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Quartz, Austria
Posted by Harjo Neutkens
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Quartz, Austria November 29, 2010 10:00PM |
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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
Austrian perfection, Ziller valley Amethyst, found by Gerhard and Hannes Hofer
A "Stoasuacha" and his treasure
A "Stoasuacha" in her preferred habitat
Quartz from Austria
Austria covers a major part of the Eastern Alps, an area of outstanding beauty and of great interest geologically and mineralogically.
Since ages the people from Austria have been collecting minerals, mainly Quartz. The so called "Stoasuacha" (rock searchers) were usually farmers or herds who looked for crystals when herding the flock high up the alps during the summer. They would sell them to collectors or cutters in order to get through the long winters.
Collecting Quartz is a way of life for the "Stoasuacha", when the first snow melts in spring they get up in the mountains, sometimes for days on end. They "read" the geology and look for signs that may tell them where a cleft is hidden.
The moment of finding a cleft in the Alps is one that you will never forget, the first sight into a pocket full of crystals, closed since millions of years.
There are many fantastic local collections in Austria, some of them resemble a museum, and some of them are open for public.
It is still possible to find good specimens in the Austrian Alps although one has to climb high, work hard and have a large portion of luck.
Many of the local "Stoasuacha" sell specimens on shows and from their homes. Be prepared to pay a considerable price for a good specimen....
To describe Austrian Quartz finds in an introductory text is a mission impossible. Many outstanding finds have been made during the ages: giant smoky Quartzes, huge and perfect Rock Crystals, exquisite Amethyst sceptres and so on and so on.......especially in the mountauns of the Hohe Tauern, covering large parts of Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol.
Some remarkable Quartz finds should however be mentioned here shortly (they will be described in more detail in the text under the locality entries)
In 1934 Alois Steiner sen. and Hubert Prossegger found a cleft on Breitkopf mountain containing 500kg of the finest quality Morion crystals. In 1965 Peter Meilinger and Hans Hofer found huge Quartz crystals in the icy Eiskögele north face. crystals weighing up to 618kg!
The famous Kandutsch clefts; the Eiskluft and the Morionkluft, both on Hocharn mountain, where Georg Kandutsch found spectacular Quartz specimens, sometimes under very extreme conditions! And the "Kristalkeller" on Ankogel mountain. A huge cleft delivering over 2000kg of Quartz crystals.
And of course the famous Wiesbachrinne find made by Lois and Andy Steiner, Morion crystals as perfect as they are dark. Andy Steiners "Skeletquarze" (sceletonquartz), bizarrely etched crystals over 1m large, should also be mentioned. Alfred Aichberger found the largest smoky Quartz of the eastern Alps in the Sattelkar, 203kg, water clear and coffee brown. The largest Amethyst of the Eastern Alps was found by Kurt Novak in the Saurüssel, 1985. In 1972 a true Quartz bonanza happened after the discovery of large Quartzes in Obergösel. Finally I'd like to mention the finds of the Hofer brothers, Hannes and Gerhard. They found amazing Amethysts in the Saurüssel (one of them is pictured above in the introduction photo), in my opinion the most beautiful Amethyst ever found in the Alps. In 2009 they found a spectacular large cross shaped Quartz specimen in the Eiskögele north face, near the Meilinger-Hofer cleft from 1965.
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Ankogel group
Opening a cleft in the Ankogel group
On pic.1 we have a first look inside the freshly opened large Alpine cleft. Rock Crystals can be seen on the left side pocket wall.
On pic.2 the lucky finder can see two fabulous surfaces of a large Rock Crystal. At this moment the finder is worried a lot because he does not know yet whether the top of the crystal is undamaged or not.
On pic.3 the finder carefully tries to take away the surrounding crystals and pieces of rock hoping that the huge Rock Crystal, which is not fixed to the cleft ceiling any more, is undamaged. Luckily the crystal must have broken off the ceiling quite some time ago.
On pic.4 the finder of the crystal can hear his heart pounding heavily because he now realizes that he has found something really special. The 30 cm long and about 25 cm thick crystal seems appears to be undamaged and is of gorgeous quality.
