Quartz, Mexico

Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?


Quartz
SiO₂ trigonal

Here will go a good picture of a quartz specimen from Mexico and general remarks about the quartz from this country.


Here are some url's to some of the better quartz specimens here on mindat that can be considered for inclusion in the article. These, in mosc cases are just for temporairy use untill we can get images of the much better specimens that are almost certainly out there. We should also consider that there are probably localities out there with fine specimens that are not even mentioned on mindat. Also in some instances there are sometimes pictures on mindat, of specimens from a locality, but they were so ratty that I did not include them here, but there may also be relly good specimens from there that we should talk about in this article.




Quartz
Mexico
Las Choyas, Mun. de Ahumada, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Santa Eulalia District, Mun. de Aquiles Serdán, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

San Antonio Mine (San Antonio el Grande Mine), East Camp, Santa Eulalia District, Mun. de Aquiles Serdán, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Francisco Portillo, West Camp, Santa Eulalia District, Mun. de Aquiles Serdán, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Potosí Mine (El Potosí Mine), Francisco Portillo, West Camp, Santa Eulalia District, Mun. de Aquiles Serdán, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]


Liliana Mine, Mun. de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]


Naica, Mun. de Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Uruáchic, Mun. de Uruáchic, Chihuahua, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]


Durango, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]


Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Mun. de Mapimí, Durango, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]


Guanajuato, Mun. de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

La Sirena Mine, Guanajuato, Mun. de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

San Vicente Mine, Guanajuato, Mun. de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]


Valenciana Mine, Guanajuato, Mun. de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]


Amatitlán Mine, Amatitlán, Mun. de Zumpango del Rio, Guerrero, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Amatitlán Mine, Amatitlán, Mun. de Zumpango del Rio, Guerrero, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Santa Margarita Mine, Amatitlán, Mun. de Zumpango del Rio, Guerrero, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Valenciana Mine, Amatitlán, Mun. de Zumpango del Rio, Guerrero, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Aurora Mine, Charcas, Mun. de Charcas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

San Bartolo Mine, Charcas, Mun. de Charcas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Rosa María Mine, Huépac, Mun. de Huépac, Sonora, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Piedras Parado, Mun. de Tatatila, Veracruz, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Cerro De La Concordia, Piedras Parado, Mun. de Tatatila, Veracruz, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Mun. Las Vigas de Ramírez (Mun. de Profesor Rafael Ramírez), Veracruz, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]
[www.mindat.org]

Zacatecas, Mexico
[www.mindat.org]

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2009 05:41PM by Rock Currier.

The locality is already listed above, but maybe you can use this picture:

[www.mindat.org]

Yes, we probably can. There are no shortages of good pictures of amethyst, what is in short supply is some knowledgeable person to write about them and the locality. Here is what Dennis Beals wrote which should go in the article when it is written. I tried to get him to write about Mexican Quartzes.

Piedra Parada (standing rock) is a small village situated on a ridgeback. The terrain falls off steeply there. It is eleven miles of bad road across a huge valley from Las Vigas. It used to be a four hike for the miners to carry specimens out. GPS coordinates are 19° 43' 30" North, 97° 1' 30" West.

The Mineralogical Record Special Issue III, Nov.-Dec. 2003, Volume 34, No. 6 is a great source for more information on this locale.

Associated minerals are, epidote (to 1mm), laumontite (to 2.5cm), calcite (brushy scalenohedrons to 10cm), lepidocrocite inclusions (to 1mm), barite (thin white crystals to 5cm and thicker ones to 10cm+), analcime (to 6mm), and an unidentified garnet (2mm). In the skarns below the andesite flows are some beautiful demantoid (1cm).

In 2003, a large walk in pocket 15 meters long was discovered. This was in the area known as Las Cascadas or the Cruz mine. It is located by a large waterfall. As with all of these claims there is a dispute over the rightful ownership. The pieces are characterized by deep purple, double terminated crystals to 5cm associated with calcite. Thousands of groups came out including some very large groups. This got a lot of miners working.

In 2005, a series of pockets in the Epimenio mine began to produce groups associated with epidote. This culminated in December 2005 with an extraordinary pocket with some large plates. This mine is now considered to be mined out, but this year a new digging in the area produced a few very nice combos. These deep colored crystals have thin scepter necks and many broke off matrix.

Last year in March, another digging produced some beautiful lighter colored scepters. They are stout and lustrous with fensters.

This year has had very little production. The Mexican army controls all explosives. It is almost impossible for small scale miners to legally obtain fuse and caps. Electric SDS hammer drills and generators are now used to drill parallel holes to remove larger groups than were possible in the past.
Specimens are then packed in sawdust and moss to prevent damage as they are carried on their backs up and out. Powdered soap in clear boxes is used later to safely transport and comply with new US regulations that prohibit using sawdust (bugs).

The conditions are very dangerous and some miners have the wheeze of silicosis. They follow yellow stringers to find the infrequent pockets. The lots are sold complete (the good, the bad and the ugly) in Las Vigas. No one wants to be high graded. It would be almost impossible for the miners to make the investment, obtain the visas, pass all the checkpoints in Mexico, comply with US and Mexican customs, travel the four thousand miles and find a good venue in someplace like Tucson. Then, what would they do with what was left.
Still the hope remains that more incredible finds will be coming out.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.