icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 11, 2015 9:30:55 GMT -5
How did you manage to get in the mine? My understanding is that it was washed in and gated off and not accessible to collectors. I went in the mid 90s. Serious 4WD driving on very narrow, scary rocky roads. Like, a couple mph. There was a little chain across the main entry way. Wouldn't stop anyone. I would assume by now that it's pretty secured. Haven't been there since.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 11, 2015 9:28:30 GMT -5
I think I might climb down that ladder if those were waiting at the bottom! They are quite beautiful. I'm curious icatz, is that what they looked like right from the ground or did you do any serious cleaning on these specimens? ~Roland They're exactly as my little hands picked them up. I wouldn't do a thing to them, except wash off a little dust. Remember, they were 150 feet underground, so nothing really got to them. No sun, heat, rain. The Aurichalcite needles are quite fragile. I got maybe 5 pounds of material. They're wrapped up in a crate outside.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 11, 2015 9:26:52 GMT -5
serious specimens! your hard to keep up with! I see all those mine threads A Superior mine ? Historic! I can only imagine how second thoughts must have entered your head climbing down a rickety ladder I was bashful about mentioning the Lost Dutchman now you can tell me a thing or two Ed I love mines, but mainly just root through the tailings. There are a lot of famous mines up there, including the sleeping beauty turquoise stuff a little closer to Globe (just up the road). They're all copper mines which closed down when the prices dropped. Between Superior and Globe are also silver mines. The landscape is pretty wrecked (think Pinto Creek).
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 11, 2015 9:23:00 GMT -5
very interesting stuff. are the crystals brittle? Yes! You can't make jewelry from it. Some forms are more cubic and harder, but tend to be small.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 10, 2015 8:02:19 GMT -5
Opalized Wood from the Royal Peacock. 45 carats I found this as I was walking by and bent over to pick up a piece of trash. WOW! Look at all that gorgeous opal flash!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 10, 2015 7:48:02 GMT -5
The Rowley Mine is world famous for its Wulfenite (one of my fave minerals). I went back in the 1800s, when you could go there and collect to your heart's content Just a few samples I found at the opening. Was too scared to go further. That mine is extremely unstable and floods. It's privately owned now and you need special permission to just sift through the tailings. I have more photos, just have to find them. Will add more if I do.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 10, 2015 7:40:34 GMT -5
It was quite an experience. I was with 5 geologist friends and we went to the old 79 mine, north of Superior, AZ. Descended down a ladder I was certain was from the 1800s and would give way any second. Scared out of my mind. I know you're never supposed to go down abandoned mines. When you live here, it's beaten into your head. But these guys were seasoned pros who had been down many times. We ended up in a large dug-out room and took turns with our hammers. Didn't take much. It was quite dark except for our lights, and when we turned down the lights it was like seeing stars everywhere, there were so many crystals in the walls and ceiling. I calmed down after awhile and it was a great time, but I'll never do it again. This is some of what I collected. Aurichalcite Hemimorphite Not sure... Also not sure... Hemimorphite Hemimorphite
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 10, 2015 7:05:25 GMT -5
McKellips just north of the 202 freeway out by the casino Arizona it drive right through the salt river park on the right side of the road easy access lots of rocks!!!! I dig there for gold well I just poke holes with my hammer but I figure if there ant truth to Lost Dutchman some of that gold broke loose and is alluvial down from the Superstitions Mountains don't get me started on the Hohokam Indians but keep your eyes open! what's your name? Thanks for the directions! I figure there has to be some good stuff there washed down from the mines up north. Not really looking for gold, but I bet there's some good specimens in there. Maybe silver? Unfortunately, they might be too eroded from water/other rocks/floods to be great specimens. My name is Staci. What's yours?
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 10, 2015 6:57:16 GMT -5
Took a bit of fiddling, but got it to work from Flickr. Thank you!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 22:13:23 GMT -5
Azurite crystals with Malachite needles. Amazing. From a mine in Mexico.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 21:45:44 GMT -5
About 90 minutes from here, up in the mountains, is an area called the Mogollon Rim. This area is so rich with fossils. They're in the Pennsylvania layer, 350m - 400m years old. There's even an area called "Paleo Site" right off the 260 where they have a big parking area and you can collect to your heart's content. Found a shark's tooth there. Here are some pics. The ones with individual corals are from other areas nearby and north of Payson. The one with the slab is a piece of the ocean floor from the Paleo site, chock full of fossils. Hard to believe it snows up there (frozen fingers at times) and is over a mile high with a huge forest. This was at the edge of the giant inland sea in the US a jillion years ago before the massive upheavals which became the Rim. Sea bed from Paleo siteFrom East Verde River, north of PaysonFrom wash off the 260Just north of PaysonI just realized that this time period was right after one of the great mass extinctions. The 3rd?
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 21:43:07 GMT -5
have you ever hounded in the Salt River? I have quite often. One place I access it is off McKellips Can park right in the dry river bed. I'm not much of a rock hound so I probably over look lots But would imagine it as lots of migrated rocks & things.. I drive by there often and would LOVE to hound there. But I never see an area to pull off, park and get behind the fence. McKellips and what? I'll have a closer look in the next few days. Thank you!
