callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 6, 2019 19:39:38 GMT -5
So before you get to Tonopah, NV, halfway between Vegas and Reno, you go through Goldfield. Very small town. Population 250. No gas, no groceries, nearest is Tonopah - 30 miles. Obey the speed limit. Traffic tickets replace the light bulbs in the few street lights. Abandoned Goldfield Hotel is over 100 years old. Four stories, brick building, was once a nice hotel. Piano still in the lobby. Broken windows on the 4th floor, now home to pigeons. I’ve been through Goldfield six times in six years. Never saw a living soul. Nobody outside. No kids playing in a yard or riding their bikes. Nobody walking around. Nobody. Mining town, Goldfield, hence the name. The hills are riddled with holes. The mines played out early though. Probably right after they built that hotel. But I thought about finding a second-hand store, cold sodas, souvenirs, rock shop, something, anything. So I googled. Sure enough. There’s a mining claim a couple of miles out of Goldfield called Gemfield. It is a famous deposit of jasper, only 4 miles of dirt road off the highway, open to the public, sign-in sheet, honor system, $1/lb. Or sign-in at Goldfield Art and Business Services, Hwy 95. We’re slow-rolling through town and there are three people (THREE!!!) on a weathered board sidewalk in front of Goldfield Art and Business Services. So we pull over and walk across the street - US95, but zero traffic - you don’t have to look both ways. And there are cool rocks everywhere! Piles of them in the dirt, crates of them out front, bigger piles in the dirt lot next door. And the woman says, “Hi, can I help you?”. And I said, “I’m interested in going to Gemfield for some jasper”. And she says, “Well you’re in luck, ‘cause I’m the owner and I can sign you in and you can even camp there if you want. Or you can buy some jasper here, but it’s $2/lb ‘cause I had to haul it to town”. Here, y’all. Meet Sharon. She owns the mining claim. Jasper is a chalcedony (pronounced “cal-SED-ony” I think), related to quartz, agate, onyx, flint. Hard (7.5 Mohs), waxy look, takes a great polish, fractures like flint - you can knapp an arrowhead, fab a cab, pendant, earrings, whatever. But I don’t do jewelry. I like to find pretty rocks and grind them into polished spheres - baseball size. So I’m looking for larger rough rocks with no cracks. Sharon says, “I test for cracks by throwing a rock on the ground”. And she picks up a soccer ball sized boulder of beautiful green&gray jasper, holds it up overhead, and slams it down in the dirt. It doesn’t break. “That one’s good.” “I’ll take it”. “That’s about 25 lbs, plus the other little one you’ve got, so how about $25?” “Well that’s a pretty good deal, Sharon. I was just hoping to find a little rock shop, and it looks like I’ve struck it big.” “Oh this is not a rock shop. You want a rock shop? I’ll take you to a real rock shop. Follow me.” And she gets in her Toyota and heads down the street. We u-turn on US95 - you don’t have to look both ways - and follow her to the edge of town and down a dirt road to a tiny house made of beer bottles and mortar, with at least four other lean-to buildings attached to it, trailing on down the hill, and a board sidewalk the whole way. She bangs on the door for awhile, a guy comes out, and she says, “These people want to see your rocks.” And he leads us downhill, down the board sidewalk, to the last lean-to building, and unlocks the padlock, and into his rock shop. Plywood floor and dust and dirt and shelves and rocks everywhere. Raw rocks, rough rocks, cut rocks, polished rocks, local rocks, petrified wood from Madagascar, jasper from east Africa, fossils from Morocco, meteorites, Asian jade, geodes, black obsidian, rainbow obsidian, mahogany obsidian, snowflake obsidian, agate with real gold veins, and more than I can remember, His prices are $5-$10 for beautiful exotics from around the world, rough, big enough to grind spheres. I’m in heaven. Here, y’all. Meet Bryan. He owns the rock shop. Our east coast jewelry friends and Bryan are deep in discussing tips and techniques for polishing difficult stones. Leather pad or felt pad. Diamond paste or silicon carbide or cerium oxide or aluminum oxide. How to get a good hot polish without burning the stone. Bryan knows his stuff. Bought a bunch of rocks from him that I’ll probably never find again anywhere. Then it was getting towards dinner time. Everybody was hungry and thirsty. So we all said our goodbyes and slow-rolled back through Goldfield and on up to Tonopah. Such cool people we met. And I got to go to Gemfield to hunt jasper the next day too! Edit: Corrected my misspelling of Bryan's name. Sorry. And I should also correct my "No gas" remark. Google street view shows gas pumps near the Dinky Diner.