On pic.5 we see the result, a completely undamaged perfect Rock Crystal.
Dösenbach valley, Ankogel group
In 1980 a one off find was made by Gerfried Bacher and Herbert Forstnig.
On Eckriegel mountain in Dösenbach valley Gerfried discovered a cleft with wonderful Prase groups. While working, his friend Herbert had to "relieve" himself. When he had found a suitable place for this, a little sparkling thing caught his eye when he bent down to have a ****. It was a very nice Sceptre Quartz lying between the roots of a fallen tree. He began to dig right there and found a cleft with outstanding and bizarre groups of Prase. On top of that nearly all the specimens were totally undamaged. Some of the dark green Prase groups also had water clear Sceptre Quartzes integrated which gave them an amazing contrast. Today the best specimens can be seen at the private museum Kirchler in Ahrntal, Southern Tyrol. [Rudolf Hasler]
Auernig, Ankogel group
In 1982 Heli Prieml, together with Traudl and Adi Mittinger, were looking for clefts on the slopes of Ankogel mountain. They found a Quartz vein and after three days of fruitless work they suddenly looked into one of the largest Quartz clefts ever found in the area. They were afraid that other people would rob the Quartzes, so they guarded the cleft during the night, even during thunderstorms. Nine more days were spent extracting the crystals before Heli had to go home to his farm to bring in the hey. They closed the entrance carefully and left, to return a couple of weeks later. Before they left they asked the employees of the ski-lifts to notify other collectors that the cleft was being worked. In the Alps this means that no one else should work the cleft during that time, age old "Stoasuacha" ethics!
But the word travelled fast, soon other collectors broke the oath and started working on a cleft that wasn't theirs to work on. When Heli Prieml and the Mittingers came back to continue their work they couldn't believe what they saw, all they could do was cry.
Over 2000kg of fine Quartz crystals came from the cleft.
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Goldberg group, Große Fleiß valley, Hocharn Mt.
Hocharn Southwest face
In 1979 a cleft was discovered on the slopes of Hocharn mountain, being at an altitude of about 3000m the cleft was filled with ice. In the warm summer of 1980 however they came back and after a couple of metres the first crystals started to show. After three days in ice cold water they thought the cleft was finished. But they kept coming back, they got cold and wet, with bloody fingers and sometimes nearly suffocated in the cleft because the gas burners to thaw the ice would deprive the cleft of oxygen. In 1994 Georg Kanditsch came back to the cleft together with Norbert Moser and Walter Tabernig. Cold and wet they realised that 14 years earlier they already found all the crystals. But the cleft revealed more. In 1997 Georg Kandutsch found a huge 300kg heavu Quartz group.
Another famous cleft discovered on Hocharn mountain was Georg Kandutsch' Morionkluft, a cleft filled with fantastic groups of dark Morion crystals with snow white Ankerite.
Matthias and Norbert Daxbacher found exceptionally beautiful Amethysts on the Hocharn
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern, Goldberg group, Zirknitz, Große Zirknitz valley, Sandkopf
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern, Goldberg group, Zirknitz, Große Zirknitz valley, Sandkopf
An amazing Amethyst cleft was found on Sandkopf mountain in 1987 by Martin Pirker, together with Norbert Moser. They found Amethyst sceptres up to 25 cm tall, showing intense colour and high lustre. Although many crystals were damaged there were at least 20 excellent specimens in the cleft. Each of them is unsurpassed in Europe. [Rudolf Hasler]
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Reißeck group
Southeastern part of the Hohe Tauern Mts, located south of the Ankogel group
Hintereggengraben/Mühldorfer Graben, Reißeck group
The mountain ridge between Böse Nase and Hochegg in Hintereggengraben is a top spot for Quartz collectors. Although no real spectacular big finds are reported from there, with clefts being normally small, the most interesting and in my opinion the most beautiful Sceptre Quartzes of the Eastern Alps can be found there. The Quartzes impress by the enormous variety in colour, with beautiful phantoms inside. Opening a cleft there sometimes is really very special because the lucky finder might get something that he had never seen before in such a perfection. Mostly very dark Smoky Quartzes can be collected. Amethysts are very very rare but can be extraordinarily beautiful. Sometimes white sceptres sit on dark black Smoky Quartzes. [Rudolf Hasler]
Quartz
Austria
Austria, Lower Austria, Waldviertel, Maissau, Amethyst vein
This amethyst vein was discovered during quarry workings on the Maissauer Höhe around 1845. The vein has a dimension of 0.5 - 1 m in thickness and a confirmed length of 400 m. The estimated length is 1000 m! This vein is provided in the "Maissauer Granit", a part of the Thayapluton.
