Mt Franklin - Near Daylesford in VIC

Hi Guys,

Saw a post about Mt Franklin and that there is apparently Moonstone up there. Anyone been up and had a look? I'd be interested in know what can be found up there.

From the article apparently the place to find it is in a cutting on the side of the road.

Anyway thinking of heading up there at some point, and just wondering if anyone has been there.

Thanks

James

Hey Marauder, not sure if it's Moonstone or something else but there was an article in Gem & Treasure magazine a while ago about some sort of crystal that's found up there.
But beware they also have an annual pagan festival up there, not sure when .... they may be looking for a human sacrifice.
Actually may have been something like peri???? or such from memory, either way was a bit of an eye opener for me when we visited a while ago ... camping area was absolutely full (but it wasn't the middle of winter).
Cheers T.

Hey Marauder,

Haven't heard of moonstone there, the crystal found is clear feldspar in varying sizes. Easiest place to get it is from the road leading up to the campsite. As you go up the road the edge of the road starts to drop off on a steep bank on the RHS and the LHS is cut into the mountain side. Find a suitable place a bit further up to pull the car off the road and then walk the 100m or so back down to it. Each movement of the earth reveals more crystals so there should be plenty for you to find. Be careful of the cars though as they come around the road quite quickly so stay off to the side and if you have a high vis vest, chuck it on for good measure.peridot)

If you are up for more of a hike and or are interested in small specimens then I would recommend heading right for the top and breaking a few of the volcanic rocks up a bit with a geo-pick, I have found a couple of small but nice clean green (potentially peridot) clusters in matrix. Not much to be had but as mentioned, if you get bored further down then always an option.

Good luck and happy hunting
Philip

Thanks Phil

How big is the feldspar?

Thanks for the Info!

James

Sorry James, I wasn't near the computer yesterday to reply.

I have found everything from a 3x3mm pieces; cubes that have fractured and come out of the larger pieces, to pieces over 25mm in size. It really depends on the luck of the draw. The main issue is that you can only really collect whatever is visible on the hill cut as you can't really dig into it without bringing down part of the bank onto the road and most likely drawing the ire of the local ranger/campers, etc. There will be more on the surface a bit further up but the slope is a hard slog and with the leaf matter covering the ground it is next to impossible to see them.

If you have nothing else on and just want to have a bit of a speck then it is definitely worthwhile, I have some nice pieces that are extremely clear and would cut a nice stone if they were to be faceted but a lot of the material is fractured so would be better as specimens rather than cutting stones.

Good luck

Philip

I'm a long way away - Queensland - but I think if there is clear feldspar there then it is possible at least that moonstone may be there also since they are essentially the same thing.

Moonstone hill in north QLD produces it as the name suggests - but as I understand it, the vast majority of the stones recovered are clear and colourless with no schiller effect, though the un-fractured ones make nice enough faceting material. A very small percentage of the feldspar there produces the irridescent blue (or very occasioanlly orange) schiller effect that results in it being called moonstone.

If you come across a piece of feldspar that is milky-translucent rather than properly transparent then you may possibly have a piece of moonstone. I haven't tried myself but if you have a suspected piece then a coating of glucose or very pale honey may cause the schiller to reveal itself when turned in the light (it has to be oriented properly to show the effect). There's probably other ways to do it as well.

I have a piece of feldspar from Springsure (referred to as "Springsure labrodorite) that partly shows the effect. The stone is mostly transparent but had a few little milky patches in it. I cabbed it and when turned the right way, the milky spots gleam a vivid irradescent blue. Too bad it's only in a few tiny patches.

Well, I'm very excited to head up there!

Where about are you Marauder?

Maruader if you go up there this time of year lots of warm clothes is recommended .It does snow.

Yeah I'm from Geelong. It's cold enough down here this morning!

If you do rug up and go up let us know how you get on.

I pass the place all the time heading to Castlemaine from Daylesford but I usually have the young family in tow so can't just stop for a quick fossick

Philip