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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 3:47:37 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 6:12:46 GMT -5
I see you had company this time.  Jax looks plumb tuckered out in some of those pics. |
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Post by victor1941 on Mar 17, 2024 8:52:05 GMT -5
Great pictures as always. Jax looks like he really enjoys these trips and has no problem relaxing when needed. What are the dark crystals in the mine picture? Also, when you have time I think many in RTH would enjoy a photo trip with your best mine/landscape pictures. If you do please include Jax because you always have some great captures.
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Post by chris1956 on Mar 17, 2024 10:24:26 GMT -5
You need to bring a matt along for Jax to sleep on. Those rocks are hard and sharp. |
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 13:19:37 GMT -5
I see you had company this time. Jax looks plumb tuckered out in some of those pics. Yes, the first trip our club was scouting around to find places for field trips so I led the way to several mines and one other area on the flat. They all went back before the last mine, which I wanted to go back and look for more druzy, which is common there, but way up in the mountains. So mu friend riding with me wanted druzy as well, so we went up. Was too late in the day to really see the druzy very easy, but was finding some green and some yellow stones I did not know what they were, and one with clear crystals on the face, which all turned out to be collector minerals of lead.
Just before leaving, I saw a small black stone and grabbed it. Was rather surprised at how heavy it was, so figured it must be something good. Started looking for more, and managed to find 3 pounds of the stones, which filled a sandwich bag. Turned out to be acanthite (silver sulfide), which about 87% silver, but is also a highly sought after mineral specimen.
My rock hounding buddies had called and wanted to go somewhere, so I told them about the mine and we went back. Found a lot more of the acanthite as well as galena and some other specimens.
Found the shaft as well, which they had tried to hide, so we dug it out and I went in to explore since we had two vehicles this time in case of an emergency. Found a couple nice veins of acanthite and was able to chip a lot of it off and found more on the floor.
Was surprised at there was water dripping through the ceiling in a couple of locations, which has to be from the recent snow melt still working its way through the ground, which also explains all of the mud in the back in the mine you can see in the pics.
Yes, Jax was worn out, especially from whining while I was in the mine. She was upset because she does not like me being out of her sight, and she loves exploring mines and caves. Would have been too hard getting her in and out though with the steep, narrow opening. So, she sat there are whined the entire time i was in there.
Jax is in all the outside photos above. She is rather hard to spot in some of them because if how she blends. Same reason we play the "Where's Jax" games on the heeler boards, where people try to find her in the photos.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 13:53:21 GMT -5
Victor1941, The black is mainly actanthite (silver sulfide), although some may also be galena. They look a lot alike and very similar densities and they can occur together (argentiferous galena,). I want to go back and get that piece. Had to hike to the mine and I did not bring a chisel, so I could not get it off the ceiling. And I did not feel like hiking back to the truck to get the chisel. Had enough to carry back in my backpack as it was. In fact, backpack straps ripped and gave way going back about 50 feet from the truck throwing me down to the ground since the hip strap was still intact. That extra weight would not have been good. Next trip there I will definitely bring the chisel and a new backpack because that was a great specimen piece. Jax is in all the outside photos above. You just have to look very closely to spot her in some of them as she blends in very well with the terrain, and her coat changes color with the lighting. Here is an example where you can see her coat looking more red with the sunset.  |
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 14:13:51 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 14:39:55 GMT -5
I found her in all but 1, I think.
So, will you refine your silver? Or, keep it as a specimen?
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realrockhound
Cave Dweller 
Chucking leaverite at tweekers
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4,483
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Post by realrockhound on Mar 17, 2024 14:45:15 GMT -5
What’s you’re hounding seasons like out in that terrain? I’d imagine dead of summer are your off seasons? Already looks super warm and dry out there. It’s pretty dry and arid out here so summer months for me are 5am to 12pm max.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 15:15:11 GMT -5
I found her in all but 1, I think.
So, will you refine your silver? Or, keep it as a specimen?
Specimens. They are worth massively more as specimens than refined. my smallest piece is a little larger than a pea and is worth around $300. Refined for the silver maybe $10-15. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 15:18:29 GMT -5
I found her in all but 1, I think.
So, will you refine your silver? Or, keep it as a specimen?
Specimens. They are worth massively more as specimens than refined. my smallest piece is a little larger than a pea and is worth around $300. Refined for the silver maybe $10-15. Oh damn, I had no idea the value as a specimen!! So, you had a pretty lucrative time. Cool! |
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 15:25:36 GMT -5
What’s you’re hounding seasons like out in that terrain? I’d imagine dead of summer are your off seasons? Already looks super warm and dry out there. It’s pretty dry and arid out here so summer months for me are 5am to 12pm max. When it gets hot here, such as summer I usually go further North to either the Goldfield District here in Southern Nevada, which is around a 6,000' elevation and so cooler, or I go to Northern Nevada.