A part of the vein was opened and since 2005 a museum called Amethystwelt ('Amethyst world') on top of the vein is showing crystals up to 15 cm in situ.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe taurn Mts, Felben valley
Mineralized clefts in amphibolites.
In this small eastern side valley of the lower Felben valley, nice Quartz specimens and exceptionally large titanite (to 7 cm), apatite (to 3 cm), pyrrhotite (to 10 x 15 x 20 cm) and chalcopyrite crystals (to 4 x 3 x 4 cm) were found.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Gastein valley
In October 2005 Erwin Scheider was still looking for crystals near his home in Böckstein. He inspected a spot where he once found a nice Fluorite. Because he couldn't find a good hold on the steep slope he decided to dig a foothold. Upon doing so he heard the typical noise of iron against Quartz. He dug deeper and found a Quartz vein. Soon a hole opened and he could take out the first Quartzes. Groups and loose crystals up to 35cm long. He had to stop working the cleft when the snow came. During winter he informed his friend Walter Pfeffer and as soon as the snow was gone they returned. The cleft turned out to be huge. Together they worked days on end and the most fantastic smoky Quartz crystals came out. Some of them up to 60cm long, weighing up to 82kg, and they were very clear, with great lustre and undamaged.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Habach valley
Valley famous for the Emerald deposit, but also very rich in mineralised Alpine clefts.
Breitkopf Mt., Habach valley
In 1934 Lois Steiner sen, together with Hubert Prossegger, found a very large smoky Quartz cleft on Breitkopf mountain. 500kg of excellent quality smoky Quartz crystals came out of the cleft, the largest weighing 52kg.
After the find they got in trouble with the forestry and only after one whole year they could recollect their find at the forestry department.
Only one photo and a cut crystal remain from the find.
Leffler Brunnen, Habach valley
"Schwarzphyllit" (black phyllite) outcrops and blocks situated near the Leffler Brunnen (Leffler source), on the orographic left side of the lower Habach valley.
The outcrops and blocks are particularly rich in TiO2 minerals and quartz in clefts.
A series of small clefts were found by Harjo Neutkens in 2005. They produced nice Quartz crystals up to 12cm but most importantly some Quartz groups were covered with hundreds of Anatase crystals.
Teufelsmühle, Habach valley
Mineralized clefts in chlorite amphibolite.
Located about 1 km NNW of Leiterkogel mountain.
Famous for "Skeletquarz" or in English corroded Quartz; dramatically etched Quartz crystals. Fantastic specimens of these, with single crystals to over 1m in length, from the find by Andy Steiner and Heinz Kirchtag can be seen in the museum of Bramberg, Austria.
Wiesbachrinne, Habach valley
Talc schist outcrops and mineralisations in cavernous gneisses. Located SW of Schafkopf mountain and NW of Nasenkopf mountain. Famous for very dark smoky Quartz specimens.
Large smoky quartz find in 1993 by Andy Steiner in the upper Wiesbachrinne. The best smoky Quartz from Austria came from that cleft, crystals up to 40cm and specimens up to 70cm with very dark smoky Quartz, Morion at its best. They, Andy and Reinhard Heim, worked on a small cleft that got bigger and bigger. At the end of the day it started to look like there was a system of clefts. They found very nice smoky Quartzes and they showed them to Alois, Andy's father, and to Manfred, Reinhard's son. They decided to come along and for days on end they worked the cleft system. The spectacular Morion specimens can now be seen at the Steiner's private museum in Steinach-Bramberg as well as in the Bramberg museum.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Hollersbach valley, Scharnbachgraben
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Obersulzbach valley
Several very good localities for excellent Quartz crystals. Alfred Aichberger found the largest smoky Quartz from the eastern Alps in the Sattelkar. An undamaged 203kg heavy, perfectly clear, coffee brown Quartz crystal. Many friends helped to get the crystal down the slopes into the valley. It now resides in the museum of Bramberg.
