rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135 
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Post by rockhoundoz on Mar 6, 2018 0:43:55 GMT -5
Here are some more rocks that I've recently hounded & cut. 1st, this Kentucky agate with what I've guessed are pseudomorphs after calcite. At least the star shapes look like the 'radiating clusters' of calcite.    Multiple slabs from the same rock, & then detail of what looks like cross-sections of a rhomboid here.  Maybe boring ya'll with so many shots of 1 rock, but I've never seen anything like that & it fascinated me. Then, was slicing up a typical KY agate chunk with orbs, opened up the saw, & this slab was laying there, exactly as it appears here! Couldn't believe my eyes 😅👍. I have the whole stack of slabs to show that it fits into a natural sequence, & all covered w/ natural rind.  Next up, three agates from KY, but all found far away from the known agate counties. Basically, a little secret, I've concluded that agates are possible anywhere in Kentucky where geodes are found. But, they are super rare in these abnormal localities, gotta haul and cut hundreds likely suspects to find one.    Final one for now, a changeup ⚾️, this one was found up in a new england state! Old records indicated agate here. It's prob about 6.5 mohs, multi-colored chalcedony, & from this location I found good material in many different colors.  |
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,989
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Post by Tommy on Mar 6, 2018 1:19:18 GMT -5
Next up, three agates from KY, but all found far away from the known agate counties. Basically, a little secret, I've concluded that agates are possible anywhere in Kentucky where geodes are found. But, they are super rare in these abnormal localities, gotta haul and cut hundreds likely suspects to find one. Awesome post! I have an uncle AND a cousin who both have the typical KY geodes on their farms - now this has made me want to go and gather as many of them as I can looking for the 1 in 100 with agate inside. You would think a person could tell by the weight maybe - yes? |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Mar 6, 2018 11:27:03 GMT -5
Next up, three agates from KY, but all found far away from the known agate counties. Basically, a little secret, I've concluded that agates are possible anywhere in Kentucky where geodes are found. But, they are super rare in these abnormal localities, gotta haul and cut hundreds likely suspects to find one. Awesome post! I have an uncle AND a cousin who both have the typical KY geodes on their farms - now this has made me want to go and gather as many of them as I can looking for the 1 in 100 with agate inside. You would think a person could tell by the weight maybe - yes? Thanks tommy. Overall, I'd say that odds of finding an agate in the average KY geode zones are more like 1 in 300 or so, if you just pick up any promising solid geode or nodule. 1st trick is differentiating geodes from nodules. Nodules or agates will be solid chalcedony. Most nodules are bleh looking. After developing a good eye for recognizing which ones are solid chalcedony nodules in the field, then your odds are more like 1:100 or maybe 1:50 to find a decent agate. Depends on where in the state. More rocks will have some little bit of banded chalcedony inside, but a true agate is that rare. The weight is pretty misleading since a lot of the geodes have heavy minerals like calcite, lead etc. The way to increase your odds is to look for certain skin/rind textures & translucency. Chipping the surface can help, but sometimes you'd have to chip pretty deep, & it's likely to break the rock. You can also try tapping with rock hammer & listening for the chalcedony 'ring', but that's never worked for me as the solid/ingrown quartz crystal geodes sound just like nodules to me. Also, many KY geodes are beautiful, & of course in that case, you want the hollow ones. In various parts of the state, I've found nice calcite (pink, orange), decent fluorite, lead, millerite, fine quartz crystals including citrine, smoky & raspberry, & what I think is smithsonite in brown, red & bluish. Always wanted to find a celestite geode, & have seen several from old KY collections, but still eludes me. If you mention the county names where your family has land, I could give you a better idea of the odds & what you might find. Feel free to PM if that's better. & very cool that your family owns land in geode country! Wish mine did, I'm always begging &/or bribing for access 😅. One of my new tricks is 'hey, saw the dead ash tree about to fall on your driveway, barn etc, I'll cut it for ya if I can look for rocks on your property'😉. |
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Post by MsAli on Mar 6, 2018 12:02:27 GMT -5
Those are amazing!
