Search the Community

Just got back from mason tx in hill country rock hounding and artifact collecting. Think I found at least a few topaz gemstones. Possibly more. any id help would be much appreciated. Spent 3 days digging under boulders and places the heavy minerals would be trapped. seem to be very rare and was a lot of work Was Very difficult to sift through all the quartz in this area. Most of these stones were found in natural slough catching areas near bedrock. any recommendations would be awsome. First time to look look for gemstones in Texas. just need recommendations and do not have a scale to test gravity nor hardness tests on stones. will be going to gemologist soon these are just my suspect topaz. Especially 1-13 pics. pics 1-7 smoky quartz or big topaz? The big stone is what I’m excited about. It’s not glass also. I know what slag glass or glass looks and feels like etc. Very heavy and looks like the Indians might of tried to knap stone etc. quartz will not scratch this stone. 8-13 small stones. Topaz? 14-20 most I suspect quartz or low quality topaz if any on this lot? Ryolite in granite or llanite etc. ?

Hi. My mother has this large rock. It’s got a greasy sheen to it. The entire rock is crystal but the inclusions are a red/pink dirt. My gem tester puts it in the jade/spinel or topaz categories. It’s not like a piece of quartz that we have seen before. Any ideas of what this could be?

I figure a lot of us here share the same interests, one of the things I do is collect sand samples from places I go. I have a few extras I would like to trade. These are each 3 dram vials, approximately 11mL per vial. The first is - Black Sand, Punaluʻu Beach, Big Island Hawai'i collected on a trip in 2009 - 3 available. second is - Topaz, Topaz Mountain, Millard County Utah, collected in 2011 - 2 available (I Know it's slightly larger than sand but it fit in my vials!) Third is - Garnet Sand / Purple Sand, Emerald Creek Idaho, collected in 2014 - 5 available Last one is - Volcanic sand, Amalfi Coast, Salerno, Italy collected in 2015 - 5 available (supposedly this is rock from Mt. Vesuvius that is broken down by the waves over the years.) I also have sand and rocks from the Jurassic aged Morrison Formation in Morrison, Colorado. Let me know if there is any interest for that, I can post pictures as well! I would mostly be interested in growing my sand collection, but I am open to fossil trades as well! Let me know what you have and we can work something out I'm sure! I may want a couple of sand samples for the topaz It is not easy stuff to collect or clean! Hope everyone had a safe and happy new years!!! -Blake