In 2006 Franz Gartner (the discoverer of the largest Alpine Kainosite) found a cleft full of perfect water clear Quartz crystals up to 40cm in length in the lower Untersulzbach valley.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Rauris valley
A valley famous for very good Quartz finds. very often the Quartzes appear as Rauris habit crystals, comparable to Tessin habit Quartzes.
Hoher Sonnblick Mt. area, Rauris valley
In this zone at the southern end of the Hüttwinkl valley, gneisses and amphibolitic migmatites are the predominant rocks.
In 1988 Huber Fink found a cleft in the north face of Hoher Sonnblick mountain. The crystals from the cleft were determined and described by Rudolf Rykart as being the first proof of genuine Citrine crystals from the Austrian Alps (Rudolf Rykart - Quartz Monografie)
Grieswies - Krumlkeeskopf Mt. area, Rauris valley
Within this zone, extending west of the upper Hüttwinkl valley and south of the Ritterkopf massif into the upper Krumlbach valley, Penninic amphibolites, chlorite schists, micaschists, phyllites, prasinites, quartzites, as well as triassic lime and dolomite marbles (Seidlwinkl formation) alternate in a rapid succession. In some places, such as in the cliffs of the Grieswies, the different layers are well exposed over a height of up to several hundred meters. This area is very rich in mineralized clefts, which yielded many specimens of outstanding size and quality.
Hocharn Mt., Rauris valley
The Salzburg side of Hocharn mountain. Very rich in mineralised Alpine clefts.
2007, the summer was already going towards its end when Franz Bründl was already passing the Erfurter Steig at the first light of the day. He was on his way towards Hocharn mountain, an area where one could often find him. The area is well known by many collectors so chances of finding a good cleft are very small. That day he searched the rocks recently exposed by the retreating glacier, but nothing was to be found. Late afternoon, when he was already starting to get tired, he spotted a narrow 20cm wide Quartz vein that appeared to show a small hole at the lower end. The vein however was located in an area where many collectors had been before so he had little hopes, he was sure that the cleft had been emptied by others before him. Nevertheless, he got his clefthook out and began to scratch the surface of the cleft interior and after moving 5cm of the sandy surface he looked at a perfect 15cm tall Rock Crystal. What happened next made his hart jump even more, he touched another Quartz face that didn't seem to end.......he started working like an archaeologist, nothing should get damaged.., and after some work he was holding a perfect Rock Crystal, 43cm long and 16kg heavy. He returned the following days and many more crystals followed, among others a 60cm long slender crystal. Everyday his backpack was filled to the rim, he hardly managed to bring everything down the mountain every day, but, he was in very good spirits, I suppose that gave him an extra dose of power.......
Ritterkopf Mt., Rauris valley
Mineralized clefts in micaschists and prasinites.
Vorsterbach valley, Rauris valley
A major southeastern branch of the Rauris valley. Located SE of Wörth.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Stubach valley, Ödenwinkel area
This area includes the Ödenwinkel, a steep slope above the Ödenwinkel glacier, and the chain rimming it, from Hoher Kasten Mt. in the east to Johannisberg Mt. in the west. The Ödenwinkel forms the upper terminus of the Stubach valley.
The largest Quartz crystals from the Eastern Alps were found on in north face of Eiskögele mountain. On the 16th of July 1965 Peter Meilinger and Hans Hofer found gigantic Quartz crystals in an open cleft wile climbing the tricky Eiskögele north face.
The largest of the crystals was 116cm tall, 220cm in diameter and weighed 618kg.
