NATURAL TREASURES
MINERALS, 

CRYSTALS

&

GEODES

(Click on Image for Enlargement)

According to Dana's Manual of Mineralogy, minerals are "naturally occurring, internally structured chemical elements or compounds formed as a product of inorganic processes".  When conditions are favorable, the may be bounded by smooth plane surfaces and may assume regular geometric forms known as crystals.

Geodes are sphere shaped rocks which contain a cavity lined with crystals. If a geode is completely filled with crystal formations it is usually called a nodule. The term geode is derived from the Greek word Geoides which means "earthlike".  Geodes begin as bubbles in volcanic rock or as animal burrows, tree roots or mud balls or solution cavities in sedimentary rock. Over time, the outer shell of the spherical shape hardens, and mineral rich water precipitates crystals such as quartz, calcite, or gypsum. on the inside walls of the hollow cavity within the geode.

Crystallography, the study of crystals, is a science in which the numerous characteristics of crystals are studied and described.  In general, crystals are solids that, when conditions are favorable, have smooth plane surfaces and assume regular geometric forms.  Their internal make-up is that of an ordered arrangement of atoms in the structure.

AMETHYST "CATHEDRAL"

Amethyst is the violet variety of quartz.  It gets its color from trace amounts of ferric iron within the crystal lattice.  These cathedral shaped geodes are formed from gas pockets within a 130 million year old lava formation.  According to the article by Brad Cross "Brazil's Amethyst Geodes" in the September, 2005 issue of "Rock & Gem" magazine, these amethyst geodes are found elongated vertically.  The spherical cap is toward the top and the base is usually upwardly convex.  Very hot, silica-rich water trapped in the gas pockets precipitated out the amethyst/quartz crystals on the cavity wall as the water slowly cooled.  These cathedrals are from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Currently out of Stock 

AMETHYST CLOCK

MAMCLK1

Very similar to the amethyst cathedral above except that this ring is a cross-sectional cut through an amethyst  geode rather than a longitudinal cut like the cathedrals above.  It is also from Brazil.

AGATE SLABS

MAGS1    MAGS2    MAGS3

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the agate slab supplier on a sunny day was to hold each slab up to the sun and see the beauty of light passing through the slab.

Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks in which cavities were filled, wholly or partially, by siliceous matter deposited in regular layers upon the walls. Such agates, when cut transversely, exhibit a succession of parallel lines, giving a banded appearance to the section. Such stones are known as banded agate, riband agate and striped agate.

In the formation of an ordinary agate, it is probable that Agate is probably formed by waters containing silica in solution (derived perhaps, from the decomposition of some of the silicates in the lava itself) percolated through the rock and deposited a siliceous coating on the interior of the cavities.

RHODOCHROSITE

MRHOCO1    MRHOCO2

These specimens contain a rich pink/red rhodochrosite along with black hematite & chalcopyrite on white quartz.  It is from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado.

CELESTITE

Celestite is Strontium Sulfate that usually occurs as geodes in limestone and gypsum rock cavities.  It is much heavier than usual due to the strontium.  The clearest, blue-est Celestite I have seen comes from Madagascar, which is where these specimens are from.  Remember, prices include shipping within the continental USA.

   MCGE3

DUGWAY GEODES

MDG1       MDG2      MDG3      MDG4       MDG5      MDG6

This is a volcanic "bubble" of reddish brown rhyolite that contained a gas cavity when it cooled and hardened.  Later, the gas cavity became lined with light blue agate and small, clear crystals of quartz.  From Dugway, Utah.  They have a cut flat bottom so they stand up nicely.

PERIDOT "BOMBS"

MPERB1    MPERB2    MPERB3    MPERB4

These specimens of Peridot, a form of Olivine, were formed in gas pockets in chunks of basaltic lava ejected from a volcano, giving them the name "Bomb".  They are from Gila County, Arizona.

VANADANITE

MVANA1

CALCITE & GYPSUM GEODE

MMG1

This piece of limestone matrix contains two calcite crystal lined cavities or geodes.  In the center of each is a beautiful, large selenite gypsum crystal.  The better one is seen in the picture.  It comes from Morocco.

