Rockhounding
Hello all, are there any other rockhounders/collectors, whatever you want to call yourselves, out there?
I'm looking to hear about others' experiences, specifically in mining or surveying(not sure if that wording is correct), but really, generally, hearing of diverse experiences. Some of the coolest places you've been, where you want to go, favorite finds, rocks you lust after, equipment, etc.
I'll start.
I have been collecting rocks my whole life, but as a purposeful hobby, only in the last few years. So far I have scoured a few areas of the Great Lakes in the USA. I loved Lake Superior, especially the MN parts. When I visited Michigan, I didn't feel equipped to do much hounding and the few places(tourist based) I went seemed to be more into panning ? I visited the Indiana Dunes, and hounding there also seemed much different from hounding in more still water.Hounding on the East Coast of the USA is also totally different, and I'm an amateur there. I'd say the advice to look for recent rock slides is pretty good, but requires right time/right place kind of planning.
I'm wondering for those who hound in areas that require "tools", so to speak, what it's like? As a gear-head type person, I always want a pick-axe but have no need for one.
Also debating if I need waders or not? I have yet to go deep into water to hound, so any experience or advice there is much appreciated.
Also, my current rock of obsession is Ehtiopian Opal, but I can't pull the trigger on it because I don't know if I can take care of it, or if it's worth the financial hit.
Looking forward to others' responses!
While I'm not a hound as there's not much quality land to do it on for public access near me, I am an avid collector of, among other things, opals! Welo, Black, Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, all are amazing to me.
The value of the opal lies in the beholder, but a variety of cuts in a variety of sizes means almost anyone can get some opal, even if it's rough stuff. I love rooting through the trays of rough ends my opal vendor brings to the annual trade show near me, I can find beautiful bands of color that aren't fit to be cabbed, but still catches the eye. Some opal is even fluorescent, like my dendritic opal from Arizona that, while it has no 'play' or flashes of color in it at all, glows an intense green under short and long-wave Ultraviolet.
To start an opal collection, I would recommend small, rough pieces that will one day hold more sentimental value than material value. Most vendors are happy to advise on how to care for a specimen, if it needs oiled or submerged in water, etc. If they don't know that level of information though I would look for one who does, as they will most likely leave you more satisfied doing business with them long-term.
I don't know how tildes feels about linking to retail sites but if you DM me, I can send you a link to some plastic film starter frames that can warp around the specimen to hold it in place, and can be displayed either vertically or horizontally. They smudge easy but they're a great and affordable asset for beginners.
I just remembered you also asked about white whales for a collection, mine would be opalized fossils, where the silicates that form opal fill the space left by the decaying organics. I have one that is technically a seashell, but there's no definition to indicate that, something like tree bark or a proper bone would definitely be my white whale.
I'm a very very casual rock hound, but my happiest experiences by far were going on foraging trips with real rock hounds. They apply for access to special sites like an off road river bed, or an active quarry's off day, or a decommissioned mine, or a literal gold mine with tour etc. The particular club I was part of had geologists and Serious Rock Hounds™ in it, so we're give the heads up of what today's target mineral looks like, what the rocks around it might look like, and what kind of huge boulders to notify them and they'll come over with power tools to break it. They're also very generous with their grade B or C specimens because their homes are already filled with them lol so basically gleaning after them is richly rewarding.
But don't literally glean after them. I was told that Serious Rock Hounds™ are highly solitary and resent people literally crowding their hunting spots. Give them space, wave and let them come to you don't go to them. At break time or quitting time they'll be at their truck all smiles and friendly again and give you their discards.
Edit: a fondly remembered interaction with one of the Serious Rock Hound™ geologist.
Me: is this a good one?
Him: do you like it?
Me: I do.
Him: then it's a great one.
Join a local rock and mineral club! My local club schedules expeditions (sometimes hours away) and makes arrangements with quarry or mine owners to allow prospecting. I've seen them bring back slabs of amethyst crystals, Isle Royal greenstone (technically not legal to collect in Federal parks, but can be found on the lakeshores), agates, copper matrix, Yooperlites, pudding stone, fossil coral, and other rarities. Around the Great Lakes, don't underestimate what you can find just beachcombing, though a sand scoop like this will help (also useful for metal detectorists).
I haven't gone yet, thanks to the pandemic and work commitments, but I'm looking forward to trips as a post-retirement activity in a decade...
Don't know much about the hobby, sorry, but what sorts of things do you mean by 'take care of it'? Always love hearing people talk about things they are passionate about, especially when I have no clue what might be involved.
