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Post by jasoninsd on May 11, 2023 19:08:13 GMT -5
Those are some nice little morsels! LOL - Is that group from this year already?? Yeah, 2 days worth. About 6 hours of hiking and searching. Not sure if i'm going blind or if that whole area's been picked clean. I'm pondering going up on Sunday. I know you said the roads don't open until the 15th, but I go in the backway, which doesn't have a gate!  Oh...it's raining cats and dogs here right now...which means RR Buttes is getting hit hard as well... |
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Post by tims on May 11, 2023 19:45:16 GMT -5
I'm pondering going up on Sunday. I know you said the roads don't open until the 15th, but I go in the backway, which doesn't have a gate! Oh...it's raining cats and dogs here right now...which means RR Buttes is getting hit hard as well... Thanks for the weather update ... hoping it dries out for a look next week.
Not sure how you get in a back way to Tepee except for the cutacross from Mud Springs Rd., but if that's the one you mean it is gated (until the same date i believe). Still, not hard to walk in to good spots from the Sawmill Spgs or TP gates. Wouldn't be surprised if it's rainy in the hills all weekend but the roads stay pretty decent in most spots. Hope you find some good ones  |
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Post by jasoninsd on May 11, 2023 19:50:25 GMT -5
I'm pondering going up on Sunday. I know you said the roads don't open until the 15th, but I go in the backway, which doesn't have a gate! Oh...it's raining cats and dogs here right now...which means RR Buttes is getting hit hard as well... Thanks for the weather update ... hoping it dries out for a look next week.
Not sure how you get in a back way to Tepee except for the cutacross from Mud Springs Rd., but if that's the one you mean it is gated (until the same date i believe). Still, not hard to walk in to good spots from the Sawmill Spgs or TP gates. Wouldn't be surprised if it's rainy in the hills all weekend but the roads stay pretty decent in most spots. Hope you find some good ones The road that goes up to the old quarry doesn't have a gate...only a cattle-guard. It's the road just to the west of the actual entry that's posted. Basically, it takes you to the backside of the main dig site. |
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Post by tims on May 15, 2023 20:18:27 GMT -5
FWIW Sawmill Springs gate is open but Tepee gate is still closed as of 5/15.
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Post by tims on May 16, 2023 21:42:14 GMT -5
A pretty specimen from today |
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Post by jasoninsd on May 16, 2023 23:50:48 GMT -5
A pretty specimen from today Heck yeah, nice specimen!! Rob and I were just around the corner from you! We went down FR288 trying to find some Rose Quartz. We kind of flipped a coin on Teepee or Quartz. We got skunked on finding the Rose Quartz...and it looks like we should have gone to Teepee!! Nice find today!! |
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Post by tims on May 17, 2023 13:17:20 GMT -5
Heck yeah, nice specimen!! Rob and I were just around the corner from you! We went down FR288 trying to find some Rose Quartz. We kind of flipped a coin on Teepee or Quartz. We got skunked on finding the Rose Quartz...and it looks like we should have gone to Teepee!! Nice find today!! That's funny, I went with a couple girls wanting pink rocks (one is 4) and almost went over there, but when i told them Tepee just opened they opted for agates lol. If you're hunting where i think, right near the garnet area up the first hill near an old mine, there used to be lots of pink quartz in the tailings there but it's been picked prety clean. Rose quartz used to be so common people would leave it lay but those days are gone.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 17, 2023 21:20:50 GMT -5
Heck yeah, nice specimen!! Rob and I were just around the corner from you! We went down FR288 trying to find some Rose Quartz. We kind of flipped a coin on Teepee or Quartz. We got skunked on finding the Rose Quartz...and it looks like we should have gone to Teepee!! Nice find today!! That's funny, I went with a couple girls wanting pink rocks (one is 4) and almost went over there, but when i told them Tepee just opened they opted for agates lol. If you're hunting where i think, right near the garnet area up the first hill near an old mine, there used to be lots of pink quartz in the tailings there but it's been picked prety clean. Rose quartz used to be so common people would leave it lay but those days are gone.
Wait...so basically you're saying we were acting like 4-year-olds!  We found a seam (what I think was a seam to some degree) that ran in a line going across a couple hillsides. Quartz coming up through the ground. We didn't find an actual mine...nor any pink quartz. It was all white... |
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Post by HankRocks on May 17, 2023 21:51:01 GMT -5
Is there a chance that the vein was Rose Quartz but had faded with exposure to sunlight? just curious.
Henry
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Post by jasoninsd on May 18, 2023 0:08:40 GMT -5
Is there a chance that the vein was Rose Quartz but had faded with exposure to sunlight? just curious. Henry Great question! I don't think it was. The quartz was just starting to poke through the surface in most places. I did dig a bunch of pieces up, and it was pure white through and through... |
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Post by 1dave on May 18, 2023 0:50:48 GMT -5
Amazing stuff! Any theories about how they formed?