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Post by fernwood on Mar 8, 2018 5:34:16 GMT -5
Such wonderful patterns.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 8, 2018 7:54:36 GMT -5
How cool, you found a KY agate in the shape of KY. You've got some nice finds there. Maybe I'll get motivated to drag myself out and do some hounding in the few weeks between winter and summer.
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Post by fantastic5 on Mar 8, 2018 10:17:49 GMT -5
Those are all cool, but all the pseudomorphs in the first one is crazy! That one is my favorite by far just because of how unusual it is.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 8, 2018 11:04:35 GMT -5
Nice finds..........They have some nice colors and shapes.....My first Geodes came from Kentucky, got a few nice ones out of the bunch..
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 8, 2018 15:15:35 GMT -5
Those are uber sweet! I had no idea KY had sweet agates like that.
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Post by melhill1659 on Mar 8, 2018 16:18:43 GMT -5
rockhoundozPLEEEZE KEEP POSTING! Love to see what new state I want to go plunder through.
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Mar 9, 2018 1:09:55 GMT -5
Thanks ya'll! Garage Rocker, it was pretty wild to see that Kentucky shaped slab come off a plain ol chunk! Just looked like the basic moss agate rectangle that most hunters leave behind. Seems so improbable considering that it had to be clamped into the saw juust so, without any prior idea that would happen 🍀. Alikat218, fernwood & rockjunquie, glad you like those, because by KY standards these are considered plain 😉. I agree though, the patterns from the atypical locations are unique, fine patterns, different from the material in the typical central KY counties. Fantastic5 & for that matter everyone, do you think that it looks like calcite pseudomorphs? I've never seen those type of star-like clusters in KY, & I've seen a lot of calcite here. Melhill1659, good luck hunting KY ;-), hard to figure it all out here, where to hunt (it's illegal just about everywhere beyond private land), which rocks to pick up (tons of look-a-likes), but you can make some great finds here & there are a couple places to go. You can always knock on doors & ask to hunt in peoples backyard  . Fossilman, if you see this, find any interesting minerals in your geodes, or nice quartz? |
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Post by pauls on Mar 9, 2018 1:58:51 GMT -5
It could also be Aragonite, those square looking patterns are probably cross sections of crystals of whatever it is. I have some with similar pseudomorphs and have been told by one mineralogists that it's Calcite and another that it's Aragonite.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 9, 2018 2:56:42 GMT -5
Great looking specimens.
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Post by fantastic5 on Mar 9, 2018 9:03:00 GMT -5
I wish I could help, but I really couldn't say if it's calcite or not. After looking at mindat both aragonite and calcite seem like likely prospects for both the sprays and cubes/diamonds like pauls said. Whatever it is it is super cool! |
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Post by adam on Mar 9, 2018 11:35:14 GMT -5
Awesome post! I have an uncle AND a cousin who both have the typical KY geodes on their farms - now this has made me want to go and gather as many of them as I can looking for the 1 in 100 with agate inside. You would think a person could tell by the weight maybe - yes? Thanks tommy. Overall, I'd say that odds of finding an agate in the average KY geode zones are more like 1 in 300 or so, if you just pick up any promising solid geode or nodule. 1st trick is differentiating geodes from nodules. Nodules or agates will be solid chalcedony. Most nodules are bleh looking. After developing a good eye for recognizing which ones are solid chalcedony nodules in the field, then your odds are more like 1:100 or maybe 1:50 to find a decent agate. Depends on where in the state. More rocks will have some little bit of banded chalcedony inside, but a true agate is that rare. The weight is pretty misleading since a lot of the geodes have heavy minerals like calcite, lead etc. The way to increase your odds is to look for certain skin/rind textures & translucency. Chipping the surface can help, but sometimes you'd have to chip pretty deep, & it's likely to break the rock. You can also try tapping with rock hammer & listening for the chalcedony 'ring', but that's never worked for me