Dec. 14,
2008. Today I went to go
check out one of my favorite spots in Wake County, NC. There
is a
creek here that produces some nice crystals and veins that can be dug
all around the area.
There is an alluvial
layer around the creek that is pacted with a near conglomerate
of quartz rock, white grey clay and occasional
crystal.
So, I started off by first checking on a spot where the
alluvial
layer was well exposed. Lucky for me this one was sticking
right
out of the side of the exposure so I didn't have to do any
digging
at all for this one.
Here it is after
cleaning it off.
Next I decided to go
find a quartz vein to
dig for crystals. After a close visual inspection of the
ground I
located a vein to dig into. A great technique is to dig on
both
sides of the vein so that the vein is exposed. Then pry that
section of the vein out. This way crystals that may be inside
are
less likely to be damage by tools.
After pulling the vein
out I could see the many faces from the crystals that were lying inside.
Here's the crystals
after cleaning off all the clay. Not a bad day.
December
26, 2008
Today
I made it out to one of my favorite construction sites. The
construction here lies at the heart of the crystalline zone that runs
from Cary and northeast through Raleigh. There has
been a
bit of rain since I was last here so there was much exposed quartz rock
laying on the surface. Here's a couple things I found.
Found a neat specimen
with a crystal laying across it and attached to the matrix.
The specimen below came
from a spot down
the road and at another construction site. It was
exposed in
a vein in one of the walls that was carved away by a backhoe.
I
continued to dig but alas, no more crystals. Just broken up, ugly
quartz.
Even though it was the
only nice crystal I
found at this spot I was very pleased with it's quality. It's
got
a very dark and clear area in it that I will be able to work with my
cab machine or possibly get faceted.
