into the 30+ range for those that are larger. I've been following both Tela and Tommy and there's another shop by a guy named Mark out of Illinois "EarthlyIcons" His cabs are drop dead gorgeous and his prices reflect it. Not sure if he's in this forum, he was quite friendly when I asked him about his photography.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 26, 2019 17:08:42 GMT -5
I meant to add- I have taken to calling these copper stones a copper complex stone ala vegasjames . Like a chrysocilla copper complex cab. I just finished a GORGEOUS stone from some rough I got from him, but damned if I know what is in it. It's all copper stuff. I'll be posting it later for him to id, but I am learning from him. I believe it is cuprite, quartz (probably calcite, but not dolomite) and rosasite. Before, I would have just called it a chrysocolla and been done with it. But, that rosasite it just too damned pretty not to make a name for itself. I agree. I love the rosasite, such an intense bright blue. I cannot remember what mine the ore came from I sent you. I would have to see it. One mine has rosasite and bromargyrite (silver bromide) so I can tell that mine from those minerals. And the other mine I commonly go to is mainly dioptase, malachite and cuprite.
Dolomite is a common matrix at all the copper mines here with lesser amounts of quartz and calcite. The dolomite can give a really cool effect though as the crystals tend to be large and give the cabs a flash when moved around in the light.
It is very rare to find individual copper minerals at the mines. I have found some neatly 100 pound chunks of malachite but the vast majority of stuff is a mix of various copper bearing minerals (azurite, malachite, rosasite, covalite, cuprite, dioptase, chrysocolla, turquoise, etc.) in various matrixes (usually dolomite and calcite with minor quartz and occasionally a purplish quartz). There are about a dozen different copper minerals that come from the mines out here, many of which most people have never heard of. That is why I hate it being referred to "chrysocolla' as a generic term. And again that leads to confusion. I usually just call it copper ore, but I like your term of copper complex stone better.
Here is an example of one of the stones I pulled from a local mine where you can see the variety of copper minerals within the same stone:
These are from the same mine:
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 26, 2019 17:13:08 GMT -5
WOW!!! Those are awesome!!!
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 26, 2019 17:37:44 GMT -5
WOW!!! Those are awesome!!! That was the mine that had the big snake in the back that scared the hell out of Jax and I when it started LOUDLY hissing.
We were in the back of the mine in the mine and all of a sudden it sounded like someone was releasing the pressure on an air compressor. The snake did that continuously the entire time I was in there. I made Jax sit at the opening to the mine while I collected to make sure she did not get close to the snake.
Unfortunately there was not much material in the main part of the mine, but what I did find was spectacular. Some day I would like to haul my climbing gear up there and bring someone with me and check the lower levels. It is a long hike though across the desert then up to the top of a canyon to reach the mine.
Found a lot of great specimens and turquoise along the mule trail heading up to the mine and at the old homestead location.
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 714
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Post by julieooly on Apr 26, 2019 17:38:52 GMT -5
WHERE! is the drool emoji?
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 26, 2019 17:42:35 GMT -5
drooling
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