as the solid/ingrown quartz crystal geodes sound just like nodules to me. Also, many KY geodes are beautiful, & of course in that case, you want the hollow ones. In various parts of the state, I've found nice calcite (pink, orange), decent fluorite, lead, millerite, fine quartz crystals including citrine, smoky & raspberry, & what I think is smithsonite in brown, red & bluish. Always wanted to find a celestite geode, & have seen several from old KY collections, but still eludes me. If you mention the county names where your family has land, I could give you a better idea of the odds & what you might find. Feel free to PM if that's better. & very cool that your family owns land in geode country! Wish mine did, I'm always begging &/or bribing for access 😅. One of my new tricks is 'hey, saw the dead ash tree about to fall on your driveway, barn etc, I'll cut it for ya if I can look for rocks on your property'😉. I only ask permission, if I have to. I agree, having no family that owns not even a sliver of land in geode country in Kentucky is frustrating. I don't have much trust for strangers, I lend it sparingly. How did you learn about smithsonite and celestite? I don't have my own transportation. I should purchase a car. Which would require ungodly effort, and selling of many boxes of good-premium rocks and minerals, etc. It would be an honor to 'hound with you. Also, you have your own saw? Man oh man, I'm jelly. I haven't had any rocks sawed in many a month. Their piling up. Help. S.O.S. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 9, 2018 13:17:05 GMT -5
Thanks ya'll! Garage Rocker, it was pretty wild to see that Kentucky shaped slab come off a plain ol chunk! Just looked like the basic moss agate rectangle that most hunters leave behind. Seems so improbable considering that it had to be clamped into the saw juust so, without any prior idea that would happen 🍀. Alikat218, fernwood & rockjunquie, glad you like those, because by KY standards these are considered plain 😉. I agree though, the patterns from the atypical locations are unique, fine patterns, different from the material in the typical central KY counties. Fantastic5 & for that matter everyone, do you think that it looks like calcite pseudomorphs? I've never seen those type of star-like clusters in KY, & I've seen a lot of calcite here. Melhill1659, good luck hunting KY ;-), hard to figure it all out here, where to hunt (it's illegal just about everywhere beyond private land), which rocks to pick up (tons of look-a-likes), but you can make some great finds here & there are a couple places to go. You can always knock on doors & ask to hunt in peoples backyard . Fossilman, if you see this, find any interesting minerals in your geodes, or nice quartz? I still have about half left to cut and the ones I have messed with are top notch agate and some quartz.....Liking them all....Had some thrown in the tumbler and they sold as soon as I pulled them out (yellow).. |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Mar 13, 2018 11:35:46 GMT -5
Thanks vegasjames. To pauls & fantastic5, thanks for the thoughts. I considered aragonite as well, though ultimately went with calcite since many of the crystal shapes have clear rombhoid shaped terminations. Not sure if that's a good indication or not. Could even have aragonite & calcite in the one rock since both were present in similar marine animal/shell environments. I do have an interesting KY agate that has an almost identical look to so-called Turkish stick agate, which I believe is aragonite pseudomorphs, just randomly oriented sticks with a flat termination. Kind of afraid to cut it because it looks so unique, but probably will eventually cut and post it someday 😊. Adam, I do remember seeing your post with the pseudomorphs, my impression was that it looked like aragonite pseudomorphs in your piece. Thought I responded to that thread, but maybe not. I would definitely be up for hunting sometime, if I remember correctly, looks like a lot of your finds come from rockcastle area? I'd like to do more hounding around there. I'm happy to cut up some rocks for ya, but right now I'm not in KY for a while, might be moving soon. Celestite is well kniwn from KY, I've read about it in books & have seen it in collections from KY collectors more knowledgeable than I. Smithsonite, mostly saw it identified in KY geodes on mindat, & compared it to my mystery rocks from the millerite region. Stay in touch & best of luck. Fossilman, nice! So many geodes without agate, glad ya got lucky  . |
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