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 6, 2019 19:59:55 GMT -5
Love it! Great story, but now I want to hear/see part 2 part 3- gemfield. We need some rock pics, too. But, I ain't greedy, I'm happy for the story.
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Post by Pat on Oct 6, 2019 20:26:20 GMT -5
What a PERFECT day! Thanks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 20:45:34 GMT -5
Great story. Thanks for sharing.
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deedolce
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2006
Posts: 1,828
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Post by deedolce on Oct 6, 2019 21:32:54 GMT -5
That is so cool! I've been to Tonopah, and remember signs for Goldfield and the Dinky Diner. No idea there was jasper and a rock shop. Yes, we need pics of what you got/found, pretty please!
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 6, 2019 21:54:32 GMT -5
That is so cool! I've been to Tonopah, and remember signs for Goldfield and the Dinky Diner. No idea there was jasper and a rock shop. Yes, we need pics of what you got/found, pretty please! Everybody who's Anybody is at the Dinky Diner! So cool that you know about that.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 6, 2019 22:03:14 GMT -5
Great trip report! Looks like you had a fabulous and fruitful time. I agree with rockjunquie - now we need trip report #3 and pictures of all the loot you came back with!
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 6, 2019 22:04:00 GMT -5
Love it! Great story, but now I want to hear/see part 2 part 3- gemfield. We need some rock pics, too. But, I ain't greedy, I'm happy for the story. I shall try to reward your shameless greed , but first I've got to find the pics and write it. Thanks for the encouragement. And thanks to all for the kind words.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2019 2:00:21 GMT -5
I've zipped by Goldfield quite a few times. Had no idea it was inhabited, let alone had rocks! Well, I assumed there must be some rocks from the mining days, but nothing of interest to me. Thanks for exploring and reporting!
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Post by fernwood on Oct 7, 2019 3:12:02 GMT -5
Great report. Love that you happened to meet the claim owner and she showed you the rock shop.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Oct 7, 2019 5:35:03 GMT -5
That was a great trip, have to put Goldfield on my bucket list !
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Post by MsAli on Oct 7, 2019 6:54:41 GMT -5
Great story!
Love the little hole in the wall gems and cant wait to see more!
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hummingbirdstones2
fully equipped rock polisher
Vince A., 1958-2023
Member since August 2018
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Oct 7, 2019 8:20:04 GMT -5
Great post. We got some Goldfield/Gemfield rough in an estate deal some years ago, and didn't know what it was.
A friend ID'd it for us and I went on an online hounding mission. Some of the banded type was also called "Bullseye Jasper" by some people.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 7, 2019 9:38:16 GMT -5
great story and liking the photos also... Thanks for the come along...
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 7, 2019 13:12:26 GMT -5
Great post. We got some Goldfield/Gemfield rough in an estate deal some years ago, and didn't know what it was.
A friend ID'd it for us and I went on an online hounding mission. Some of the banded type was also called "Bullseye Jasper" by some people.
