Some of my purdy rocks - Quartz, Garnets, Mica, and other Mysteries...

Backcountry

Jr. Member
Jan 8, 2016
41
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Bon Echo
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey Folks,

I'm happy to have found this forum! I spend my share of time wondering around in the bush, and have a bad habit of filling my pockets with rocks that catch my eye. To most folks they are probably just rocks, but to me, they are preciousssss.... Some folks here may appreciate my dirty old rocks as well... I have gold fever like nobody's business, and while I don't think I've found any yet, I have lots of interesting quartz rocks that show signs of having trace gold. One day I will get a gold pan and crush a little up to have a look.

Not sure if it's better to post all these photos in one post or split it up, but here goes... Would love any feedback regarding potential identifications ya'll might have. I'm not an expert, just a rockhound, I know just enough to misidentify a whole lot ;) Thanks!

Rock 1: The Magnet
This neat piece I made into a fridge magnet. Kind of a plain looking rock, but when the layers split apart it revealed lots of 'shynies' on the surface. Looks metallic. Maybe copper?
magnet1.jpg

magnet2.jpg


Rock 2: Ore'y Quartz
A little piece of quartz that seems to have some kind of Ore embedded?
oreWhat1.jpg

oreWhat2.jpg


Rock 3: Garnet?
I'm guessing this to be a chunk of Garnet (if such a thing exists?). What really strikes me about it is some of the clear pockets, which show in the photos as the white spots. The 3rd photo shows a really cool clear crystal poking out of the end on the bottom right. In my dreams it's a diamond...
clearTip1.jpg

clearTip2.jpg

clearTip3.jpg


Rock 4: Classic Quartz
This is the type of rock I find the most of. Lots of red and yellow staining. I've got some very large chunks of this type of stuff. Perhaps worth crushing up a few samples. I also notice the bottom of this one is quite ore'y with some nice shynies as seen in photos 2/3...
classicQuartz.jpg

classicQuartzBottom1.jpg

classicQuartzBottom2.jpg


Rock 5: It Blisters!
One of my favourites, definitely unique to my collection. It's completely covered with small dark red crystals. In my dreams they are rubies, but realistically probably garnets? Would love to cut this rock in half, I bet it has a real cool cross section.
blisters1.jpg

blisters2.jpg

blisters3.jpg


Rock 6: Another Classic
Another chunk of classic quartz with some interesting features...
anotherClassic.jpg


Rock 7: Quartz Mix
A mix bag here, nothing pretty, but this quartz has a few interesting features. Black crystals on the right side. I love the shiny stuff in the middle. Pyrite or mica? I wish it was gold...
mixedUp.jpg


Rock 8: Black Quartz
Found this neat little piece unlike anything else. Interesting black/smoky quartz.
blackQuartz.jpg


Rock 9: Cool Rock
To me this piece is collector grade and sits on my mantel. It's a nice chunk of quartz with a few things going on. Seems like it has a pretty big metallic chunk, but I guess it's a bunch of mica? Wishful thinking would have it be Ruby Silver...
coolRock1.jpg

coolRock2.jpg


Rock 10: Metal Middle
Not sure what's hanging out in the middle of this little piece of quartz, but you can't miss it. It's been suggested maybe zinc, but could also once again just be mica...
metalMiddle1.jpg

metalMiddle2.jpg


Rock 11: Quartz and Sticks
Not sure what's going on in this quartz, but has a lot of little stick like deposits. Any ideas, maybe graphite?
stickRock1.jpg

stickRock2.jpg



Rock 12: Garnety Quartz?
garnetyQuartz.jpg
 

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