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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 17, 2024 13:45:50 GMT -5
rockjunkie I have search/read several books I have to determine a location for strawberry quartz and looked it up in my old favorite lapidary materials book. It clearly states it’s from quartz crystals in Mexico. Aventurine in of all the books I looked into none of them listed any Pink or Purple. In this same book I posted it does list Sioux Quartzite from South Dakota nowhere did I find any other mention of red,pink or purple nothing in Canada! I don't know all that, but I do know the real stuff is hard to find and expensive. Gorgeous, too! What they are selling on eBay and elsewhere is clearly not the same thing.
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
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Member since November 2018
Posts: 1,196
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Post by dreamrocks on Jul 17, 2024 14:03:12 GMT -5
rockjunkie I have search/read several books I have to determine a location for strawberry quartz and looked it up in my old favorite lapidary materials book. It clearly states it’s from quartz crystals in Mexico. Aventurine in of all the books I looked into none of them listed any Pink or Purple. In this same book I posted it does list Sioux Quartzite from South Dakota nowhere did I find any other mention of red,pink or purple nothing in Canada! I don't know all that, but I do know the real stuff is hard to find and expensive. Gorgeous, too! What they are selling on eBay and elsewhere is clearly not the same thing. That piece I posted I think was from Brazil that’s what the guy that owns it told me. The gem dealer at the gem shop where he bought it goes to Brazil every winter to buy from the miners and he at one time used to mine with them before moving to the US. I also know him and I always get to see some nice facet crystals and other gem rough even nice specimens. At the gem shows in the last 20 years I have only seen that one cab and nothing else if I did I would have bought some. That cab was pricy to. A lot of eBay and other places are selling stuff that’s not what they claim it is. Facet material is a great example of that. I have been looking for facet andalusite for a few years it’s either garbage and clearly not gem facet material or not even suitable for cabs either or tiny pieces. But they claim it is. Ametrine is another example too I have seen it stated as coming from Brazil the problem with that is true ametrine comes from Bolivia anything else has been heat treated and is always clear and purplish blue. I know I bought some it’s not as good as I was told it was.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 17, 2024 14:07:22 GMT -5
I don't know all that, but I do know the real stuff is hard to find and expensive. Gorgeous, too! What they are selling on eBay and elsewhere is clearly not the same thing. That piece I posted I think was from Brazil that’s what the guy that owns it told me. The gem dealer at the gem shop where he bought it goes to Brazil every winter to buy from the miners and he at one time used to mine with them before moving to the US. I also know him and I always get to see some nice facet crystals and other gem rough even nice specimens. At the gem shows in the last 20 years I have only seen that one cab and nothing else if I did I would have bought some. That cab was pricy to. A lot of eBay and other places are selling stuff that’s not what they claim it is. Facet material is a great example of that. I have been looking for facet andalusite for a few years it’s either garbage and clearly not gem facet material or not even suitable for cabs either or tiny pieces. But they claim it is. Ametrine is another example too I have seen it stated as coming from Brazil the problem with that is true ametrine comes from Bolivia anything else has been heat treated and is always clear and purplish blue. I know I bought some it’s not as good as I was told it was. Awesome! Great friend to have.
I love andalusite. I used to have a gorgeous 2ct andalusite. I understand they don't get very heavy, so I counted myself lucky. I had quite a collection of faceted stones, but I made a trade for 99% of them. Still have some favorites.
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
I got lucky this morning and was able to post this no others since
Member since November 2018
Posts: 1,196
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Post by dreamrocks on Jul 17, 2024 14:12:17 GMT -5
I have a decent piece of rough and a couple small pieces and a small faceted one to. Kicking myself for not buying one of those ovals my gem dealer buddy had it was pricey and he hasn’t had any more of them.
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Post by rmf on Jul 17, 2024 14:15:02 GMT -5
a local landscape ctr use to sell the stuff in Chattanooga. They said it was from Canada. They also had some yellowish material but the color did not impress me.
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Post by cabby on Jul 17, 2024 14:42:44 GMT -5
dreamrocks it is unlikely to be listed in a book because Wisconsin doesn’t seem to exist, but there is another formation very similar to Sioux quartzite in Barron county, WI. Barron quartzite ranges from pink to purple, and can be anywhere from an abnormally hard sandstone to a slightly grainy quartzite. The Barron quartzite formation also has pipestone, like the Sioux quartzite. Barron quartzite is one of the most common stones that the glaciers dumped on my property 😁 I believe that Baraboo quartzite, also Wisconsin, is often purple as well.
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dreamrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
I got lucky this morning and was able to post this no others since
Member since November 2018
Posts: 1,196
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Post by dreamrocks on Jul 17, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -5
dreamrocks it is unlikely to be listed in a book because Wisconsin doesn’t seem to exist, but there is another formation very similar to Sioux quartzite in Barron county, WI. Barron quartzite ranges from pink to purple, and can be anywhere from an abnormally hard sandstone to a slightly grainy quartzite. The Barron quartzite formation also has pipestone, like the Sioux quartzite. Barron quartzite is one of the most common stones that the glaciers dumped on my property 😁 I believe that Baraboo quartzite, also Wisconsin, is often purple as well. cabby Wisconsin don’t really exist in any books?
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Post by cabby on Jul 17, 2024 15:11:38 GMT -5
Good point, but we have more than lakers, I SWEAR!!! 😆 I’ve been able to find plenty of book options for Lake Superior region, especially agates, but references to other things in Wisconsin are very scarce. I think it’s because most mineral deposits are located through mining, which Wisconsin didn’t have as much of as many other places. Iron ore surveys of my area from the 50s basically concluded that the extensive deposits of glacial material made it too difficult to determine if there are deposits worth mining, so wrote the entire area off.
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