Best Of California Minerals

Did you get the specimen from Jim MInette? Do you know if the dealer got it from him? If so, I might believe the locality was correct, but if not, then it is almost certainly from Boron.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Please keep these pictures coming, I'm really enjoying this thread and learning alot!! Cheers.

Hi Rock;

I only have the dealer tag that I got it from, and that was a number of years ago (2001?).

Andy Haighton,
Brampton, Ontario

Magnetite, Limonite, on Quartz, Lilyama Mine, Pilot Hill, El Dorado Co., California. Measures 8 x 6 x 4 cm. This has been hand washed only with a soft brush,soap, and water.


Here's another Lilyama Magnetite. Measures 13 x 8 x 5 cm. Hand washed as well.


Specular Hematite with Epidote, Lilyama Mine, Pilot Hill, El Dorado Co., California. Measures 9 x 5 x 3 cm. This was freshly broken out of a large boulder near the top of the hill.

Tremolite, Heath Canyon, Wrightwood, San Gabriel Mts, San Bernardino Co., California. Collected before 1966. Measures 18 x 10 x 5 cm.

Allanite Crystal lathes in Feldspar Pacoima Canyon Pegmatite, Paccoima Canyon, San Gabriel Mts, Los Angeles Co., California Measures 15 x 10 x 6 cm.


Foliated Biotite, Pacoima Canyon, Pegmatite , Pacoima Canyon, San Gabriel Mts, Los Angeles Co., California. Measures 16 x 11 x 4 cm.

Both these specimens were field collected by a dear friend back in the 1970's

Chalcedony Plume Agate, Guadalupe Mine, Santa Clara County, California. Measures 9 x 9 x 7 cm.

Here's a look at the bottom.

Barite, El Portal Mine, Devil's Gulch deposit, Devil Gulch, El Portal, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa Co., California. Measures 16 x 13 x 5 cm.


Cinnabar, Altoona Mine, Trinity Co., California. Measures 12 x 10 x 6 cm.


Stibnite, Stayton Mine, Mariposa Peak, Merced Co., California. Measures 15 x 10 x 6 cm.

From a locality I wish I'd made time for when my legs were younger....scorzalite, Champion Mine, Mono County, 10x5x4 cm.



Cheers!

Steve

Stephen, I made it as far as the parking area at the Champion mine but never got to collect at the locality.

Micro-Pyrite dusting on Calcite, Davenport Quarry, Santa Cruz Co., California. Measures 11 x 7 x 1 cm.


Axinite, Clear Creek, San Benito Co., California. Measures 12 x 7 x 6 cm.


Meta-Cinnabar, Mount Diablo Mine, Contra Costa Co., California. Measures 16 x 9 x 3 cm.

Magnetite on Dolomite, Christi Mine, Fresno Co., California. Measures 14 x 8 x 4 cm.


Pyrophyllite Tres Cerritos, Mariposa Co., California. Measures 12 x 11 x 9 cm.


Fluorite, Azusa, San Gabriel Mts, Los Angeles Co., California. Measures 13 x 7 x 6 cm.

Andradite, var. Melanite
San Benito Co., CA USA

I posted this to the Favorite Self Collected Specimens forum, but thought I should post it here too. Sorry for the redundancy.

This was one of the most exciting days of our collecting experience. We hit a pocket, in 1970, that produced hundreds of pieces, ranging from TN to large cabinet size. This is the specimen that I kept for myself, though not the best of the lot. It is 8 cm X 11 cm and the largest crystal measures 1.8 cm across. The largest crystal found measured 2.3 cm. The largest specimen, collected by a friend and I, was approximately 25 cm X 20 cm and was covered with large crystals. It now resides in the Los Angeles County Museum.


Gene

Wow! Those Andradites are huge for the locality. Nice piece.

Thanks Bob! Lots of nice California minerals represented here. I think that Jay gets the prize for being the most prolific, as I believe that all, or most, of his are self collected. Am I correct, Jay?

Gene

Amethyst and quartz. Mono County near Mono Lake. 6.7 x 5.0 cm.

© A&M

Gene awesome melanite!!!!
Some of the California stuff I am posting here has been self collected and the remainder are pieces I have held aside from countless old California rock and mineral collections we have acquired over the last 35+ years.

Aragonite, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo Co., California. Measures 9 x 7 x 3 cm.


Celestite on Colemanite, Death Valley, Inyo Co., California. Measures 13 x 9 x 7 cm.


Phantom Quartz, Webber Creek Near HWY 193, El Dorado Co., Ca. measures 4 x 4 x 3.5 cm

I thought I would mix it up a bit and show three different Gemstone/lapidary items found in this state as well as it's mineral specimens.

Botryoidal Jade, Big Sur Monterey Co., California. Largest piece measures 4 x 3.5 x 2.3 cm.


Poppy Jasper, Morgan Hill, Santa Clara Co., California. Measures 9 x 7 x 5 cm.


Berkeley Blue Agates, Berkeley Hills, Alameda Co., California. This site has been extinct for a while now. Largest nodule measures 5.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 cm.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 04:31PM by Jay Buscio.

Jay,

That is very nice botryoidal jade from the Big Sur area and I have my eye on that larger piece! Having searched many times around Lime Kiln Creek, I never had any luck and finally had to purchase one for my collection.

I noticed your very fine specimen labeled Axinite from San Benito Co., but can't help but wonder if it is really Titanite. To my knowledge, Axinite isn't reported from the area, whereas Titanite is.

Your Orbicular Jasper brings back fond memories of my early collecting experiences. I paid for my first college expenses by mining that stuff. I'm afraid that the Berkeley agates were before my time. Another little known location, now covered by houses, was the Lone Hill Quarry in San Jose, where we dug large nodules of Chalcedony and Agate. Not too exciting stuff, but for a boy of 13 it was worth a 25 mile round trip by bicycle. Later, I would bring home trunk loads of the stuff to further decorate my mother's back yard, which by then looked like a rock quarry.

Cheers,
Gene

Here 's a photo of one that I had to let go... wish I had it back...


Spodumene, Beebe Hole Mine, Jacumba District, San Diego County, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 06:05PM by Russell G. Rizzo.

Hi,

Great specimens.

This Japan Twin came from the Bird Springs Claim, Inyo Country California. Is anyone familiar with the location? The specimen is 5cm by 6cm in size.


Thank you,

Joe