From the very brief research I did, it seems like Opals have to be watered? Something about them makes it such that their appearance is not static. It was enough to put me off lol The Ethiopian one specifically I almost always see in tanks of water. I wouldn't mind having an aquatic rock garden, tbh...but want to know what I'm getting into before I buy it, since they are quite expensive!
Thanks for your question, I appreciate the encouragement!
There's plenty of colorful opal rough that isn't fit to be cabbed or carved, but looks nice in collections. Fractures, podge inclusions (basically, dried mud), and non-iridescent common opal streaks diminish the usable material.
Opal is a hydrated silica matrix, and desiccation can cause fracture or loss of surface iridescence. Keeping lower quality opals in water can reduce the tendency for fractures to form or propagate. Also, opal rough is shown in water because the index of refraction makes it look brighter than when shown in air, by filling the unpolished surface.
I don't collect opals, but I've cut and sold solid (white, crystal, black, dendritic, and Peruvian) and matrix (Boulder, Koroit, Lightning Ridge) opal cabochons. I've also done carvings, doublets, and stabilized.
Is there any harm in keeping them in a glass jar forever then?
Not really, though you might need to change the water from time to time if you see any indication of bacterial growth. I'd say, just wash the rough once with dilute soap, and use distilled or deionized water so there's no mineral residue.
Wow not at all what I was expecting! I was sure you were going to say something about like lighting or maybe a storage container or something, but not a tank of water! Interesting stuff.
funny, just as i finnished this story about rocks, i found this topic, maybe some of you stone lover might like it, its short, quirky and funny Rock falls, everyone dies
My undergrad was in archaeology and I was a field surveyor for a few years. Rock hounding is almost compulsory while doing that kind of work. The coolest location I ever ended up rockhounding was in an old roman copper mine. The mine itself was carved out of the cliffs and as you entered the complex it had arched pillars carved out of the rock itself every 5 meters or so in 4 directions. There was also about 6 inches of goat shit that covered the floor. Obviously the copper was long gone, but through the smelting and refining process they made a metric ton of slag. I have a few cool pieces of that, and knowing it's from around 2100 years ago is very interesting to me.
Now a days, I rockhound for fun. We live near big sur where Jade is the most popular, and you can find some pretty cool specimens on the beaches or in the shallows. I enjoy getting it from the sea so sometimes when I go out snorkeling I'll look for it. Otherwise it'll be quartz based stuff from the Snake River Range, or fossils from Utah, or geodes from the Mohave desert. I have been tempted by fossilized wood - especially in the Escalante river range where they have full stumps - but I figure they'll get more appreciation where they sit now. The last category is what I would call cool or funny. If it's shaped like a penis and balls, or if it has interesting holes, or it's a mixture of many interesting types of rock.
Outside of geodes I never break anything, I just pick up what I find. Sometimes that means hauling some pretty frustrating stones - particularly if they are found early on in a backpacking trip.
Yes, me, and I usually say "rockhound", because that gives the best idea to the widest audience. Although lately I have focused more on slimming down the collection over dragging home additions, having slowly accumulated a fair bit of material.
I collect based on minerals and locality/provenance, so not as many large, showy crystals. The most famous place I have been is probably Mt. Antero, and the best find was supposedly some chalcedony after aragonite. The latter is based on the local museum wanting to keep it for their collection, though, because I disagreed with their assessment. My favorite collecting is at weird pegmatites with unusual minerals, and my own favorites tend to be that sort of thing.
I have been into some old mine adits, and a great many pits, mostly smaller. I also currently hold one lode mining claim myself. It is a section of silicified fault line in some rhyolitic tuff, so there is significant outcrop, and all collection has been choice agate-like pieces from surface breakdown without any tools. The survey for staking and filing was done with Google Maps, GPS, and running the haversine calculations in Python. I know it is not perfect, but it is close, and I did not have any real survey equipment—or training!
Just as you say, I have never really used a pickaxe. Largely, I get by between a standard rock hammer, large chisel, and little crack hammer. I also have a large sledge hammer and digging bar that have come out on occasion. Other tools I use include a textile gun (great for removing stuff like those tenacious rock lichens) and a scintillation counter. The next thing needed to work the claim material is a large slab saw, which has proven cost prohibitive, and is on hold. Some folks go out hunting with black lights, such as for the yooperlite mentioned by patience_limited.
For upcoming searches, hmm... I have a lead on an andesitic unit that is supposed to have red zeolite crystals in vesicles I want to verify. It is not all that distant from the claim, but have not had the time for going that much more out of the way yet. I have also been thinking about going on a longer trip to recover some aventurine examples I left before. At the time, I devoted all my pack space to piemontite and schorl specimens instead, ha ha!