During the very warm summer of 2003 Hannes and Gerhard Hofer went in the north face to look around the seldom ice free area around the Meilinger-Hofer cleft. They opened a new cleft containing large Quartzes with very good quality. In 2009 the Hofer brother found yet another very nice cleft in the same area. The top specimen was a cross shaped Quartz specimen, consisting of a 65cm tall Quartz crystal crossed by a 30cm large Quartz.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Untersulzbach valley, Ascham Alp - Breitfuß Mt. - Sonntagskopf Mt. area,
This area is dominated by gneisses, just like the Abichl Alp - Beryller area, southeast to which it is located. However, there also are leucocratic gneisses present, which include a suite of rare bismuth sulphosalts.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Wildgerlos valley, Wildgerlos glacier
Good localities near the glacier for excellent smoky Quartz. Recently Christian Niederegger found a cleft containing large, up to 40cm tall, smoky Quartz of outstanding quality.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Murwinkel, Rotgülden, Lower Rotgülden lake, Arsenic mine
Abandoned arsenic mine (arsenopyrite-pyrite-chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite mineralisations with minor gold).
Famous for excellent gustavite crystals collected underground.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Murwinkel, Weißeck Mt. area (incl. Rauchkopf Mt.; Riedingscharte)
Located on the ridge between the Murwinkel and the upper Zederhaus valley.
The area around Weißeck mountain is dominated by dolomites and limestones of the Radstadt formation. They occupy an area that is elliptical in plan view, about 3.5 km long and up to 1.5 km wide, with Weißeck mountain located a little south of its center. Fluorite is found in outcrops and loose boulders in numerous places on the slopes, either in clefts or in quartz veins. These occurrences have been known since the late 18th century.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Zederhaus valley
Valley oriented parallel to the adjacent Mur valley (Murtal).
Quartz
Austria
Styria, Graz, Wildon, Weitendorf Basalt quarry
A quarry in andesitic basalt.
Famous for nice chalcedony, aragonite and zeolites (e.g., ferrierite).
Located about 1.5 km west of Weitendorf (west of Wildon and around 17 km south of Graz).
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, East Tyrol, Tauern valley, Froßnitz valley, Wildenkogel Mt.
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, East Tyrol, Virgen valley
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zemmgrund, Mörchner area, Mörchnerkar
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zemmgrund, Mörchner area, Saurüssel
A steep ridge west of Kleiner Mörchner mountain and the Mörchnerkees. This area is well known for exceptional iron roses and sceptre amethysts.
The Hofer brothers cleft
A remarkable Amethyst find in the Saurüssel was done by the Hofer brothers, Hannes and Gerhard, on a rainy (and snowy higher up in the mountains) day. They didn't expect anything and because most of the area was snow covered they looked at an old cleft in a small mountain stream. Because it was their only option they began to work the rock around the old cleft when all of a sudden they broke into a cleft. When one of the brother got inside with his hands he could feel crystal faces, he took it out and what they saw was something they never saw before. A 17cm large perfect Amethyst sceptre on a thin Rock Crystal stem with the deepest purple colour imaginable. The rainy day turned into a colourful festivity!
The Planitzer cleft
Another remarkable Saurüssel find was done by by Erika and Rudolf Planitzer in August 1976. Mr. and Mrs. Planitzer discovered one of the largest Amethyste-clefts ever, in this area. It took 5 days to bring all specimen down in the valley. The find was never published and the discovers don´t show them to many people. Now Mr. Planitzer decided to show some of the best pieces here on Mindat for the Best of Quartz/Austria Page.
Collection Erika and Rudolf Planitzer. [Martin Gruell]
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zillergrund
Info:
[Harjo Neutkens, Rudolf Hasler and Martin Gruell 2010-2012]
Click here to view Best Minerals Quartz and here for Best Minerals A to Z and here for Fast Navigation of Best Minerals articles.
Edited 198 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2013 10:07AM by Rudolf Hasler.
