ynot Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 15 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Just keep following those veins. You’re pulling out some quality stuff now! Thanks. They are some beauties but I am still looking for the rutile inclusions. 4 minutes ago, Wrangellian said: It sounds like maybe that whole mountainside is full of xls, no? Yea, that is about right. I like to describe it as a "bread pudding" and the pockets are raisins. Never know where one will end up in the whole. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepTimeIsotopes Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 On 6/24/2019 at 9:38 PM, ynot said: Today was day 6 on the claim. I am too tired to do much typing..... so here is a spoiler.... It was a good day I will fill in the blanks later. Now, that’s a quartz crystal! 1 Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 @ynot What formation and type of rock are the quartz crystals in? Is there any other interesting minerals in your claim, gold? My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 1 hour ago, UtahFossilHunter said: Now, that’s a quartz crystal! Thanks. 36 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: @ynot What formation and type of rock are the quartz crystals in? Is there any other interesting minerals in your claim, gold? The USGS lists it as an undescribed mesozoic metamorphic rock. It is a mica schist and the formation is called an Alpine Facies which produces what is known as alpine quartz. I have identified 8 mineral/crystals that are found as inclusions in the quartz from My claim, most are only found as micro crystals. Muscovite, adularia, brookite, iron pyrite, hematite, dolomite - ankerite series (midrange), rutile (prismatic) and sagenite. I also find pseudomorphs of reticulated rutile after brookite. There are a couple of other things that are unidentified crystals in the quartz. The type of geology is not known to produce any gold. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 I do like the double-terminated xls, and I don't think I've ever seen one that size! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 4 hours ago, Wrangellian said: I do like the double-terminated xls, and I don't think I've ever seen one that size! I have a fondness for fully terminated crystals also. The big one here is the third largest from the claim. (Currently, but I am hoping for bigger ones.) The largest one is the same length but twice as wide and is "castled" (has 100's of points) on one end. It is also not as clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 29, 2019 Author Share Posted June 29, 2019 Day 8 on My claim with a backhoe. It was a gooooood day!! I arrived at the turnoff to the access road to find 2 trucks parked there and barely managed to squeeze between them. Got about 50 meters down the road and found a 18 inch thick cedar tree laying across the road. I started clearing the debris off the road, when a head popped out of the bushes uphill from Me. He asked what I was doing. After a brief explanation of My need to have the road open, I got Him to promise that the cutting crews would not block My road anymore! The cutters (a second one had shown up while I was talking with the first guy.) then cleared the road and I proceed to the claim. Got into the hole (after a short wait to clean out the debris from last time digging. Crystals started coming out and the hole continued to produce all day. Around 4pm there was a hard piece of schist that was blocking Our progress. Got the backhoe fired up and popped the offending rock out. Tom scraped a little to deep, and We saw some crystals fall from the bucket. When We picked them up We could see that the crystals have a lot of "spider web" rutile in them! We dug for another 2 hours and found quite a few pieces of the rutilated crystals. Filled the hole (for protection from claim jumpers) and proceeded home, very sore but happier than a pig in a wallow. In the hole digging... The take at noonish... Cleaning out the hole... The take at 4 o'clock.... The 2 largest of the rutilated crystals found today. that was it for day 8, but We will be back tomorrow! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepTimeIsotopes Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 On 6/29/2019 at 10:03 AM, ynot said: The 2 largest of the rutilated crystals found today. We need to see some of these up close so we can see the rutile crystals! very nice though! 1 Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 On 6/27/2019 at 9:41 PM, UtahFossilHunter said: Here in Illinois we throw the little ones like that back so they can grow to full size. Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 On 6/30/2019 at 1:53 PM, UtahFossilHunter said: We need to see some of these up close so we can see the rutile crystals! very nice though! Will work on that. It is hard to get a good picture of it though, because it is so fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Looks like some great finds ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Randyw said: Looks like some great finds ! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 Day 9. Cleared the hole and dug 5 crystals out. Not very big or clear crystals. Then the backhoe hit a wall it could not get through. The geologic appearance changed somewhat also. We closed the hole and started trenching the trail. Found nothing. PS Also blew the seal on the backhoe swing arm (other side). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 Day 10 on the claim. Started digging more of the trench. Had been digging for about 1.5 hours when the bucket activator piston blew it's seal. Removed it and left the mine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 On 6/30/2019 at 1:53 PM, UtahFossilHunter said: We need to see some of these up close so we can see the rutile crystals Here are close up pictures of a few of the crystals. 2 views of 2 crystals with rutile. Longer crystal is 2 inches. 2 views of the second largest rutilated crystal. crystal length is 5 inches. One of the neat inclusions found at this site are rutile replacement of brookite, here is a nice one found in pocket 6. Crystal length is 1.5 inches. Here are a few of the un rutilated crystals. 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. 6 inches. 8.5 inches. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Looking good -- I like quartz crystals. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belemniten Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 These are some really unbelievable finds! Congrats @ynot 1 Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils Regards Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepTimeIsotopes Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 18 hours ago, ynot said: Here are close up pictures of a few of the crystals. 2 views of 2 crystals with rutile. Longer crystal is 2 inches. 2 views of the second largest rutilated crystal. crystal length is 5 inches. One of the neat inclusions found at this site are rutile replacement of brookite, here is a nice one found in pocket 6. Crystal length is 1.5 inches. Here are a few of the un rutilated crystals. 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. 6 inches. 8.5 inches. Thanks, nice pictures and crystals, of course! 1 Each dot is 50,000,000 years: Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic........... Paleo......Meso....Ceno.. Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here Doesn't time just fly by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said: Looking good -- I like quartz crystals. Thanks. 2 hours ago, belemniten said: These are some really unbelievable finds! Congrats @ynot Thank You. Well, they are not an ichthyosaur jaw with teeth, but I'll take what I can find. 2 hours ago, UtahFossilHunter said: Thanks, nice pictures and crystals, of course! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 Day 11 Replaced the repaired piston and trenched the rest of the day, found 1 dinky (0.12 x 0.012 inch ) crystal. and day 12. Continued to dig trenches and found nothing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 You win some. you lose some. Keep on persevering. 2 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Ludwigia said: You win some. you lose some. Keep on persevering. Yeah, I knew it would not be a pocket every day. Just have to keep plodding on..... Or as Our British friends say- Keep a stiff upper lip. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 Day 13. Continued to trench the trail and found some bull (white) quartz, but no crystals. Decided to close that section and move on. After discussing it during lunch, We decided to dig into the hill above the area We had lost the lead in the 5th pocket. Dug into the appropriate area and started seeing some thick bull quartz and a lot of faces and broken pieces. Continued to dig until 6 and did find a few nice crystals. Heading back up to do some more digging tomorrow. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 Pictures from day 12 showing pocket 4 (red arrow) and pocket 6 (yellow arrow) and the area trenched Day 14. We continued to follow the vein and find broken pieces and crushed quartz. Found a few undamaged crystals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 Day 15. We continued to follow the crushed vein and find small crystals and chunkies. at the end of the day We hit a solid bull vein about 8 to 12 inches thick, but it showed no crystal (?), very confused We continued to dig into it. About 3 feet in We hit a vug with lots of crystals. Continued to dig in this vug for day 16 and 17. Here are pictures from all 3 days. Early day finds from day 17. Some more digging.. The take from day 17... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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