peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jun 7, 2019 18:52:51 GMT -5
I came across a bag of natural zircon crystals. Each crystal roughly pea-sized. Nice color, sort of an orange or blood-orange. They are too small to cab, so I presume I must have bought them years ago with the intention of tumbling them. Has anyone else tumbled this material? Any tips?
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
|
Post by peachfront on Jun 8, 2019 9:27:58 GMT -5
I came across a bag of natural zircon crystals. Each crystal roughly pea-sized. Nice color, sort of an orange or blood-orange. They are too small to cab, so I presume I must have bought them years ago with the intention of tumbling them. Has anyone else tumbled this material? Any tips? It's too hard for me to upload pictures now to do it quickly but it's this color, only of course it's uncut crystals: photo of zircon from Mineral MinersMaybe I should resell to a faceter but I wouldn't know what to charge.
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2019 11:48:11 GMT -5
I would sell the pieces with good crystal faces and the pieces with good clarity as-is (either individually or in small groups). As you said, likely worth more to a mineral collector or faceter in that form.
I haven't tumbled zircons myself, but if you decide to tumble the highly included and broken pieces, you could probably put them in with pieces of a similar hardness but of another color (e.g., garnet) to make it easier to sort them once done, plus some filler to cushion.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jun 9, 2019 13:27:41 GMT -5
I would sell the pieces with good crystal faces and the pieces with good clarity as-is (either individually or in small groups). As you said, likely worth more to a mineral collector or faceter in that form. I haven't tumbled zircons myself, but if you decide to tumble the highly included and broken pieces, you could probably put them in with pieces of a similar hardness but of another color (e.g., garnet) to make it easier to sort them once done, plus some filler to cushion. They're not heavily included. They're just tiny.
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Post by greig on Jun 9, 2019 20:33:57 GMT -5
I love zircon, but have to warn you that it is somewhat radioactive where I find them. So if you tumble them, wash up afterwards and try not to inhale dust. I have not tumbled any and just like the look of them as crystals.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jun 10, 2019 12:09:49 GMT -5
I love zircon, but have to warn you that it is somewhat radioactive where I find them. So if you tumble them, wash up afterwards and try not to inhale dust. I have not tumbled any and just like the look of them as crystals. Seriously? Am I going to die now? I think that bag has been lurking in my desk drawer for years!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2019 12:52:01 GMT -5
They're not heavily included. They're just tiny. For clean material, anything that might yield a 1+ ct stone might better be sold as facet/cab material. Tumbling will just make them smaller. Yes, some zircon can be radioactive (many gem materials are to one extent or another), and zircon can vary from almost imperceptible to showing some radioactivity, depending on its age. Measuring zircon radioactivity is one of the ways the age of rocks is determined. Absent a spendy Geiger counter, an inexpensive radon detector can be used to check for high levels if you are concerned.
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