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
Austrian perfection, Ziller valley Amethyst, found by Gerhard and Hannes Hofer
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| Amethyst from the Saurüssel, 10x10cm. Great find from the Hofer brothers | © Martin Gruell |
A "Stoasuacha" and his treasure
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| Reinhold Bacher with the largest Quartz ever found in the Lungau area | © Martin Gruell |
A "Stoasuacha" in her preferred habitat
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| Petra Morolz inside a Rock Crystal cleft in the Ankogel group | © R. Purat |
Quartz from Austria
Austria covers a major part of the Eastern Alps, an area of outstanding beauty and of great interest geologically and mineralogically.
Since ages the people from Austria have been collecting minerals, mainly Quartz. The so called "Stoasuacha" (rock searchers) were usually farmers or herds who looked for crystals when herding the flock high up the alps during the summer. They would sell them to collectors or cutters in order to get through the long winters.
Collecting Quartz is a way of life for the "Stoasuacha", when the first snow melts in spring they get up in the mountains, sometimes for days on end. They "read" the geology and look for signs that may tell them where a cleft is hidden.
The moment of finding a cleft in the Alps is one that you will never forget, the first sight into a pocket full of crystals, closed since millions of years.
There are many fantastic local collections in Austria, some of them resemble a museum, and some of them are open for public.
It is still possible to find good specimens in the Austrian Alps although one has to climb high, work hard and have a large portion of luck.
Many of the local "Stoasuacha" sell specimens on shows and from their homes. Be prepared to pay a considerable price for a good specimen....
To describe Austrian Quartz finds in an introductory text is a mission impossible. Many outstanding finds have been made during the ages: giant smoky Quartzes, huge and perfect Rock Crystals, exquisite Amethyst sceptres and so on and so on.......especially in the mountauns of the Hohe Tauern, covering large parts of Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol.
Some remarkable Quartz finds should however be mentioned here shortly (they will be described in more detail in the text under the locality entries)
In 1934 Alois Steiner sen. and Hubert Prossegger found a cleft on Breitkopf mountain containing 500kg of the finest quality Morion crystals. In 1965 Peter Meilinger and Hans Hofer found huge Quartz crystals in the icy Eiskögele north face. crystals weighing up to 618kg!
The famous Kandutsch clefts; the Eiskluft and the Morionkluft, both on Hocharn mountain, where Georg Kandutsch found spectacular Quartz specimens, sometimes under very extreme conditions! And the "Kristalkeller" on Ankogel mountain. A huge cleft delivering over 2000kg of Quartz crystals.
And of course the famous Wiesbachrinne find made by Lois and Andy Steiner, Morion crystals as perfect as they are dark. Andy Steiners "Skeletquarze" (sceletonquartz), bizarrely etched crystals over 1m large, should also be mentioned. Alfred Aichberger found the largest smoky Quartz of the eastern Alps in the Sattelkar, 203kg, water clear and coffee brown. The largest Amethyst of the Eastern Alps was found by Kurt Novak in the Saurüssel, 1985. In 1972 a true Quartz bonanza happened after the discovery of large Quartzes in Obergösel. Finally I'd like to mention the finds of the Hofer brothers, Hannes and Gerhard. They found amazing Amethysts in the Saurüssel (one of them is pictured above in the introduction photo), in my opinion the most beautiful Amethyst ever found in the Alps. In 2009 they found a spectacular large cross shaped Quartz specimen in the Eiskögele north face, near the Meilinger-Hofer cleft from 1965.
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Ankogel group
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| Quartz Schwarzkopf 21cm | © Rudo |
Opening a cleft in the Ankogel group
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| Working a cleft pic.1 | © R. Purat |
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| Working a cleft pic.2 | © R. Purat |
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| Working a cleft pic.3 | © R. Purat |
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| Working a cleft pic.4 | © R. Purat |
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| Working a cleft pic.5 The result: A perfect Rock Crystal from the Ankogel group, 31x25cm | © Rudo |
On pic.1 we have a first look inside the freshly opened large Alpine cleft. Rock Crystals can be seen on the left side pocket wall.
On pic.2 the lucky finder can see two fabulous surfaces of a large Rock Crystal. At this moment the finder is worried a lot because he does not know yet whether the top of the crystal is undamaged or not.
