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Fossil/Rock Collecting

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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,121
Does anyone else ever go look for cool rock specimens and fossils just for fun? Any hiking trip it's worth bringing a chisel and a rock hammer. Of course pictures are just as good too!

Here are a few pics my collection ...

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Mar 4 2012 5:18PM
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Phil-X-
Posts: 7205 - Karma: 14,399
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Found in the western sahara part of Morocco
Mar 4 2012 6:36PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
threads,
i got some really sick and quite big ammonites i found in a paper slate (dunno the correct term in english, just super fine slate that almost falls open like the pages of a book ...)

and some smaller finds and stuff i acquired over the years :)
just waiting for my friend to return my camera :P
Mar 6 2012 7:30AM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
Recently went diamond foraging up in Herkimer, NY for their diamonds (I believe they are 70% real diamonds). It was a total blast hanging out with a sunhat, hammer, and brews. And we found some pretty cool diamonds. Click for awesomeness.

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Jun 7 2012 10:08AM
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2_fadez
Posts: 7780 - Karma: 4,183
dayummm
how big are those?
Jun 7 2012 10:16AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
you know they're quartz, right ?

still pretty cool finds, haven't found any like that yet :)
Jun 7 2012 10:20AM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
Yes, you are so right. I knew I was wrong in that, but still super fun.
Jun 7 2012 10:27AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
if they were diamonds you could probably quit your job and start mining/collecting there for like a year and then retire for the rest of your life :)

sorry to crush your dream though :/
Jun 7 2012 10:32AM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
No worries, dream not crushed. We were stoked to find what we did - the adventure alone.

Mr Anne Frank, they are not super big. Most are actually pretty small. Matt actually took one to see if he could have it placed in a nose ring for me - we'll see what happens with that - how cool would that be though? Foraging my own nose ring. Muahahaha.
Jun 7 2012 10:38AM
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the_moderaper
Posts: 2465 - Karma: 218
When I lived in North Caroline I went to Hiddenite gem mine a few times. I ended up with a bag full of rough saphires and rubys, 3 or 4 emeralds, several other colorful beauties and one (i think) rather large chunk of hiddenite. I feel like its actually worth money..
Jun 21 2012 10:06AM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,121
I can't really tell the scale, but if those were diamonds you would probably already be set for life.

the lower right one in the bottom picture though is a sweet specimen because it is doubly terminated which is actually fairly rare!
Jun 21 2012 2:12PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,121
actually middle of orion's belt in the top picture is a very good example of this as well.
Jun 21 2012 2:13PM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
They're def not real diamonds, and the double termination is exactly why Herkimer diamonds known for, that is their shape - so it is not rare in this case.
Jun 21 2012 2:38PM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkimer_diamond
Jun 21 2012 2:39PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,121
yeah I knew they weren't diamonds. I meant the double termination in quartz was rare. That article is very cool though, I had no idea that they were so common in just one place.

Either way, rare or not, the fun part is going out and finding them. It's like treasure hunting and makes you feel like a kid again.
Jun 21 2012 6:55PM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,806
Ahhh, gotcha. And yes, super fun.
Jun 21 2012 9:12PM
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Username_42069
Posts: 1591 - Karma: 15
I found this while digging on a beach in CA, about 2 hours north of San Francisco when i was much younger:

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I believe it was the head of a pounding tool (hammer-like) that belonged to some native americans/paleo indians/ etc. kinda similar to this, but authentic:

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Jun 25 2012 1:03PM
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