Stateland Mine Thundereggs (Baker Ranch)
Aug 21, 2014 18:10:13 GMT -5
Fossilman, gingerkid, and 7 more like this
Post by SJPatrick on Aug 21, 2014 18:10:13 GMT -5
In late April I made a return trip to the Baker Ranch area in New Mexico to dig for thundereggs again. In addition to the Baker Egg mine, there are a few other areas in which to dig for eggs. This time I concentrated on the Stateland mine area (aka Tavenier mine) and also spent a little time at the Torpedo Beds and the Lindburg site. Last week I finally got around to cutting the eggs. So here are some egg photos from these areas.
This first set is from the Stateland Mine area. Eggs from this area tend to be small, but very pretty, at least in my mind.
Most are in the 2 to 3" range. My favorite from this trip is the prettiest (again, at least in my mind) and biggest at 4"x2". I really like the yellow/green blending with the gray/blue fortification patterns.
Waterline eggs are found in about the same ratio as other types.
Doubles are common
Fortification patterns sometimes mixed with other patterns are common
I found a number of fortifications with quartz centers
Some had red and black hues
This is my first "tiltage" thunderegg. The Geode Kid says that these occur when a number of water lines are added to a forming egg, and that process is altered when the egg is shifted due to some force like an earthquake or a landslide. It occurs to me I may have this egg upside down in the photo. But in any case, near the middle one can see that the horizontal water lines diverge after the event occurred. This type of egg is more common in the nearby Rockhound State Park.
I dug at the "Lindburg" site. Mel mentioned digging there many years ago. I'm uncertain if this site is the same as the one he dug at. Although Jeffery at www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/DwarvesETAgatesEggsThunderEggs.html thinks that it is the old mine site run by the Linkburgs. BTW: Jeffery's website is awesome. The next few photos are from the Lindburg site.
Finally I tried the Torpedo Beds for a few hours. I was warned that the eggs there are very small. And that was quite true.
The nicest and most fun one I found was a small geode which was broken. About 2/3 of it remained, it's about 1.5" in diameter. It was covered and filled with dirt. I gently cleaned it and found a crystal lined interior with one prominent crystal hanging from the top, or maybe rising from the bottom. Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice because the lack of depth of field causes it to be blurred. But you get the idea even with the blurred vertical crystal in the background.
Lastly, I wasn't going to cut this one as it is just 3/4" x 2". But I did and it is a pretty little one.
It was a really fun trip, marred only by losing two days of digging to severe dust storms. It just leaves me with more areas on the ranch to explore this fall.
Thanks for looking.
This first set is from the Stateland Mine area. Eggs from this area tend to be small, but very pretty, at least in my mind.
Most are in the 2 to 3" range. My favorite from this trip is the prettiest (again, at least in my mind) and biggest at 4"x2". I really like the yellow/green blending with the gray/blue fortification patterns.Waterline eggs are found in about the same ratio as other types.
Doubles are common
Fortification patterns sometimes mixed with other patterns are common
I found a number of fortifications with quartz centers
Some had red and black hues
This is my first "tiltage" thunderegg. The Geode Kid says that these occur when a number of water lines are added to a forming egg, and that process is altered when the egg is shifted due to some force like an earthquake or a landslide. It occurs to me I may have this egg upside down in the photo. But in any case, near the middle one can see that the horizontal water lines diverge after the event occurred. This type of egg is more common in the nearby Rockhound State Park.
I dug at the "Lindburg" site. Mel mentioned digging there many years ago. I'm uncertain if this site is the same as the one he dug at. Although Jeffery at www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/DwarvesETAgatesEggsThunderEggs.html thinks that it is the old mine site run by the Linkburgs. BTW: Jeffery's website is awesome. The next few photos are from the Lindburg site.
Finally I tried the Torpedo Beds for a few hours. I was warned that the eggs there are very small. And that was quite true.
The nicest and most fun one I found was a small geode which was broken. About 2/3 of it remained, it's about 1.5" in diameter. It was covered and filled with dirt. I gently cleaned it and found a crystal lined interior with one prominent crystal hanging from the top, or maybe rising from the bottom. Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice because the lack of depth of field causes it to be blurred. But you get the idea even with the blurred vertical crystal in the background.
Lastly, I wasn't going to cut this one as it is just 3/4" x 2". But I did and it is a pretty little one.
It was a really fun trip, marred only by losing two days of digging to severe dust storms. It just leaves me with more areas on the ranch to explore this fall.
Thanks for looking.
