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Just a couple rocks

Lil Stinkpot

Lucky Greenhorn
Recently I got some crystal and mineral bits that were clearly stored outside, and some are in pretty bad shape. Almost all of them are NOIDS, AND I'm driving myself to drooling brain death trying to look them up. Once I have the really dirty, fragile ones identified, I'll explore methods of cleaning them.

Anyways, folks around have asked for photos, so here we go. Buckle up, there's a lot of rocks.

I'll resize when everything is done being posted.





I am pretty sure these are all the same.







Same rock, back side.




Needs cleaning. You are going to see a LOT of dirty specimens, a real crying shame.




Stalactite, I think. I forgot to get a photo of the inside, the crystals are a crust over some kind of fibrous, pithy material.




First of several that I want to clean, but are too furry for manual dirt removal.




Some sort of little tablets, coated on only one side with a cement like crust. I'd like to etch that off, if I find the right formula.




Heulandite. Hey, this one came labelled, yay! The little sand grain like crystals are suspended in the "fuzz."







Another filthy NOID.







Mordenite








Another furry dirt magnet








The orange bits aren't Cheeto dust, it's crumbles off another sample.







More in a bit......
 
Round two.


This is something I've had for a while. It's pure gallium, which melts just about hand temperature. Don't try it in your bare hand, it wets any surface, and stains skin. Keep it in HDPE. Anyways, this one made a crystal as it cooled over night. The crystal will be gone soon, the weather has warmed, and it melts nearly daily now.




No idea, but it looks neat.




This one looks too clear for quartz. Whatever it is, it's pretty.




Flourite








The matrix here is a very light, fluffy powder.




I think this one looks like a Borg cube.







Bismuth is readily identifiable




Two pieces of pectolite. Look at the fantastic texture! It reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night.







Another older favorite, and the next one. Electodeposited magnesium crystals and a large piece of ulexite, also known as TV stone. It's like optical calcite, and transmits light from one end to the other.






Huge, double sided slab of quartz crystals.








descloizite

















One more page full coming soon.....
 
Post 2 icture 2 is a desert rose crystal
 
Last few.






This cave rock looks like it was spray painted blue on one side. It wasn't.



















Something was slabbed



Backside




This was clearly sand blasted.







Rose pink, unlike what my camera thinks.









I think I'll save the most interesting for last. I thought that these were cinnabar, what some can say is mercury ore, but it turns out it's something more interesting, realgar, which is the source of arsenic. Toxic rocks.



When exposed to enough light, realgar becomes pararealgar, and begins to crumble.





Had enough rocks? So have I.
 
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yes, it's where we get arsenic. I don't handle it, and will be getting a sealed plastic display as soon as I can.
 
Interesting samples! Thanks for doing the work of posting them.
 
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Very cool rocks haha! I never knew rocks could be poisonous
 
Great collection! Where do you get the display cases?
 
  • #10
*shrug* Michaels.

Thanks for the compliments. :D
I just couldn't stand not having cinnabar, so I went and got some. It's not the prettiest sample, it looks like dried up brick paste. Lovely.....

I've also been bad on fleabay, and have some small opals, rutilated quartz (a super favorite!), and ulexite coming in the mail.
 
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