Blue / pink / purple / etc Stones at Telegraph Point, NSW

[user 25014]

Hi All,

This is my first post. I'm not really into prospecting or rocks in general, but have gotten curious about some stones I am finding. Some time ago I got some unimproved land at Telegraph Point on the Mid North Coast of NSW. It has a small creek on it, but really that's an exaggeration. Mostly dry, just some small holes on it and rocky. I am no expert, so all I can say is that the rock type is grey/brown. And if you know Telegraph Point at all you'll see it creates a red soil, which makes ideal fruit growing conditions on the plateau. So on two occasions recently I have found some colourful stones in the creek. About a dozen stones. The bigger ones are blue and not that attractive. Some smaller ones are pink/purple/red and quite glassy looking, but very small, matchhead sized. Anyone know what types of stones they are? Guessing there is info online somewhere, but not sure where to find it or what keywords to use. I did ask old mate on the plateau but he didn't have any info.

Thanks in advance,
Dean

 

[grubstake]

Hi Dean, welcome to PA.

Can you post some (well-focussed) pics, please.

 

[user 25014]

Hi mate,
Thanks for taking an interest. Photo attached. Best I could get.
Dean

 

[grubstake]

Wow - those pinks and reds are amazing! I'd guess that they're zircons, but I'm no expert.

 

[mbasko]

Welcome to the forum Dean.
Those pink stones look similar to rubies I've seen from the Cudgegong River near Mudgee. Do you have a UV torch to see if they are fluorescent?
I can't find any reference to rubies/sapphire in your area though. There are some areas further north inland from Coffs Harbour.
Members Cudgegong River rubies:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/cudgegong-river-information.3928/#post-52233
Not sure where these were from:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/pink-stones.3437/post-46892

 

[Hawkear]

I’d be guessing the reds, pinks are garnets. The fracture in the stones is conchoidal which is typical of garnets. Garnets are are a silicon based stone and have a hardness around 6.5. They are formed from the metamorphism of rocks such as slates or granites that are silica rich alumina poor.
I have seen garnets very much like those when panning for gold in the Lerderderg river on Vic.

 

[user 25014]

Welcome to the forum Dean.
Those pink stones look similar to rubies I've seen from the Cudgegong River near Mudgee. Do you have a UV torch to see if they are fluorescent?
I can't find any reference to rubies/sapphire in your area though. There are some areas further north inland from Coffs Harbour.
Members Cudgegong River rubies:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/cudgegong-river-information.3928/#post-52233
Not sure where these were from:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/pink-stones.3437/post-46892

Thanks for your responses Grub, Matt and Geoff.

Matt, I do have a black light. Is that the same as a UV torch? Will try to find it tonight. Meanwhile I'm heading down to Telegraph for another scratch.

 

[mbasko]

Yes black light is UV.
There are different waves (long/short) so not sure what works best.
@Heatho
@Dihusky

P.s. hopefully you find some more of these interesting stones.

 

[mbasko]

You wouldn't be up closer to Cooperabung would you?
There is an area there of weathered cenozoic basalt that may be where your finds are originating?
Inland at Yarrowitch (~100km) there are known sapphires & rubies on another basalt area although of a different age (paleogene).
Other basaltic areas of NSW can yield conundrum, zircon & garnet so some further testing would be needed to know for sure.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...es-on-identifying-minerals-goldierocks.17698/

 

[user 25014]

You wouldn't be up closer to Cooperabung would you?
There is an area there of weathered cenozoic basalt that may be where your finds are originating?
Inland at Yarrowitch (~100km) there are known sapphires & rubies on another basalt area although of a different age (paleogene).
Other basaltic areas of NSW can yield conundrum, zircon & garnet so some further testing would be needed to know for sure.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...es-on-identifying-minerals-goldierocks.17698/

Yeah mate. Spot on. Cooperabung is a mouthful but that's where I'm referring to. Spoke to a cow cocky a bit earlier. He said the area up where I am is basalt. Same applies to the plateau. Collected a few extra today and will test with the black light later tonight.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Yes black light is UV.
There are different waves (long/short) so not sure what works best.
@Heatho
@Dihusky

P.s. hopefully you find some more of these interesting stones.

No Matt different spectrum to a true UV...

LW....

 

[mbasko]

No Matt different spectrum to a true UV...

LW....

I always thought the lights were either shortwave or longwave just like the torches for gems.
Have seen both longwave lights & torches at ~365nM.

