kellyj
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 100
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Post by kellyj on Dec 23, 2013 16:12:10 GMT -5
Hello again ,
I want to say agate.....but I need a second opinion:
2.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Dec 23, 2013 16:34:20 GMT -5
Kelly,
I think you been told this before, but it would be MUCH easier to help you if you were to chip off an edge and, even better - get a tile saw (something inexpensive) and cut a slab. It can be very difficult to ID something from just the outside. You can just as easily get a zillion different answers (although you it may not be any different with a picture of a slab!)
Merry Christmas,
Denny
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Post by deb193redux on Dec 23, 2013 16:36:34 GMT -5
and any location information helps a lot too
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kellyj
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 100
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Post by kellyj on Dec 23, 2013 17:28:08 GMT -5
Oh sorry.....I forgot. I got these from a gravel pit in the St. Paul area of Minnesota.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Dec 23, 2013 19:14:47 GMT -5
Whatever they are, I'd sure like to slab them! Do you have their dimensions (weight and size)?
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kellyj
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 100
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Post by kellyj on Feb 28, 2014 8:56:00 GMT -5
The top one is 2 inches long by 1 inch wide weight: 9 grams The second one is: 3.25 inches long and 2.0 inches wide *weight is about 17 grams
Sorry I'm catching this now...I got my hand slapped by Sheltie and got scared off LOL ...just kidding Sheltie...thanks for reminding me
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 28, 2014 11:32:40 GMT -5
Hey neighbor, you're lucky. The gravel pits here in Aberdeen, S.D. won't allow collecting. Watch for bone in your gravel pits. I've found mammoth bone from our pits. It shows up in the gravel they use to rebuild our rural roads after spring thaw.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Mar 1, 2014 18:47:19 GMT -5
Lo0oks like a Jasper - Hematite mix, a Maryellen type thing !
Harley
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Post by Peruano on Mar 3, 2014 18:32:31 GMT -5
The things that these rocks could be are numerous, but lets make some guesses. 1. The red is probably mostly on the surface and or penetrates superficially. Its Iron oxidizing when it contacts air and moisture. 2. The most probable source material is chalcedony (microcystaline silica oxide) if it does not have crystals evident when cut. 3. If it has crystal visible its a quartz, but that color combination makes it look like a chalcedony to me. And chalcedony can be expressed as an agate if layered or striped, but again we need to see a cut. I'd suggest you visit the www.quartzpage.de site and read about all of the quartz/chalcedony varieties and it will guide you on how to interpret your rocks. Internally they could be beautiful (and probably are). Anytime you see that much variation in color externally and all around the rock, not just on one surface you probably have a rock that would make wonderful slabs (whether they would polish to gem quality or not). Find a fellow rocker with a saw and peer inside. Once you do it on the right rock, you will run to the store to buy your own saw and rock hammer. Good luck and stay with it. You will enjoy the trip. BTW gravel pits are an accumulation of materials carried from elsewhere so its always a real crap shoot as to what you find, but there are nearly always a few goodies to be had. Make friends with the management. The few pounds you remove from their rock pile are trivial from their monetary standpoint but you can offer to pay 10 cents a pound or 50 cents as long as you can convince them that you are not a safety risk (and will stay out of the way of heavy trucks and machinery). Tom
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Mar 5, 2014 21:25:34 GMT -5
I've collected stuff like that here around the Twin Cities, elsewhere in the state and across the border in Wisconsin too. It always looks promising, like agate or at least jasper. It often turns out though to be massive quartz heavily stained internally with red and yellow iron oxide - hematite and limonmite. It's still nice, and sometimes it tumbles great, with all the color intact. Sometimes though it "cleans up" too much and ends up looking only like dirty quartz.
The gravel pits in this part of the country are glacial outwash. Your best chance of finding good Lake Superior Agates is in these gravel pits, so don't stop looking.
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