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 21:37:26 GMT -5
WOW! You're doing that with just basic tools? I can only imagine where you will go with a bench. Thanks! Necessity is the mother of invention. Problem is, nowhere to have a studio or even have a bench. 8 months of the year it's too hot to work outside. If I work outside when it's getting to be cooler, around dusk, I get attacked by mosquitoes. I have a shed, but no a/c, windows or room. I have an old house and they didn't have so much stuff in 1945, so almost no storage space. So, you do what you do.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 8:02:34 GMT -5
I no nothing about what you're doing so I can't give you any cc, but those are some nice looking pieces and having done them with minimalist tools you've don't a great job!!!! Keep at it!!! Btw, the larger the apparent light source the gentler the lighting. Depends on the gear you're using, of course....a point-n-shoot with fixed flash you could put a piece of wadded up tissue paper in front of the flash to scatter the light a bit. Or, you could put an index card at an angle in front of the flash to bounce the flash towards the ceiling for "bounce light" lighting...the larger patch of light on the ceiling (white ceiling best, naturally) would increase your apparent light size by trillions. For a DSLR you have other options...off camera flash, etc.,. For both camera types, available light from a north facing window (or a south facing window that is in open shade/shadow)is very gentle and flattering but you might want to secure the camera on a steady surface or tripod. Trial and error, basically. Overall your images are pretty good and definitely convey your workmanship! Nice! Thanks for the great suggestions, Ed. I used to be a photographer 100 years ago, with an SLR. Now I can't remember what F-stop means. But I will try your suggestions in future. And thanks for the nice comments
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 7:52:39 GMT -5
Found this in a desert area right in the middle of Phoenix. I took it to some geologists and they said it was coral, and it was impossible that I found it as there is no limestone formation in Maricopa County. Sure there's limestone in Maricopa County, Arizona--just not a whole lot of it. First, there's a localized exposure of sedimentary Paleozoic/Mesozoic (mapped as undivided) limestone-bearing formations in the Harquahala Mountains northwest of Phoenix. See the geologic map of Maricopa County over at Geologic Map Of Maricopa County, Arizona, prepared by Arizona Bureau of Mines, University Of Arizona. The limestones lie within that blue patch labeled PMu in the Harquahala Mountains. Also, there are exposures of the Devonian Martin Limestone in extreme eastern Maricopa County near the Superstition Mountains.
Great info. But this was right near Oak and 64th streets in Phoenix.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 7:51:11 GMT -5
Awesome coral! Like Tom said, it's truly amazing whats been hauled all over by man's activities. We have gravel yards here locally with rocks and fossils from all over that end up in folks' yards. I've also found camps or even quite isolated spots on the California desert where there are rocks foreign to the area strewn all over or even in piles. One also has to remember that during pluvial periods, many river drainages were truly monstrous and transported material for hundreds of miles or more. Texas gravel beds are a good example. The gravels of the ancient Rio grande and other south Texas rivers are full of stuff from agate beds all over west Texas and northern Mexico.....Mel Some of my best finds have been in parking lots! No joking. I have a real quartz curiosity to post that I found behind the parking area of our hotel in Flagstaff, and a large amount of obsidian from someone's driveway! Granted, this driveway was right next to a well-known obsidian collecting ground, which was covered in 3' of snow, so I stuck to collecting from some guy's driveway. He didn't mind. The obsidian was everywhere.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 7:47:50 GMT -5
If you found the specimen in a remote area, and someone said it wasn't supposed to be there, I'd suspect you made a scientific discovery, . . . . but when you find something weird in an urban area its highly likely that its an artifact of man's activity. If you really want to take credit for a discovery and contribution to the geology of Phoenix, you will need to go back out there and find a geological stratum of limestone with coral or one hundred other pieces that look like they were naturally deposited or transported there and not dumped from an end loader. Much is not natural in urban areas, and even rocks can be alien. Just thinking. Tom Not really prepared to do that much work. I just pick up what i see on the ground. Yes it was a strange find, but because of its location it's unlikely due to man's intervention. Basically, a desert lot behind the National Guard. I've found a few interesting things there from time to time. Chalcedony, drusy. Not much, not often. There is a little half mountain there, maybe it's washing down from inside that.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 7:38:57 GMT -5
Started teaching myself metalsmithing a few years ago. On and off. Big learning curve as you all know, especially with no studio, bench, benchpin, etc. I use my kitchen counter to solder and my little dremel and my hands to polish/file. The most basic setup in the world. But here are some recent pieces. Sorry for the flash on them. You'll probably notice I like using my drywall nail starter to make little circle decorations. So many things in the tool drawer are great for designs on metal. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks! Metalsmithing
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 9, 2015 6:20:32 GMT -5
Beautiful silver work. Love the edging.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 7, 2015 7:02:49 GMT -5
About 90 minutes from here, up in the mountains, is an area called the Mogollon Rim. This area is so rich with fossils. They're in the Pennsylvania layer, 350m - 400m years old. There's even an area called "Paleo Site" right off the 260 where they have a big parking area and you can collect to your heart's content. Found a shark's tooth there. Here are some pics. The ones with individual corals are from other areas nearby and north of Payson. The one with the slab is a piece of the ocean floor from the Paleo site, chock full of fossils. Hard to believe it snows up there (frozen fingers at times) and is over a mile high with a huge forest. This was at the edge of the giant inland sea in the US a jillion years ago before the massive upheavals which became the Rim. Sea bed from Paleo siteFrom East Verde River, north of PaysonFrom wash off the 260Just north of Payson
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