Just a few of my gems

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 6:14 am

I am a rock hound at heart and always was and still am...I am new to the gold but rocks and gems has always been in my blood...lol
Just a look at some of my prize piece and yes behind them are shelves of other kinds of rocks and gems.

1st my bigest ruby... Had the top polished and found out it was a star ruby

Next is my sapphire

this is my jade

one of my many garnets but again these to me are my prized gems

Last but far from least is my aquamarine

All were found by me and not at the play and pay sites I guess that is why they are so speical to me

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 6:25 am

oops and also one of the two opals I found.

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:01 pm

Nice stones!!!

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:26 pm

Those are some pretty rocks.I bring a lot home for my daughter, and she goes through them.She is the rockhound.I am mostly interested in the gold.

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 10:18 pm

Zdollerbill wrote:

Nice stones!!!

Thanks

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 10:25 pm

jim1966 wrote:

Those are some pretty rocks.I bring a lot home for my daughter, and she goes through them.She is the rockhound.I am mostly interested in the gold.

How old is she? You could pan for gold and she can pick up hand fulls of garnet and such here while you pan. I have found a few topaz and a few rubies in my creek. And of course alots of quartz and other kinds of rock and gems. Ya never know what will flow down.... or what lies beneath ...lol

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 12:13 am

All I have ever found is small stuff. Of course, I'm not sure I would know if it hit me in the head.

I'm told if I soak the quartz in white vinegar, it will get rid of the discoloration. I'm also told that the 3 round object in the test tube are fresh water pearls.

I tried tumbling some (I have a rock tumbler obviously). Then I read how to do it.

The intructions said:

"Place gems/rocks/items in round hopper and pour in your heavy grit media. Add just enough water to cover your stones. Now tumble for 7 days.

Wait! 7 Days? Not like 7 hours?

Pour off your heavy media and replace with your medium corse and repeat previous intructions.

What? Another 7 days?

So 4-5 weeks to toumble stones? I'll elave them rough.

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 4:43 am

My daughter tumbled a batch.They look great, but I didn't like the noise of the tumbler for a month. I am a light sleeper, and hear every noise at night. I think we will put the next batch under the house, or I might even tumble them at work.

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 7:12 am

Charlotte49er
nice batch of stones...soooo cool on the peals. Yeah I know on the tumbler....lol I always wanted one well I got one and did a batch....turned out nice but sometime I like them just how God made them...lol As for the quartz I heard borax will clean them. I guess you found these while gold hunting? Well great finds. I found mine while hunting for them...lol and a few just lucked up.
I have been to the play and pay sites and thought of taking some of my best and see what they say if I act like I found it in their buckets...lol When you get to come down here You will bring home hand fulls of garnets for sure and alot of other misc. stones...topaz and rubies and such.

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 7:17 am

jim1966
I know about the noise Luckly I have my "play" room on the other side of the house so that cuts down on the noise...lol I don't do much tumbling any more but it was fun when I did. I kinda like them as they are better...lol

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 7:39 am

Here are a couple of pictures of the rubies and garnets I found on my creek again just a few of my favorites and also not to bore ya...lol

one of the arrow heads I have found on my property

my crystals I found in Ark. have lots more but these are my favorite ones at a play and pay....

and just some of my rock and gem collecting I also have fossilsand some of my gems I had cut but here is just a start...lol

I have never met a rock I didn't like....lol

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 8:45 am

Very nice Candy...I too am a rockhound turned prospector. I will post a few pics of some of my stuff when I get a chance. Also, super iron out for cleaning quartz is the way to go.

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 10:23 am

mitchnc wrote:

Very nice Candy...I too was am a rockhound turned prospector. I will post a few pics of some of my stuff when I get a chance. Also, super iron out for cleaning quartz is the way to go.

