Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 28, 2012 20:34:14 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Am a bit bored and lazy after riding this afternoon so I've been sorting my pics. Some of you old timers may have seen some of these but some of the newer folks maybe not so I thought I'd post a few of my favorite self collected jasper slabs. All these are from the area around our old ranch .....Mel Sierra Primrose Jasper. This variety of jasper outcropped on our ranch and our neighbors place. It's found as nodules in matrix or loose in the soil. Nodules as found loose on the surface: Stinky Horse Hole Jasper. Most the jasper form this hole was jaspelite with no orbs but some had poppies and was kind of similar to Primrose material. Another Primrose look alike but from way further down canyon n a single little hole I dug. Was odd but this Firefly Jasper deposit was found in a pit I dug not twenty feet away from the previous example and shares no common characteristics at all. This is one of my favorite Hornitos jaspers to cab and is much more solid than most the other types. Found as float and never found where it came from: This variety came from a pit between the glory hole and the stinky horse hole and was almost totally worked out. Only a few pieces., mostly tumblers remained. It was amazing how much jasper from this location changed in just a few feet. The old Sierra Jasper ( Hornitos brecciated Jasper) was just across the road and down a bit from the glory hole. Few poppies in the hole but nice weird breccia and some sort of snowflake stuff. Three examples: And finally, material from the glory hole. This first type my buddy Tom calls the Holy Grail of poppy jasper. Got more varieties from back a bit closer to our ranch but haven't got to those pics yet. Might post more later.
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by darrad on Dec 28, 2012 21:22:48 GMT -5
The brecciated examples are really interesting, particularly the first one. Is it pretty solid?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 28, 2012 22:04:37 GMT -5
Dave: Yes, the brecciated varieties are much more solid than most the poppy types. The firefly is very solid too as are the Cosmos vein examples I've not yet pictured....Mel
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Geoff
spending too much on rocks
Please add 1074 to my post number.
Member since December 2012
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Post by Geoff on Dec 28, 2012 22:07:04 GMT -5
Love it! Very nice reds. Also, Stinky Horse Hole is a very dirty sounding name...
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Post by christopherl1234 on Dec 28, 2012 22:46:19 GMT -5
Must have been fun finding all those varieties!
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
Purveyors of California Gem Rock
Member since September 2011
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Dec 28, 2012 23:06:54 GMT -5
Mel, now I KNOW we'll be spending some time doing roadside and culvert collecting up in that area this year! We've caught Poppy Fever! };D
Kris
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
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Post by itsandbits on Dec 29, 2012 3:14:50 GMT -5
amazing variety for a small area does the red stuff make a lot of messy red snot? You say some is more solid than others; are you talking pits and voids or agatization? I'm finding a lot of silified red poppyish material up here but haven't cut a lot of it yet but some is more prone to cavities than others. Most runs to 6-7 mohs.
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Dec 29, 2012 5:47:24 GMT -5
Wow! I love them all! Awesome reds & patterns!
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carloscinco
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Post by carloscinco on Dec 29, 2012 8:53:47 GMT -5
Great, bright colors and forms. The jasper out of the glory hole is just fantastic.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 29, 2012 9:53:00 GMT -5
itsandbits: Yep, most these jasper varieties are hematite rich so do make red goo.
When I said it was solid I was thinking free of fractures and pits. The Holy Grail Jasper pit ( Glory Hole) was mined back in the1960's and according to the old miner who I talked to at Snyders one year, most all the unfractured jasper of that beautiful pink on red form, was put in 50 gallon drums and sent to Germany. My buddy Tom and I dug the tailings and the jasper there, while we found several different types, they were much more fractured and in some examples the poppies themselves have bands of softer material in the poppies which tends to leave pits. I suspect the fractured stuff was surface material and so more weathered as there is a hill a few miles from this site and near the old Flora Claim that had lots of surface stuff but also very fractured. We did take out some very nice jasper and of course very rare too but nothing like what was taken out in the old days. I have a single unfractured slab of the old pink on red that is almost 10 inches across I bought from a guy who had some of the old stuff.
The old Flora pit which is all backfilled, also has a beautiful jasper variety that tends to also have quite a few fractures but I knew the miner's son and he told me back in about 1965, when his pop discovered that deposit, they dug out a single lens of high quailty poppy jasper that weighed two tons and was relatively clean. That I would have loved to see!. The owners son had a few pieces of that stuff on his rock wall and I bought it all. Really pretty stuff.
Kris, far as I know, the only road that had jasper is private and now graveled over the top of the jasper. There are deposits all over on BLM land but the best sites are under claim, often for gold mining. Another guy bought a ranch off a neighbor friend of mine and built his house right on top of the most solid vein of poppy jasper in the valley. As I said a doctor my buddy told about the area filed a claim on the old pits we worked.. All the other sites I know about are on posted private property. That being said though, there's lots of BLM land out there and I found pieces of float almost every time I hiked out there, so there is lots of jasper still to be found. Many of the old digs are totally hidden under 60 years of manzanita and other brush ( as are open mine pits some very deep so if you hike there be careful where you step) so there's always the chance of finding jasper in the brush. I found several sites by crawling along deer trails under the brush........Mel
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Post by gr on Dec 29, 2012 10:13:20 GMT -5
I know it's impolite to say yum but, YUM! I appreciate the history too
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Post by drocknut on Dec 29, 2012 10:31:34 GMT -5
:drool: :drool: :drool: 'nuff said.
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Post by beefjello on Dec 29, 2012 10:52:44 GMT -5
Amazing all the variation from one area. Too bad you weren't able to source the one you found as float. That and the first Glory Hole are my favs.
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riverbendlapidary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by riverbendlapidary on Dec 29, 2012 13:14:27 GMT -5
very cool stuff!
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Post by susand24224 on Dec 29, 2012 19:47:32 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing those, Mel, I had no idea there as such a variety. Quite impressive!
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Post by Pat on Dec 29, 2012 20:09:01 GMT -5
That's a beautiful collection, and all on your own property. Naturally.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 29, 2012 21:51:24 GMT -5
Pat, Actually the only deposit on our ranch was the Sierra Primrose type poppy. All the other types came from other ranches or back on BLM land. The poppy belt in that part of the Sierra foothills runs for at least six miles or so, from Lake McClure to about half way up Hunters Valley and supposedly downhill towards Hornitos too, though I've never seen those sites.....Mel
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snuffy
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Member since May 2009
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Post by snuffy on Dec 29, 2012 22:37:56 GMT -5
Nice tour!
snuffy
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Post by Pat on Dec 30, 2012 0:58:40 GMT -5
You're still mighty lucky. The only pretty rocks in our backyard are there because we found them and put them there!
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cabjunky
has rocks in the head
Regency Rose Plume
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Post by cabjunky on Dec 30, 2012 9:11:54 GMT -5
Amazing display of material!!!! Robert
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