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Correct. Just that i got really impatient and couldn't wait so used what was at hand. I will try more and yes, i suspect i read the same research suggesting 1400 deg C. But i also read others suggesting 900 for two hours. And my furnace won't go to 1400 so i concocted a recipe. I am not...

Wally, I packed it into a graphite crucible with crushed heat beads and heated for two hours at around 900C in an electric furnace. The aim - to generate a reducing atmosphere. The stone went in as shown and came out white diamond clear. Apparently some do that rather than turn blue. It has...

Oh dear. May i suggest you research Ratanakiri Blue Zircon. Far from ruining a natural stone, very special heat treatment creates stones like no other and are found only in this area. This is not a case of colour lightening of dark stones, it is a unique gemstone.

Awesome stone. I am at Mudgeeraba and happy to have a look but don't consider myself an expert cutter for a stone of this significance. I would be keen to have a look anyway at this and your other stones if that helps you in someway. If you don't get any satisfaction here, maybe drop down to the...

Interesting suggestion. Possibly. It is heavier than quartz but not tin like heavy and it shows no magnetic susceptibility to a rare earth magnet.

Found this specimen in at Tingha today. Could it be casiterite? Cheers peter

Just about to attempt heat treatment of Ratanakiri Cambodian brown/coke cola zircon. Anyone experienced this process. I have an electric kiln and purchased some graphite crucibles for the exercise. Aim is for a traditional brilliant sky blue.

You have aproximately 20gr of the yellow stuff! That is awesome.

Another tick for that beauty. Looks like it's rutilated?

A glove?

It is music yo the ears when your detector goes off in remote virgin county. Good luck.

Would have given you a raced heartbeat or two when pulled out?

Hello Wally Yes. One I have cut. That was my third stone. Cut two almost identical now set into 9ct yellow gold solitaire stud earings. ~5.5mm Also cut some stunning round, 12-13mm smokies I found recently in Elsmore. Perfect clarity and clean. Used cerium oxide on perspex to polish. I am no...

No 3. A sluice will poorly separare sapphires from wash. They have a specific gravity around 3.5, silica is 2.8 so not much difference. Gold is over 19 by comparison. Sapphires are commercialy recovered with pulsating jigs which vertically pulse the bed so saphires can settle onto a screen then...

About to start building a mineral jig. Aim to have two cels, each around 400x400mm square, pulsed by a rocker system from below using two 12 or 13" tyres. Just wondering if anyone has any design rules, pulse frequency and stroke range, ragging and mesh sizes etc etc. Plan to use it for...

Just signed up. Looks like an awesome forum. Well done to all past contributors. I am Gold Coast based. Interest and experience in Gold Detecting - WA and a little bit in the golden triangle. Gold dredging in the 80's and 90's. NSW north and soutgern tablelands Gem fosicking and and very...