Only dug in the lower elevations of Southern Nevada twice in the summer. Once it was 104F and I dug for 14 hours, but that was before having Jax. She does not like the heat. Cold does not bother her at all though. One trip I was out digging and it was only 17F and Jax was running all over the place exploring and having a blast.
The other time was when a member here came out to visit in the middle of summer so I took her and her companions out to a local copper mine before it is was claimed. It was 108F, but they still wanted to go so we went out to the mine and camped overnight getting in two days of digging.
The other option is sometimes when it is hot, there are some mines I can work inside of where is remains nice and cool.
The real intense heat though, such as up around 118F, does not last long here usually. Maybe a week or 2, and last year we had a real mild summer. I don't think it ever got above 112F. And the mountainous areas are generally 10 degrees or so cooler, so there are generally places to go when it is hot, but not excessively hot.
Personally, the heat does not bother me much. It is the cold I do not like.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 17, 2024 15:33:44 GMT -5
Specimens. They are worth massively more as specimens than refined. my smallest piece is a little larger than a pea and is worth around $300. Refined for the silver maybe $10-15. Oh damn, I had no idea the value as a specimen!! So, you had a pretty lucrative time. Cool! Yes, that is what I kept trying to get across to my friends. Specimens bring way more money than lapidary material. That is why I went back to that mine even though it is so hard to reach. There are a variety of valuable collector specimens there, and I got the blue barite from near there, which also is very expensive as a collector's mineral.
To get an idea, look at some of the mineral collectors sites such as DakotaMatrix.com For example, one of the minerals I was digging there was mottramite. Scroll down on this page and look what that specimen is selling for:
Many of the specimens they sell are very small and still bring big bucks.
This is why I look for specimens whenever I can, such as the uranium ore specimens I have also dug for. There are collectors of radioactive and toxic minerals as well, and they pay a lot of money for those specimens.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 15:41:28 GMT -5
Thank you very much for that. I was ignorant because I never collected specimens. I've seen some beautiful ones, though.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,240
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Post by quartzilla on Mar 17, 2024 15:46:46 GMT -5
Killer finds and looks like the sights were just as good as the rocks! Jax is quite the rock hound.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 15:49:54 GMT -5
Dang, that link is phenomenal!!!! I love that green one. The color is a dead ringer for gaspeite and the plume/fronds are perfect. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 17, 2024 16:00:39 GMT -5
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Mar 20, 2024 10:03:42 GMT -5
Jax! He's super cute in every picture - even when he's sleeping on the job  . I wish I had somewhere wide and open like this to go hound. What a fun experience. One day.... |
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 20, 2024 16:46:03 GMT -5
Jax! He's super cute in every picture - even when he's sleeping on the job . I wish I had somewhere wide and open like this to go hound. What a fun experience. One day.... Actually Jax is a girl. Her original name was Trixie. When I adopted her though, I picked her up in the women's prison where she had been for 4 months. The prisoners had renamed her Jax, which I liked better and she was chipped under that name. So, I kept the name Jax.
There was a female singer on American Idol around that time named Jax, so I think that it where they came up with the name.
Nevada has a lot of interesting places to go. If you get out to Las Vegas some time when the weather is good let me know and I can show you some places. Have taken a couple of members from here out on trips to the local mines.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Mar 21, 2024 7:16:56 GMT -5
Jax! He's super cute in every picture - even when he's sleeping on the job . I wish I had somewhere wide and open like this to go hound. What a fun experience. One day.... Actually Jax is a girl. Her original name was Trixie. When I adopted her though, I picked her up in the women's prison where she had been for 4 months. The prisoners had renamed her Jax, which I liked better and she was chipped under that name. So, I kept the name Jax.
There was a female singer on American Idol around that time named Jax, so I think that it where they came up with the name.
Nevada has a lot of interesting places to go. If you get out to Las Vegas some time when the weather is good let me know and I can show you some places. Have taken a couple of members from here out on trips to the local mines.
Oooh! Sorry Jax!! We had a boy Jax so my mind just went there. I absolutely love the prison programs. I think it's so beneficial for the inmates but more so for the dogs!! Very cool. That would be awesome and I will do that if we ever get out that way. I know hubby would love to bring his RZR west some day. Thanks!! |
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Jax looks plumb tuckered out in some of those pics. 
. I wish I had somewhere wide and open like this to go hound. What a fun experience. One day....
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