On pic.3 the finder carefully tries to take away the surrounding crystals and pieces of rock hoping that the huge Rock Crystal, which is not fixed to the cleft ceiling any more, is undamaged. Luckily the crystal must have broken off the ceiling quite some time ago.
On pic.4 the finder of the crystal can hear his heart pounding heavily because he now realizes that he has found something really special. The 30 cm long and about 25 cm thick crystal seems appears to be undamaged and is of gorgeous quality.
On pic.5 we see the result, a completely undamaged perfect Rock Crystal.
Dösenbach valley, Ankogel group
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| Quartz Dösenbach 18cm | © Rudo |
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| Japan law twin Dösenbach 2,5x2cm | © Rudo |
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| Prase Quartz Dösenbach 18cm | © Rudo |
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| Quartz Dösenbach 4x5cm | © M. Döpper |
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| Quartz Dösenbach 6x6cm | © M. Döpper |
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| Quartz Dösenbach 12cm | © M. Döpper |
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| Quartz Dösenbach 8x10cm | © M. Döpper |
In 1980 a one off find was made by Gerfried Bacher and Herbert Forstnig.
On Eckriegel mountain in Dösenbach valley Gerfried discovered a cleft with wonderful Prase groups. While working, his friend Herbert had to "relieve" himself. When he had found a suitable place for this, a little sparkling thing caught his eye when he bent down to have a ****. It was a very nice Sceptre Quartz lying between the roots of a fallen tree. He began to dig right there and found a cleft with outstanding and bizarre groups of Prase. On top of that nearly all the specimens were totally undamaged. Some of the dark green Prase groups also had water clear Sceptre Quartzes integrated which gave them an amazing contrast. Today the best specimens can be seen at the private museum Kirchler in Ahrntal, Southern Tyrol. [Rudolf Hasler]
Auernig, Ankogel group
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| Quartz Auernig 12x8cm | © |
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| Quartz Auernig 13x10cm | © Rudo |
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| Quartz Auernig 7,5x3,5cm | © |
In 1982 Heli Prieml, together with Traudl and Adi Mittinger, were looking for clefts on the slopes of Ankogel mountain. They found a Quartz vein and after three days of fruitless work they suddenly looked into one of the largest Quartz clefts ever found in the area. They were afraid that other people would rob the Quartzes, so they guarded the cleft during the night, even during thunderstorms. Nine more days were spent extracting the crystals before Heli had to go home to his farm to bring in the hey. They closed the entrance carefully and left, to return a couple of weeks later. Before they left they asked the employees of the ski-lifts to notify other collectors that the cleft was being worked. In the Alps this means that no one else should work the cleft during that time, age old "Stoasuacha" ethics!
But the word travelled fast, soon other collectors broke the oath and started working on a cleft that wasn't theirs to work on. When Heli Prieml and the Mittingers came back to continue their work they couldn't believe what they saw, all they could do was cry.
Over 2000kg of fine Quartz crystals came from the cleft.
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Goldberg group, Große Fleiß valley, Hocharn Mt.
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| Rutilated Quartz Hocharn 3cm | © Rudo |
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| Quartz west slope 10x10cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Hocharn 11,5cm | © |
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| Quartz Hocharn 10x8cm | © M. Döpper |
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| Quartz Hocharn 9x8cm | © M. Döpper |
Hocharn Southwest face
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| Quartz southwest face 12x8cm | © Rudo |
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| Quartz southwest face 11,5cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz southwest face 5,5cm | © |
In 1979 a cleft was discovered on the slopes of Hocharn mountain, being at an altitude of about 3000m the cleft was filled with ice. In the warm summer of 1980 however they came back and after a couple of metres the first crystals started to show. After three days in ice cold water they thought the cleft was finished. But they kept coming back, they got cold and wet, with bloody fingers and sometimes nearly suffocated in the cleft because the gas burners to thaw the ice would deprive the cleft of oxygen. In 1994 Georg Kanditsch came back to the cleft together with Norbert Moser and Walter Tabernig. Cold and wet they realised that 14 years earlier they already found all the crystals. But the cleft revealed more. In 1997 Georg Kandutsch found a huge 300kg heavu Quartz group.
