⭐ Gemstone & Mineral Show n Tell

[Thanksun]

An opaque 1 or so carat sapphire from my most recent journey. A proof of concept for my hobby at least.

 

[WalnLiz]

An opaque 1 or so carat sapphire from my most recent journey. A proof of concept for my hobby at least. View attachment 8742

At least you're on the right track...clear and opaques go hand in hand.

 

[Wally69]

Very Nice - being a first and having some definite attractive colour, I would like to suggest that you have a go at skin polishing it, and keep the hexagonal base shape or cabbing it into a button. I think it would produce a unique and usable gem that will be a reminder of your fossicking trip, for at least a couple of million more years.

 

[SarahS]

heres my beutifal smokey citrine, a qiuet lucky find up near colarado:

 

[firefly]

I found this piece of quartz recently. It has a nice grey hue.

 

[Goldfreak]

I found this piece of quartz recently. It has a nice grey hue.View attachment 10501
View attachment 10502

No expert.... Petrified cloud ? Looks similar to the quartz found around Echunga SA.

 

[7an7]

I had an odd night prospecting just before Christmas. Half the night had already passed and the 7 hadn’t even brushed over a micro slither of tin and nothing for the rest. But just before midnight i dropped a mark and set tracking on hopefully a new addition to home if i could get missy ( my car ) back in there.
And it’s a gem of a coffee table.

 

[BlackSnakeCo]

Any thoughts, gemfields Qld.?

 

[dan1000]

Thought I'd share my best find from one of the Minerama field trips over the weekend!

4.4ct sapphire

 

[Wally69]

Nice stone dan1000

My best find from Minerama - a nice 4.6ct blue

 

[dan1000]

Nice stone dan1000

View attachment 13119My best find from Minerama - a nice 4.6ct blue

Also a great stone!

 

[Hawkear]

Was round at a friend's place for dinner the other night and he produced this magnificent flawless white egg sized example of a Catseye feldspar.

 

[grubstake]

Was round at a friend's place for dinner the other night and he produced this magnificent flawless white egg sized example of a Catseye feldspar.

I reckon his hens are getting too much silica in their diet.

 

[Hawkear]

Gem people call this Moonstone.
Moonstone is a member of the feldspar family, a really broad family of minerals which are contained in Granites and of gem size in Pegmatites.
Feldspars are aluminium silicates of Sodium, Potassium or Calcium.
Other well known minerals in the Feldspar group are Labradorite, Albite, Sunstone and Aventurine and Orthoclase.
Gem quality Moonstone can be found between Hughendon and the Lynd in Queensland at a place called (wait for it!) Moonstone Hill.
The property that gives Moonstone and some other minerals a cat or tiger eye appearance is called chatoyance. Moonstone is a mixture of Albite and orthoclase and during cooling of the magma those minerals separate into crystalline bands giving Moonstone its chatoyant property. Other minerals that can display chatoyance are Sapphire (Star sapphires), aquamarine, labradorite, beryl, quartz (tiger eye).
Feldspars are the most abundant rock forming minerals and compose over 50% of the earth’s crust but pure and clear gem quality specimens are rare.
Realised the topic was show and tell and I had only shown, so thought I’d do a little research. Good to learn a bit.