day at ewingar (smoky quartz)

[madworld]

Took our first trip out looking for some smoky quartz today, was keen to dig for it hoping to find some gem quality terminated stones however it was harder than it looks to find anyhing and when i did eventually find what i believe to be a pegmatite there was nothing of any quality in it.

This just dropped away as i was digging, looked promising but after half an hour here was no sign of anything so i gave up

This had the right look i think but nothing impressive came from it

More digging still nothing

After 2/3 of the day walking and scaling embankments we resigned ourself to the creeks just to bag something.

 

[silver]

Well, the creek is certainly saying it's there somewhere.
Looking good, and great photos Madworld.

 

[Guest]

Good post I did enjoy. J.

 

[AtomRat]

Gday mate! I wouldnt give up yet mate, look for anywhere that vein intersects another across it and where it can have a chance of growing in a larger hole by the pegs. What you are digging in there is a bit harder than what im digging in ( a bit more decomposed granite ). I want to see if i can find something more similar to what your in there. Was that a smokey vein, or just a clear vein that seems smokey with a dark background.

We are digging very similar ground mate and your finds are the same as mine. You should see some amethyst about too. Keep in contact over this sort of digging Digging deep in a creek closeby will have some very large crystals, but if your like me, your after flawless ones too. Problem is, the desposts near me were all dug by large machinery at some point and basically impossible to see anything under the mess. Very nice crystals though mate

 

[madworld]

Thanks guys, was good to be out in the bush again. Yes AR that was a smoky vein, found 2 spots where it was intersected by vertical veins and dug it all but was all just shattered pieces of grey cloudy stone. A couple that came up the creek 4 hours after us showed us an amazing piece they found in the creek, must have been 2 -3 kg smoky terminated and only slightly river worn, we must have nearly tripped over it in our determination to find a pegmatite.

Cant see how steep it is in the photos but the vein was about 10m up on a bank, with near verticle landslip the only access, lucky i had my mountain goat with me to show me the way

 

[AtomRat]

Hope you have some company with you mate and when tackling high walls, just a rope can be of massive use as annoying as it could seem to setup. I sometimes just drive a pick or rock chisel for an anchor point if it will hold.

Anyway ill stop the mum talk, I know you've got that knowledge. Your looking for the same as me like I said, looking for that "messy" intersection. Soon mate, soon

Have you noticed how the crystals / minerals sort and deposit in an order along the waterways length, between that smokey, there should be some rarer finds you may not expect and stumble across one day.

The good finds, like gold, turn up in ridiculous places and to tell you the truth it annoys me when its 'not meant to be there' :lol: but they are always a great story you never forget

You have youself a great spot there mate, I hope you go well with the finding!

 

[5ftfossicker]

Yeah atomrat i agree very unsafe to go alone, it is however a very well trained dog you have being able to take photos.

 

[DrDuck]

On the subject of smokey quartz, I saw this spectacular cut specimen on the Amazing Geologist FB page. Lots of rock and mineral porn to be seen there.

 

[madworld]

Wow... would a common faceting machine cut that size ?

 

[AtomRat]

This is a smokey amethyst a member of our gem club found locally a few years back

 

[Heatho]

Quality Smokey Quartz really cut a great looking gemstone.

 

[AtomRat]

Wow... would a common faceting machine cut that size ?

From what I've been told, some of the larger ones are done by hand and eye on a lap, like the worlds largest faceted quartz in melbourne museum

 

[madworld]

Surely no ones hand eye coordination can index that well and rotate so consistently?

 

[AtomRat]

http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/specimens/35002

This is the one ( sorry edited )

From the Crystal King Mine in Tallangalook

 

[madworld]

Thats phenomenal.