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Post by vegasjames on Feb 11, 2023 20:19:39 GMT -5
I coming to the realization that correct I been giving the landscapers at the zoo grief Because no one knows what chryscholla is! Your in Arizona, The Copper State. Need to knohs these things Ha I’m like its common. Once you see it you’ll know it Then I scan the Zoo landscape & realize its pretty rare. Not at all common And even in my traillting I don’t spot lots of it Altho it must be abundant when found Now I actually wonder if my copper seam rock is actually chryscolla ? Or even if the seam is copper? O well it makes for a good story… Mostly I have some material that all tests say say it is turquoise. Hardness and density are too high for chrysocolla, but fit turquoise. I can dissolve it in hydrochloric acid, which chrysocolla does not. And when tested for phosphorus it tested very high in phosphorus, which is not found in chrysocolla. Yet, people still call it "chrysocolla". One guy down as Quartzite, who is supposed to be some type of geology "expert" just looked at ad called it "crapcolla". Must be in today's changing of terms that "expert" really means "ignoring evidence guesser" instead of relying on science and facts. I will post some pics in a minute of the material I am talking about.
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 11, 2023 20:26:42 GMT -5
Here are some examples of the material that is testing as turquoise from all the tests I ran so far. None of this had be stabilized, which again shows it is too hard to be chrysocolla, yet this is what people keep calling it without any tests whatsoever. Just looking at it because many of the self proclaimed "experts" clearly have no clue what chrysocolla is or how to differentiate it and other copper containing stones like turquoise.
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goldfinder
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 226
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Post by goldfinder on Feb 11, 2023 22:30:48 GMT -5
Here are some examples of the material that is testing as turquoise from all the tests I ran so far. None of this had be stabilized, which again shows it is too hard to be chrysocolla, yet this is what people keep calling it without any tests whatsoever. Just looking at it because many of the self proclaimed "experts" clearly have no clue what chrysocolla is or how to differentiate it and other copper containing stones like turquoise.
Dang that's some gorgeous looking material! Excellent jewelry as well! Was that from a known turquoise bearing area or had it just been overlooked as chrysocolla? I haven't heard of people misidentifying/selling turquoise as chrysocolla. Sounds pretty dumb on their part as it seems turquoise sells for a hefty premium over the random copper ores labeled as "chrysocolla". It does seem like any blue/green copper bearing rock get the name chrysocolla slapped on it. Thanks for the education!
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 12, 2023 3:13:59 GMT -5
Here are some examples of the material that is testing as turquoise from all the tests I ran so far. None of this had be stabilized, which again shows it is too hard to be chrysocolla, yet this is what people keep calling it without any tests whatsoever. Just looking at it because many of the self proclaimed "experts" clearly have no clue what chrysocolla is or how to differentiate it and other copper containing stones like turquoise.
Dang that's some gorgeous looking material! Excellent jewelry as well! Was that from a known turquoise bearing area or had it just been overlooked as chrysocolla? I haven't heard of people misidentifying/selling turquoise as chrysocolla. Sounds pretty dumb on their part as it seems turquoise sells for a hefty premium over the random copper ores labeled as "chrysocolla". It does seem like any blue/green copper bearing rock get the name chrysocolla slapped on it. Thanks for the education! This is from a Nevada copper mine. Often though the other copper minerals are much more abundant than the turquoise and they are not going to stop production to bring in someone to remove a small turquoise deposit. So the turquoise get crushed up with all the other copper minerals unless the mine is specifically looking for turquoise.
This is similar to what is going on up in Candelaria. Nevada. There is some really beautiful turquoise that has come from the mine there, but the mine was taken over by the gold mining companies. So now, all the turquoise gets crushed up as they are only interested in the gold.
Another factor is that many of the mines here in Nevada closed down back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Then more were shut down at the start of WWII as the government ordered all "non-essential" mines to be closed so the men can serve in the military instead. Many of the mine owners took such big financial losses that they could not afford to resume operations after the war ended. Therefore, a lot of the Nevada mines are still loaded with great stuff, and a few are starting to be reopened as metal prices increase.
Several other mines I know of, including a fluorite mine and a high grade coal mine here in Nevada closed after the railroad pulled out making transportation costs too costly.
Unfortunately a lot of mining is being blocked in Nevada and California by the BLM and military. For instance, if you look at the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California it goes off every which direction. They are not protecting a species of anything. The Mojave National preserve encompassed virtually every non-operating mine in Southern California originally. Then a few years ago they did another land grab taking another 22,000 acres that including a large number of more mines, some still under active claims.
