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 or earth shaped rocks which contain a hollow 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 on the inside walls of the hollow cavity within the geode. These crystals can be varieties of quartz, calcite, or gypsum.

Crystallography, the study of crystals, is a very complex 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 "CATHEDRALS"

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.

MAMCL1     MAMCL4

AMETHYST CLOCK

MAMCLK1

Very similar to the amethyst cathedrals 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.

RHODOCHROSITE

MRHOCO2

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

CELESTITE

My favorite!!  Celestite is a Strontium Sulfate that usually occurs as geodes in limestone and gypsum rock.  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.

MCG1    MCG2    MCGE3

DUGWAY GEODES

MDG3        MDG4    MDG5    MDGPR

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.

KEOKUK GEODES

This split geode was collected in Alexandria, Missouri, but is from the same deposit as ones found in Keokuk, Iowa.  It is lined with sparkling white quartz crystals.

ARAGONITE CRYSTAL CLUSTER

MARAG01

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral with the same composition as calcite, but in a different crystal class.  It sometimes occurs, as in this specimen, as trillings (three crystals intergrown) to form a pseudohexagonal crystal.  This unusually large specimen is about 8" in "diameter" and comes from Sefrou, Morocco.

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

MDRM1     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.  MDRM1 is from the Sahara Desert of  southeastern Morocco while  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 ON BASALT

MNCR1 MNCR2 LEFT, MNCR3 RIGHT

These are specimens of copper in its elemental state.  While most copper that is found and/or mined is 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	$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

MCP5    MCP6    MCP7    MCP4

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

MHP1    MHP2    MHP3

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   MOK6

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

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

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

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!

RED MICA

  MRM1

This metamorphic specimen contains a layer of Red Mica on a red quartzite.  I am familiar with lepidolite, which is a purple mica; biotite which is a dark brown to black mica, and muscovite which is tan to colorless, but this is the first red mica I have seen.  It exhibits the sparkle that is characteristic of mica, but the photo doesn't do it justice. When I find more info, I will post it.  The piece measures about 5" by 7" and can be used as a bookend.

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