 

[user 25014]

Not too sure what wavelength my light is. It's just the type used in industry to reveal invisible markers. I have attached one photo that shows the same stones from the previous picture. Confusingly only one of the small stones lights up pink under the black light. The big blue stones did not light up either. Another photo are the stones I found today. Then there is another photo of the stones from today under black light. None of these new ones lit up at all. Guessing that rules out ruby and sapphire? Does that mean they are garnet and/or zircons? Thanks again for your knowledge on this.

 

[mbasko]

Not too sure what wavelength my light is. It's just the type used in industry to reveal invisible markers. I have attached one photo that shows the same stones from the previous picture. Confusingly only one of the small stones lights up pink under the black light. The big blue stones did not light up either. Another photo are the stones I found today. Then there is another photo of the stones from today under black light. None of these new ones lit up at all. Guessing that rules out ruby and sapphire? Does that mean they are garnet and/or zircons? Thanks again for your knowledge on this.

Likely rules out ruby, although one lit up. Some zircons can flouresce too I believe.
Sapphires generally won't flouresce due to their iron content but some low iron ones will.
Sorry if I've confused you but I was more thinking of the UV "test" for the pink stones, not the others, as they looked similar to other rubies I'd seen from NSW.
To identify them all now, the best bet is to follow as much of the Gemstone ID tests as possible here:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...es-on-identifying-minerals-goldierocks.17698/

 

[LONEWOLF]

On another note, You can have 5 stones like Rubies from the same location and only 1 or 2 might glow... Or even none... Up to nature to decide that one..
.
LW...

 

[mbasko]

I've moved a lot of the UV light discussion here:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/uv-light-ranges-use-for-gemstones.41575/That will allow us to keep on topic here & help DeanMNC identify his finds & also keep discussion about the UV lights going on a separate topic.

 

[mbasko]

On another note, You can have 5 stones like Rubies from the same location and only 1 or 2 might glow... Or even none... Up to nature to decide that one..
.
LW...

From what I can find, if the UV light is correct, they all fluoresce - even synthetic ones.
To get a more accurate picture of what these stones are I think other testing is now best?

 

[LONEWOLF]

Not too sure what wavelength my light is. It's just the type used in industry to reveal invisible markers. I have attached one photo that shows the same stones from the previous picture. Confusingly only one of the small stones lights up pink under the black light. The big blue stones did not light up either. Another photo are the stones I found today. Then there is another photo of the stones from today under black light. None of these new ones lit up at all. Guessing that rules out ruby and sapphire? Does that mean they are garnet and/or zircons? Thanks again for your knowledge on this.

Im not to sure what you find down that way... All I know that it has a great pub by the river.... Small Rubies, Garnets and Gold can be found in the Upper reaches of the Manning River tho.... Either way, a very nice find...
Old Fellas are a wealth of Info...They always know more that any book on the area can tell you.... Some History books on the local areas can usually be found in your Local Library ... Most of my research only extends down to Nambucca Heads area in NSW...

LW.....

 

[user 25014]

Hi All,

Cased closed. A couple came up and identified them as follows: blue, purple, pink are sapphires. Dark pink and red are rubies. Not photoed are some zircons that have since been found. The zircons are red/brown. Also there is spinel, which is black. No garnet, no diamonds unfortunately.

Someone mentioned in private message is the location close to the state forest. Unfortunately the area is not.

For what it's worth, I was also told the gemstones likely did not come out of the basalt. So there is no point smashing basalt stones with a sledge hammer to look for crystals inside. The gemstones might not even originate from the same event that caused the basalt (the basalt is hardened lava). At most all that can be said is that they are likely caused by the same hot spot that caused the basalt. The specific event that caused the gemstones to come to the surface could have origins that are thousands of years different to the event that caused the lava.

I think that's about all that can be said. Thanks again for your interest and helping me out.

Regards,

Dean

 

[mbasko]

Hi All,

Cased closed. A couple came up and identified them as follows: blue, purple, pink are sapphires. Dark pink and red are rubies. Not photoed are some zircons that have since been found. The zircons are red/brown. Also there is spinel, which is black. No garnet, no diamonds unfortunately.

Someone mentioned in private message is the location close to the state forest. Unfortunately the area is not.

For what it's worth, I was also told the gemstones likely did not come out of the basalt. So there is no point smashing basalt stones with a sledge hammer to look for crystals inside. The gemstones might not even originate from the same event that caused the basalt (the basalt is hardened lava). At most all that can be said is that they are likely caused by the same hot spot that caused the basalt. The specific event that caused the gemstones to come to the surface could have origins that are thousands of years different to the event that caused the lava.

I think that's about all that can be said. Thanks again for your interest and helping me out.

Regards,

Dean

Thanks for the follow up DeanMNC
Congrats on the finds/news & hopefully more to follow.