Here in Southern Nevada a large number of old mines were encompassed in to the Lake Mead Recreational Area, and numerous preserves including the recently formed Tule Springs National Monument that actually runs all the way from Downtown Las Vegas to up by Indian Springs about 40 miles North of here. Now Biden is trying to form the Spirit Mountain National Preserve that will make mining in most of what little mining area in Southern Nevada off limits. The military already controls the majority of Nevada lands, and they getting ready to take over more around Fallon in Northern Nevada, which will include the famous Wonderstone Mountain, Dead Camel Mountains and Earthquake Fault, which are all prime mining and rock hounding sites.
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Post by vegasjames on Feb 12, 2023 3:24:34 GMT -5
Here is one of three 3 pound chunks I dug out. 20180908_150959 by James Sloane, on Flickr And here is the vein I was working on this came from:
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Post by fernwood on Feb 12, 2023 7:53:53 GMT -5
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 12, 2023 11:03:58 GMT -5
Variscite too? I really like variscite the best. /
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Post by fernwood on Feb 12, 2023 11:18:13 GMT -5
Variscite too? I really like variscite the best. / I have some of that and will post a photo.
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goldfinder
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 226
Member is Online
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Post by goldfinder on Feb 12, 2023 17:59:16 GMT -5
Dang that's some gorgeous looking material! Excellent jewelry as well! Was that from a known turquoise bearing area or had it just been overlooked as chrysocolla? I haven't heard of people misidentifying/selling turquoise as chrysocolla. Sounds pretty dumb on their part as it seems turquoise sells for a hefty premium over the random copper ores labeled as "chrysocolla". It does seem like any blue/green copper bearing rock get the name chrysocolla slapped on it. Thanks for the education! This is from a Nevada copper mine. Often though the other copper minerals are much more abundant than the turquoise and they are not going to stop production to bring in someone to remove a small turquoise deposit. So the turquoise get crushed up with all the other copper minerals unless the mine is specifically looking for turquoise.
This is similar to what is going on up in Candelaria. Nevada. There is some really beautiful turquoise that has come from the mine there, but the mine was taken over by the gold mining companies. So now, all the turquoise gets crushed up as they are only interested in the gold.
Another factor is that many of the mines here in Nevada closed down back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Then more were shut down at the start of WWII as the government ordered all "non-essential" mines to be closed so the men can serve in the military instead. Many of the mine owners took such big financial losses that they could not afford to resume operations after the war ended. Therefore, a lot of the Nevada mines are still loaded with great stuff, and a few are starting to be reopened as metal prices increase.
Several other mines I know of, including a fluorite mine and a high grade coal mine here in Nevada closed after the railroad pulled out making transportation costs too costly.
Unfortunately a lot of mining is being blocked in Nevada and California by the BLM and military. For instance, if you look at the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California it goes off every which direction. They are not protecting a species of anything. The Mojave National preserve encompassed virtually every non-operating mine in Southern California originally. Then a few years ago they did another land grab taking another 22,000 acres that including a large number of more mines, some still under active claims.
Here in Southern Nevada a large number of old mines were encompassed in to the Lake Mead Recreational Area, and numerous preserves including the recently formed Tule Springs National Monument that actually runs all the way from Downtown Las Vegas to up by Indian Springs about 40 miles North of here. Now Biden is trying to form the Spirit Mountain National Preserve that will make mining in most of what little mining area in Southern Nevada off limits. The military already controls the majority of Nevada lands, and they getting ready to take over more around Fallon in Northern Nevada, which will include the famous Wonderstone Mountain, Dead Camel Mountains and Earthquake Fault, which are all prime mining and rock hounding sites.
That's some excellent info and killer looking turquoise you were pulling from that vein! I grew up in the CA gold country and still have claims and mine there frequently. The same story for most of those mines. When executive order L-208 was issued, almost all mining came to a halt and never resumed. Except for a few lucky mines with complex ores that shifted their extraction towards war essential metals like lead, and we're able to continue mining. There was a nearby highly productive copper area that I've been thinking about checking out for any lapidary quality materials. A buddy accidentally found a multi ounce copper nugget metal detecting near there years ago so I think the deposits were relatively high grade. There isn't any documented turquoise for a long distance around but Mindat lists azurite and malachite as well as many others so it might be worthwhile seeing if there is anything of lapidary interest out there. Thanks again for the info!
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