DENDRITES

MDEN1   MDEN2   MDEN3

The patterns you see on these limestone slabs are not plant fossils but are, in fact, minerals.  The growth of these natural manganese minerals, pyrolusite, take the shape of a tree, which gives this pattern its name "dendrite".  They are from the Jurassic age Lithographic Limestone of  Solnhofen, Germany.

DESERT ROSES

   MDRC1    MDRC2       MDRC3

The Desert Rose also known as the Sand Rose or the Rose de Sable in French is a curious display of gypsum crystals that grow from mineral rich ground water beneath the surface of desert sand.   MDRC1, 2, & 3 are from the Sonora Desert of Chihuahua, Mexico.

NATIVE COPPER IN MATRIX

  MNC2     MNC3 MNC4 

MNC5  MNC6

These are slabs of igneous rock containing veins of hydrothermally deposited "native" copper.  They are rare in that this copper was deposited as a metal rather than as the usual oxides such as malachite, azurite and chrysocolla.  Specimens MNC3 and MNC4 are from the Knowlton Amygdaloid, Caledonia Mine, Ontonagon County, Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is a resin coated slab of native copper in basalt matrix.  Specimens MNC2, MNC5, & MNC6  are resin coated slabs of native copper in a granitic matrix from the Ray Mine, Arizona.

NATIVE COPPER IN BASALT

MNCR1     MNCR2     MNCR3     MNCR4     MNCR5

These are specimens of copper in its elemental state.  While most copper that is found and/or mined is usually in an oxidized state that turns it blue or green, these specimens were formed long ago at a time in earth's history when very little free oxygen was in the environment.  These are from the Caledonia Mine, Ontonagon County, Michigan.

NATIVE COPPER, AKA FLOAT COPPER

MNCF2

This hefty hunk of native copper's source is the same as the rough copper above but was found in farm fields miles south of the copper outcrop in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  The shiny surface is a product of being polished at the shop, but the overall smoothness is a result of being transported by glaciers thousands of years ago.

Item #	Description	Price(no tax)	Price(w/tax-TX res)
MNCF2	Native Copper, Float Copper SOLD	$30.00	$32.48

PYRITE SUN

MPYRSN1

This specimen is that of a radiating form of pyrite crystal in its natural black shale matrix.  They are found by miners in a coal mine in Sparta, Illinois.  They are in the overlying layer and fall in as they excavate.

CUBIC PYRITE CRYSTALS IN MATRIX

MCP1    MCP2    MCP3

These unique, individual Cubic Pyrite Crystals are found only in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains of Northern Spain.  They formed as pure, individual crystals (floaters) of iron sulfide in a soft talc rich clay.

Pyrite, heavy and gold colored, had often been mistaken for Gold.  This gave it the nickname "Fool's Gold".

QUARTZ WITH PYRITE

  MHP2    MHP3    MHP4

This cluster of slender needle-like quartz crystals with scattered cubes of pyrite creates a rich bouquet that will compliment any collection.  It is characteristic of the Huaron Mine, Peru.

OKENITE GEODES

MOK2   MOK3   MOK4   MOK5

Okenite is a hydrothermal mineral found lining the inside of cavities in basaltic, volcanic rocks.  Its crystals are sometimes very finely fibrous aggregates that have the appearance of white fur.

They are very fragile and are much more interesting in real life than in these photos.

APACHE TEARS

MAPT1

These are the legendary tears cried for the slain Apache warriors of Arizona.  They are black nodules of obsidian, a naturally formed volcanic glass in a perlite matrix.  Perlite is an altered volcanic glass.

They are found in a perlite quarry in Superior, Arizona.

HERKIMER "DIAMONDS"

MHRK1      MHRK2       MHRK3       MHRK4       MHRK5     MHRK6  

The clarity and the shape resulting from the quartz crystal's double termination have earned this deposit in Herkimer County, New York the name Herkimer Diamonds.

The crystals form in cavities in a hard siliceous dolomite.

GOLD ON QUARTZ

 MGLD1       MGLD2       MGLD3     MGLD4      MGLD5

These specimens are from the Harvard Open Pit Mine in Jamestown, California.  This is a hydrothermal deposit of gold in igneous quartz rock.  The Rush is On!

SCOLECITE ON FLUORAPOPHYLITE

MSCOL1

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