Awww cool can't wait to see them. I heard of the iron out and I tried it on some of the crystal clusters I got from ark. hoping it would get between the differant ones on the cluster...but it didn't help soooo I desided I did like them as they are because they show better the differant crystals within the cluster...
You can see some I even left the dyimite blast marks on them. At this pay to play well both I went to but you just pick a pile of dirt and start digging...lol
Can't wait to do it again!!!!! I have turned both my sisters into rock hounds... I always was since being a kid. Got alot wash in my pockets as a kid and my Mom would be mad....If they were just loose in the wash she thought they were my brothers rocks Twisted Evil

but nope they were mine...lol Laughing

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 5:55 pm

I really...really love looking at these rock pictures!!! I just got my rock tumbler in today and getting ready to get it going! Keep the pictures coming!!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 6:27 pm

I am both a rockhound and gold prospector but started as a rockhound. Still got a bag of gems I grubbed when I was 9 years old and ran through my tumbler. My 3yr old is a rockhound already and might as well be a prospector. She can pan for gold better than most noobs already just no attention span yet. Smile

Those are some nice specimens Candy! I need to learn where to find cool rocks like those too although I do come across some interesting stuff dredging Ive yet to find anything gemstone worthy.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 6:56 pm

Candy, she just turned 18. She has no interest in panning for gold, but loves rocks. Maybe we will head up that way and do some exploring soon.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 7:52 pm

My daughter has been my prospecting buddy for the last 15 years. She would feed the sluice while I filled the buckets. She developed a fondness for the garnets and quartz crystal points that we panned out from time to time. I am proud to say that my daughter who is now 24 has a county job at a gold mining museum where she teaches school kids how to pan for gold. Smile

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:03 pm

goldveiner wrote:

My daughter has been my prospecting buddy for the last 15 years. She would feed the sluice while I filled the buckets. She developed a fondness for the garnets and quartz crystal points that we panned out from time to time. I am proud to say that my daughter who is now 24 has a county job at a gold mining museum where she teaches school kids how to pan for gold. Smile

That is so cool....

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:06 pm

jim1966 wrote:

Candy, she just turned 18. She has no interest in panning for gold, but loves rocks. Maybe we will head up that way and do some exploring soon.

Come on down lots of gems and rocks here....even some gold...you can pan and she and I will look for gems....lol

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:11 pm

Picker Pete wrote:

I am both a rockhound and gold prospector but started as a rockhound. Still got a bag of gems I grubbed when I was 9 years old and ran through my tumbler. My 3yr old is a rockhound already and might as well be a prospector. She can pan for gold better than most noobs already just no attention span yet. Smile

Those are some nice specimens Candy! I need to learn where to find cool rocks like those too although I do come across some interesting stuff dredging Ive yet to find anything gemstone worthy.

Well I looked for these gems as you guys look for the gold...some I did just lucked up on...lol

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:29 pm

Candy- Here is one of my Aquamarines in matrix from the old Ray mica mine in Yancey County....will post some more pics when I can find them...I think they must be on my external hard drive at work...

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:29 pm

Candy,

I love the stones/gems? (too pretty to call stones) I have always wanted to find some good gems but,
I am like, I think it was Charlotte49er, I wouldn't know what to look for it could hit me in the head Confused

and I would pick it up and throw it! LOL Laughing

DeSey56

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:30 pm

As I said......
I have never met a rock I did not like!
One time My sisters and I went to a pay and play site and I did not ask for help but the guy walked up...and I know he though he was helping but grabed my pan and I went to look at a rock just at that time and he took it out of my hand and said" aww thats a lever rite" then tossed it over his shoulder and that ticked me off...lol I made him go get it and return it to me. Both my sisters were laughing and they told him I AM A BIG ROCK HOUND!!! I just about had that clean so I could just look and since it wasn't a gem he thought it was worthless but to me well ... anyway it is here now and in my rock garden...If I see a rock I have to pick it up and look at it....lol Oh just incase if no one knows what a "lever rite" is...well that what they call just a rock {not a gem}and to leave it right there.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:35 pm

I love the pictures too Candy, it looks like you got a bigger collection then me which is no small feat. Congrats on those finds, they are really nice. I tend to only bring home the ones now which I dont know what they are or that have some unusual characteristics, so each trip out I usually find a couple like that at least, and some trips I bring back a bucketful.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:47 pm

mitchnc
Thats a nice find!!!
I found mine in CO. I had a friend that lived there years ago and we went horse back riding and we stoped and I saw it dug it up and just the last 20 years or so found out what it was then took it to be tested and yup it was....lol

DeSey56
I was like that,not knowing but since a kid I liked rocks and then dicovered some were gems and then well got my sisters into it and every year we all get together and go gem hunting. My brother had passed away way before I got my sisters into it but I know he always goes with us as we travel though the states looking.I found out both my sisters had the bug but I now have them full blown rock hounds..lol