Prehnite Crystal From Prospect Quarry, Sydney N.S.W.

Hi all,

Here's another specimen that I'd like to share. It a nice little specimen of Botryoidal Prehnite from the old quarry at Prospect N.S.W. Most of the great quality Prehnite specimens in the world came from the one quarry there. And as most things go today, it's probably off limits for prospecting.

Prehnite from Prospect has a special crystalline structure in that it forms in the Botryoidal system (shperical radiating blades). While many other gemstones, such as Malachite, Agate and Hematite (I also have a nice specimen of Botryoidal Hematite) etc. are also found in Botryoidal form now and again. Prehnite is really quite rare in this form making it very sought after.

Its a beautiful structure for crystal formation and really refracts light very nicely.

If you're lucky enough to have a piece, by all means post it up here!

I took two similar shots here. The first one under yellow, ordinary light and the second using some white LED's just to see if I could get the colour to become more vibrant. This specimen is only about ten centimetres across with spheres in the six millimetre to two centimetre range.




Kindest regards,
Shauno.

nice . who woulda thought it would be found somewhere like prospect . i have never seen it before

you could pass that to a kid and then pretend its made of fossilised rabbit poop to make them scream . nah they might drop it

Haha! Yeah. Looks the part

On a more serious note; Dad was just saying that he recalls someone (possibly searching for Prehnite specimens) had gone over the cliff edge and had died at the time. Apparently they closed the Prospect Quarry after that incident sometime in the late 60's.

Just consulted Dr.Google and the quarry seems to be part of the Greystanes industrial zone now. What a sad end to a prime mineral location.

No wonder it's rare to see today. Surely there's some nice deposits still in the area though. Some of the best specimens that came out were absolutely huge. I'd certainly love to see those.

Cheers,
Shauno.

http://www.quarrygreystanes.com/

Shame it has turned to this !!!

headbut said:

http://www.quarrygreystanes.com/

Shame it has turned to this !!!

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good work headbut

incredible you can take control of the webcam on that page 8)

looking at these suburban places is a bit of a head-bend to remember that they were also natural bushland once and equally as possible to be host to every imaginable mineral.

I dunno about off limits, wearing a hard hat and a flouro safety vest and trying to look official while picking through some dirt probably would'nt even raise an eyebrow in a big city.

Great info on that one Shauno. Had never heard of it either.

Heatho said:

I dunno about off limits, wearing a hard hat and a flouro safety vest and trying to look official while picking through some dirt probably would'nt even raise an eyebrow in a big city.

Great info on that one Shauno. Had never heard of it either.

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don't forget a clipboard and tap measure you can wander around a long time i used to do it all the time at work