Moss & Banded Agate

Malachite 

Congo

Photo:  Ekaterina  Pakhneva

Dioptase and Cerussite on Matrix, Republic of Congo

Another rock show, another great find!

My wife and I drove to the other side of town for another rock and mineral club’s show, and I feel like I stole the stuff I came home with. First, while my wife and I were browsing a display of jewelry with cut stones, the woman running the stand commented on my opal necklace. She looked more than a little surprised when I told her I cut the stone myself, using a diamond-grit knife sharpening block of all things. I could only say "I know that's the wrong way to do that, but I wasn't going to buy a $500 cutting wheel to do one stone!" (it was a lockdown project)

Chatted for a while with another dealer about his small display of unusual faceted stones. He had this one enormous almost 40 carat faceted peridot bigger than my thumbnail. I didn't know they came that big! I don't even want to know what he'd ask for that... But he was so nice and spent so long talking to us, I felt like I should buy something. He had this cute little pink tourmaline crystal for only $14 so I grabbed that to say thanks.

But the real show was still to come.

I had my eye on a bright mint green dioptase specimen another dealer had, but it was a couple hundred bucks, and I didn't really want to spend that much on a rock. While I was mulling that over, I saw a dealer I’ve seen before at a couple other local mineral shows was back with his amazing stock of Ethiopian opals. He had a couple giant pieces of amazingly clear crystal opal the size of my fist sitting in a bowl of water. I turned them over to get a look at the play of color, but I was afraid to pick them up and maybe drop a multi-thousand dollar rock.

However, he also had trays of smaller pieces sorted by price per carat. It was like a box of bifrost shrapnel, glittering in overlapping rainbow colors under the bright lights in his booth (very important when you're selling opal!). One particular piece caught my eye, but I was afraid to ask what he wanted for it, last time I tried that with one of his pieces it was >$300 and I had to put it back :( . When he told me that this beautiful crystal opal was only $62 I had to have it.

Like, sure, it has a couple cracks in it and its a funny shape, but I'm not going to cut it so who cares? LOOK AT THOSE OVERLAPPING LAYERS OF RAINBOW IRIDESCENCE! I turn it around at the end of the video because that same side of the stone is blue, green, yellow, or even red depending how you look at it and how the light is oriented. Sometimes you can see multiple colors through each other. Its doing what I associate with good opals, and completely saturating the red/green/blue pixels of my phone camera when the play of color is lined up right.

This is the opal specimen I've been looking for. This is why I love going to rock shows, some of this stuff has to be seen in person to be appreciated. Photos are nice, videos are better, but opals need to be seen to be believed. Those colors are unreal bright.

good morning wish me a good shift!!!

chalcedony

Mineral Study

Deep red translucent Realgar (AsS) crystals on matrix. Realgar is a photosensitive mineral and will alter to Pararealgar when exposed to light for long periods, but these crystals show no sign of alteration. Size of mineral specimen (cm): 4.5 x 3 x 3. From Getchell Mine, Adam Peak, Potosi Mining District, Osgood Mountains, Humboldt County, Nevada, USA

🔍 Natural crystallized gold specimens from the Colorado Quartz mine in Mariposa, California

These rare and beautiful formations, captured in stunning detail by Giuseppe Pipino's photo, are coveted by collectors and geologists alike.

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The Colorado Quartz mine is known for producing some of the world's finest gold specimens, with intricate crystalline structures and vibrant hues. These specimens are a testament to the natural beauty and geological history of California, and a reminder of the wonder and awe that the natural world can inspire. ✨🌄🏞️💰

Mexican Fire Agate

Banded Agate

Amethyst.   Brazil  

Photo:  Ekaterina  Pakhneva

Amethyst from the Goboboseb Mountains in Namibia

I went to the local pride festival yesterday, and my favorite local mineral dealer was back. I bought a nice stibnite crystal from them last year, but this year I found something even better.

This is a specimen of elemental sulfur, on (I think) Celestine matrix. It’s absolutely incredible, I’ve never even heard of double terminated sulfur crystals. Sulfur so rarely forms large crystals at all, usually just large waxy blobs. But these gorgeous gemmy rhombs?!? I’m not sure the camera does it justice, but they’re SO CLEAR! If sulfur wasn’t so soft, some of these would be almost facet-grade.

I tried googling for comparable specimens, to see if I got a good deal, and I literally couldn’t find any. There’s nothing similar available right now. Even the dealer said that they looked through a huge lot of specimens and only found two of this quality, and they kept the other one for themselves.

i just wanna be here