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Post by tims on May 18, 2023 13:28:55 GMT -5
Amazing stuff! Any theories about how they formed? Could use a professional opinion if you're ever in the Black Hills! I assume there was massive volcanic or tectonic activity to lift the hills (would have been mountains) up out of the interior sea, but i have no knowledge of how or why. Finding coral and shells at 5000 feet elevation is confounding. The proliferation of gold in the hills makes quartz seams sound very interesting.
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Post by tims on May 18, 2023 13:34:42 GMT -5
Is there a chance that the vein was Rose Quartz but had faded with exposure to sunlight? just curious. Henry Great question! I don't think it was. The quartz was just starting to poke through the surface in most places. I did dig a bunch of pieces up, and it was pure white through and through... If only there was an easy way to follow a seam down >< There are several historic gold mines NW of Custer so who knows what quartz might lead to. Heck, just good white quartz is getting scarce enough i wouldn't mind hauling a bucketful home with me. |
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Post by tims on May 18, 2023 13:50:08 GMT -5
Some more pieces from Tuesday, just broken pieces mostly but the first one is getting cut. Looks like several small faces in it and it's solid so maybe i'll finally have something worth turning into a cab, fingers crossed.
Saw fodder
Might work this one on the wheels
Maybe possibly workable piece, it's pretty thin
The orange fortification goes all the way around, might give it an acid soak to see what's going on
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Post by 1dave on May 18, 2023 16:39:40 GMT -5
Amazing stuff! Any theories about how they formed? Could use a professional opinion if you're ever in the Black Hills! I assume there was massive volcanic or tectonic activity to lift the hills (would have been mountains) up out of the interior sea, but i have no knowledge of how or why. Finding coral and shells at 5000 feet elevation is confounding. The proliferation of gold in the hills makes quartz seams sound very interesting. Professional? No, I was just a worker bee like most everyone else, but I've done a lot of digging for information. A problem the professionals have is they were taught uniformitarianism. Solubility and volcanoes are the answers to all things. well, sorry, but that is wrong. Most silica gel in nature was NOT formed by solubility. Most quartz veins were NOT formed by volcanoes. Shock waves shatter silica bonds. IF groundwater is in the area the water molecules grab those silica bonds and tons of silica gel emerges. That is when huge amounts of agate, jasper, pet wood and bone emerge. pH is a big factor. Voids are filled with calcite etc. Low pH dissolves it and deposits silica AFTER something has shocked the area - earthquake, landslide, volcanic steam explosion, asteroid impact, those shockwaves break existing silica bonds and the magic starts happening. |
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Post by jasoninsd on May 18, 2023 21:16:36 GMT -5
tims - Several of those pieces from Tuesday look like they could made some really decent cabs!!
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Post by tims on Jun 1, 2023 17:56:34 GMT -5
From yesterday, some more pieces and a strange chunk that looks like green common opal with masses of red fortifications.
This is going in the tumbler, not sure how the quartz crystals will hold up: This is the strange agatey common opal, hoping to slice it: |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 1, 2023 20:47:19 GMT -5
From yesterday, some more pieces and a strange chunk that looks like green common opal with masses of red fortifications.
This is going in the tumbler, not sure how the quartz crystals will hold up: This is the strange agatey common opal, hoping to slice it: Tim you've been pulling some nice pieces out of there already this year! Makes me want to get my tail up there sooner rather than later!  |
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begeberg
having dreams about rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 55
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Post by begeberg on Jul 4, 2023 10:15:48 GMT -5
It’s been a bit since I visited this site.
My wife and I finally got there last week on a rainy day. Weren’t quite sure what we were looking for but brought home a bucket of rocks to process. If I see that we collected anything nice I’ll post a pic.
Hope to get out there again in the future but dang it’s 5 hours from Sioux Falls. Wish there was some good rockhounding over on the East side too! Ate and drank well in Deadwood however!
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 4, 2023 10:19:35 GMT -5
It’s been a bit since I visited this site. My wife and I finally got there last week on a rainy day. Weren’t quite sure what we were looking for but brought home a bucket of rocks to process. If I see that we collected anything nice I’ll post a pic. Hope to get out there again in the future but dang it’s 5 hours from Sioux Falls. Wish there was some good rockhounding over on the East side too! Ate and drank well in Deadwood however! Oh gosh! I can't eat in Deadwood...those dang one-arm bandits take all my money! LOL That's really awesome y'all got to get out there! I've got my fingers crossed on what you process. It would actually be really cool to see pics of what you brought home...maybe some "before" and "after" shots. I have to remember to post some pics of nodules before they're cut... |
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