Treasure Hunting

The photo to the left may look like an amethyst crystal, but it’s really soap - credits for the photo go to Arlena Thane at the TeachSoap site.  That link also gives very detailed instructions on how to make this amethyst gem soap using the melt-and-pour technique.

Several years ago, I was really into soap-making, and I was recalling today all the pictures I had seen in the past from people who had created soaps that resembled gems and minerals.  In particular, I remember a great photo that someone had taken of malachite soap along with instructions on how to make it.  I wasn’t able to find that, but I did find this other post at Urban Design with a fantastic photo and a link to Amethyst Soaps on Etsy.  I love stuff like this - the only problem is I think it’s too pretty to use.  I’m still hoping to find some time this winter to try making that malachite soap, though.  If I can’t find the instructions, I’ll just have to experiment with it until I get it right.  

I found myself sucked into Paint Shop Pro again, this time modifying the photo of the ametrine scepter that I posted yesterday.  I thought that if I tried drawing out the purplish tint a bit that I might see the underlying phantom markings a little clearer.  While that didn’t exactly happen, I did get an interesting representation of the surface pattern on the crystal.  

Before I attempt this again, I’m going to have to go back and take several more photographs of the crystal scepter so that I can get a more three-dimensional representation of it.  Maybe if I overlap the photos, I can combine them for some type of panorama depicting what it would look like if the crystal was “unrolled”.  

Oh the lengths I’ll go to in order to avoid getting any real work done!

Sometimes it’s amazing what you find while cleaning some of the items brought home after a collecting trip.  The photograph here is of a crystal quartz scepter found back in June at the Krystal Tips Mining claim in the Petersen Mountains in Nevada.  The claim site is right on the California border near Hallelujah Junction.  Because of this, the quartz found in that area is often referred to as Hallelujah quartz.  If you’d like to see some of the other specimens gathered there, take a look at the Krystal Tips site.

When I brought this crystal home after the dig, I knew it had some purple to it.  Although it looks a bit more rose-like in this photo, the tip of the scepter is actually a pale amethyst.  That was enough to make me love this crystal, but when I actually started cleaning it, so much more came out about it!  There’s also a lot of citrine in the specimen that I hadn’t noticed before.  I had seen the yellowish tint, but I thought that was coming from the reflection of the dirt that covered most of the scepter.  However, this week (yes, I know I’m a a slacker and should have been cleaning this a long time ago) when I actually sat down to clean the crystal with some soapy water and a toothbrush, I realized that it wasn’t the dirt causing the tint - it was a pale citrine coloring that dominated the bottom part of the scepter.  So what we actually have here is a pale ametrine scepter!

Another neat aspect of this specimen came out in the cleaning as well.  Although it’s a little hard to see in this photo, there are actually phantom markings on this scepter, too.  The term phantom is used in describing quartz when you can actually see the shadow or “ghost” of different stages of the crystal’s development within the quartz.  This markings can be caused by a variety of reasons such as minerals accumulating on the crystal during its growth.  The phantom images on this scepter would probably be a lot easier to see if the faces were polished, but I think I’m going to leave this one just the way it is.  It has a few dings and dents that tell a little bit of the story behind the long life that it’s had, but sometimes it’s the flaws in crystals that make them all the more perfect - just like with people.

I was talking to a friend about my amethyst geode from Brazil today and she asked if I had a photo. I said I was pretty sure that there was one on the Treasure Hunting blog, but when I went to look, I couldn’t find one. So I had to fix that!

This is one of my favorite mineral specimens. I keep it sitting on my desk right above my computer screen so I can see it while I’m working. It was given to me by friends who traded some of their Hallelujah Junction quartz crystals for a whole bunch of pieces from Brazil.

It’s a good-sized geode, about the size of a standard dinner plate. The amethyst crystals in the center are a pale lavender color and they sparkle beautifully in the light. The agate bands around the amethyst are several varying shades of purple, and some have a bit of a citrine tint.  I’ll need to remember to take a photograph of this geode out in the sun so the sparkling of the internal amethyst can be seen better.

As it is my birthstone, I have a special fondness for amethyst, particularly in its natural form.  It really is a beautiful crystal.  Amethyst is a type of quartz, and it is well-known for its varying beautiful shades of purple hues.  It can be found all over the world.

The name amethyst comes from the Greek word amethystos which means not intoxicated.  In ancient myths and lore, the stone is associated with purity and piety.  The ancient Greeks and Romans often made wine goblets out of amethyst to ward off drunkenness.

The gem is associated with the astrological sign of Aquarius, and it is the birthstone for the month of February.  Although it was considered rare in some parts of the world long ago, today amethyst is fairly commonplace and can be found in abundance in many locales throughout the Americas, Africa, and Asia.  Despite being fairly inexpensive overall, certain specimens of amethyst can fetch quite a pretty sum.  Amethyst miners will tell you that it’s well worth your time to look for these.