Thanks. Yes, I've heard the term Bullseye Jasper applied to Gemfield too. The way the color banding swirls and folds results in great patterns. It's so hard for me to anticipate what the patterns might be from just looking at the rough rock. Would that I be so lucky as to get a bullseye sphere. Compared to a slab, the extra spherical 3rd dimension adds another level of unpredictability. A great looking rough could be a bland sphere with a blob or two, and kinda ho-hum not very interesting. Or it could be a WOW! Take what the rock gives you, eh? I envy those who have found Picture Jasper with a landscape, or Moss Agate with a little forest scene. Thanks for your comment. And good score on the Gemfield rough.
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,630
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Post by NRG on Oct 7, 2019 17:50:25 GMT -5
And the woman says, “Hi, can I help you?”. And I said, “I’m interested in going to Gemfield for some jasper”. And she says, “Well you’re in luck, ‘cause I’m the owner and I can sign you in and you can even camp there if you want. Or you can buy some jasper here, but it’s $2/lb ‘cause I had to haul it to town”. Here, y’all. Meet Sharon. She owns the mining claim. Jasper is a chalcedony (pronounced “cal-SED-ony” I think), related to quartz, agate, onyx, flint. Hard (7.5 Mohs), waxy look, takes a great polish, fractures like flint - you can knapp an arrowhead, fab a cab, pendant, earrings, whatever. . This is an interesting read. Curious that after the "definition" of jasper (which needs adjustment) a photo of rhyolite is shown.
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 8, 2019 19:34:23 GMT -5
And the woman says, “Hi, can I help you?”. And I said, “I’m interested in going to Gemfield for some jasper”. And she says, “Well you’re in luck, ‘cause I’m the owner and I can sign you in and you can even camp there if you want. Or you can buy some jasper here, but it’s $2/lb ‘cause I had to haul it to town”. Here, y’all. Meet Sharon. She owns the mining claim. Jasper is a chalcedony (pronounced “cal-SED-ony” I think), related to quartz, agate, onyx, flint. Hard (7.5 Mohs), waxy look, takes a great polish, fractures like flint - you can knapp an arrowhead, fab a cab, pendant, earrings, whatever. . This is an interesting read. Curious that after the "definition" of jasper (which needs adjustment) a photo of rhyolite is shown. If my definition of jasper needs adjustment, feel free - I'm all ears. The photo is not mine. My photos are pretty lousy. It is purloined from Utah Gemstone Jewelers who included it in an article about Gemfield jasper/agate. It looks exactly like the rocks at the site, and is actually in focus LOL. Here's a link... www.utahgemstonejewelers.com/enough_chalcedony/Truth be told, I don't know my rhyolite from my asphalt. Thanks for your comment.
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NRG
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Post by NRG on Oct 8, 2019 19:48:02 GMT -5
callmerobJasper is Mohs 6.5. that's the major adjustment
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Oct 8, 2019 21:06:34 GMT -5
callmerob Jasper is Mohs 6.5. that's the major adjustment Ah, good catch. My bad. I see on the webs Mohs 6.5-7. Don't know where I got that number in my head. Edit: It occurs to me that the Mohs hardness scale may not be linear 1 to 10, but logarithmic like the Richter earthquake scale, in which case "missed it by that much" is a pretty big miss.
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,630
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Post by NRG on Oct 8, 2019 22:27:38 GMT -5
callmerob Jasper is Mohs 6.5. that's the major adjustment Ah, good catch. My bad. I see on the webs Mohs 6.5-7. Don't know where I got that number in my head. Edit: It occurs to me that the Mohs hardness scale may not be linear 1 to 10, but logarithmic like the Richter earthquake scale, in which case "missed it by that much" is a pretty big miss. It's neither linear nor logarithmic. It's truly arbitrary. For instance, Sapphire is the definition of 9. Diamond defines 10 and is something like 150 times harder. Mohs just took common stones and made a scale. As for jasper and agate, some say it's the same material as quartz so they say it's a 7 (quartz defines 7). This is a mistake. Diamond and graphite are the same material, carbon. But very different on the world of hardness. Agate will not scratch quartz, but quartz will scratch agate.
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