Sharing some finds

[Bushwalker22]

Hi lads and lasses. I tend to collect random rocks off the ground while hiking and recently I started getting more and more interested and paying more attention and reading up on rock compositions in various areas I hike in.
I am terrible in ID'in stuff and I dont have tools or experience so so feel free to tell me I'm wrong



From left to right, top row:

1. found in Vitosha mountain - Andesite/Basalt, scratches glass, looks yellow when wet and a bit opaque. Maybe citrine or something
2.Smoky quartz, found in Rila mountain - Granite/Schist/Gneiss ... I'm pretty sure about that one
3.Quarz in granite found Pirin mountain - Granite/Schist/Gneiss
4. found in Belogradchik rock formation - Sandstone/Conglomerate. Visibly green, glittering with what I presume to be Micas.

Bottom row

5.Pegmatite piece with quartz, Vitosha mountain. Probably some minerals in it I cant ID
6.Quarz piece ... dont remember from where.
7.Large chunk of Biotite (or Muscovite idk) bearing rock, Rila mountain.
8.Smoky quartz with an interesting black spot on its side, Pirin mountain

I should be able to get better pictures individually when it gets dark under a lamp for a better view.

 

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[Almy]

I like your new hobby. I find all things around outside interesting and they help me feel "at home" being aware of them. Birds, rocks, plants, trees and the metal artifacts left by earlier people are included. A "naturalist" and "amateur historian" I guess you could call me. You seem similar.

 

[DDancer]

Welcome to the forum.
I'd say your ID's are pretty good, thanks for sharing from Europe.

 

[Bushwalker22]

Thanks for the welcoming.
And yes Almy, I can spend a good five minutes trying to Id a mushroom in the wild out of curiosity too. Actively figuring out what birds exactly im hearing and so on. I am afraid to pick up on botany as that would make a 3 hour short hike into a week long expedition if I start paying too much attention to that too

Anyways, been busy with the rocks, learning about how to clean them up with chemicals. Tried the simplest trick, vinegar ... did jack sh- after 24 hours. Then there was a fine sanding going on, that did not do much either as i did not get the finer 200 and above grade sandpaper. Was about to forget about it and go find me some new rocks, then noticed I have some bleach in the bathroom. Washed the tupperware cup I used for the vinegar bath to avoid gassing myself and let them chill for 48 hours.
I took them out 30 minutes ago and rinsed them good. Results are amazing and i could not wait for better lighting conditions so I snapped some photos of the progress.



^ The weird yellowish almost quartz looking thing barely changed appearance and im still lost to as what exactly it is.



^ Bleach did the milky quartz a real favor, even in the dimmer light of before sunrise it overwhelms the camera.



^ The smoky quartz piece, now with a more prominent black dot what seems to not be biotite.



^ The second yellowish example with a fascinating geometry.



^ Getting fancier and fancier with the biggest piece of raw smoky quartz





^ The pegmatite sides, now you can tell apart all the things going on inside it and not just the quartz.

And the best thing below ... well that "biotite bearing rock" turned out to be way more than a simple andesite/granite after the bleach bath. Look at it, its marvelous.





Full blown milky quartz pieces with what may or may not be a milimeter garnet grain, shiny micas all over the place to the point the camera has no idea what it is looking at and two reddish spot of oxidisation are not even visible.
A hidden gem one would say.

So yeah, guess I need to get my hands on muriatic acid as its widely reccomended together with rust removal agents. Until then, I've put some older finds into the next bleach bath and will share the results of that too.