Another famous cleft discovered on Hocharn mountain was Georg Kandutsch' Morionkluft, a cleft filled with fantastic groups of dark Morion crystals with snow white Ankerite.
Matthias and Norbert Daxbacher found exceptionally beautiful Amethysts on the Hocharn
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern, Goldberg group, Zirknitz, Große Zirknitz valley, Sandkopf
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| Quartz Sandkopf 9cm tall | © Rudo |
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| Quartz sceptre Sandkopf 5cm tall | © |
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| Quartz Sandkpf, 12x11cm tall | © Rudo |
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern, Goldberg group, Zirknitz, Große Zirknitz valley, Sandkopf
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| Amethyst 21,5cm tall | © H. Fink |
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| Amethyst 16cm tall | © Rudo |
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| Amethyst 10cm tall | © Rudo |
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| Amethyst 5cm tall | © Rudo |
An amazing Amethyst cleft was found on Sandkopf mountain in 1987 by Martin Pirker, together with Norbert Moser. They found Amethyst sceptres up to 25 cm tall, showing intense colour and high lustre. Although many crystals were damaged there were at least 20 excellent specimens in the cleft. Each of them is unsurpassed in Europe. [Rudolf Hasler]
Quartz
Austria
Carinthia, Hohe Tauern Mts, Reißeck group
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| Quartz Böse Nase 5,6cm | © Christian Bracke |
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| Quartz Hintereggengraben 5cm | © |
Southeastern part of the Hohe Tauern Mts, located south of the Ankogel group
Hintereggengraben/Mühldorfer Graben, Reißeck group
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| Hintereggengraben 4,5cm | © Rudo |
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| Hintereggengraben 7cm | © Rudo |
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| Hintereggengraben 11cm | © Rudo |
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| Mühldorfer Graben 6,5cm | © Rudo |
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| Hintereggengraben 6cm | © Rudo |
The mountain ridge between Böse Nase and Hochegg in Hintereggengraben is a top spot for Quartz collectors. Although no real spectacular big finds are reported from there, with clefts being normally small, the most interesting and in my opinion the most beautiful Sceptre Quartzes of the Eastern Alps can be found there. The Quartzes impress by the enormous variety in colour, with beautiful phantoms inside. Opening a cleft there sometimes is really very special because the lucky finder might get something that he had never seen before in such a perfection. Mostly very dark Smoky Quartzes can be collected. Amethysts are very very rare but can be extraordinarily beautiful. Sometimes white sceptres sit on dark black Smoky Quartzes. [Rudolf Hasler]
Quartz
Austria
Austria, Lower Austria, Waldviertel, Maissau, Amethyst vein
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| Amethyst 10cm high | © MaRi |
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| Amethyst 60 x 40cm | © MaRi |
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| Amethyst 12 x 12cm | © MaRi |
This amethyst vein was discovered during quarry workings on the Maissauer Höhe around 1845. The vein has a dimension of 0.5 - 1 m in thickness and a confirmed length of 400 m. The estimated length is 1000 m! This vein is provided in the "Maissauer Granit", a part of the Thayapluton.
A part of the vein was opened and since 2005 a museum called Amethystwelt ('Amethyst world') on top of the vein is showing crystals up to 15 cm in situ.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe taurn Mts, Felben valley
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| Quartz Schiedergraben 12cm | © Martin Gruell |
Mineralized clefts in amphibolites.
In this small eastern side valley of the lower Felben valley, nice Quartz specimens and exceptionally large titanite (to 7 cm), apatite (to 3 cm), pyrrhotite (to 10 x 15 x 20 cm) and chalcopyrite crystals (to 4 x 3 x 4 cm) were found.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Gastein valley
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| Quartz Schwarzkopf 2cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Schwarzkopf 23,5cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Silberpfennig 15cm | © |
In October 2005 Erwin Scheider was still looking for crystals near his home in Böckstein. He inspected a spot where he once found a nice Fluorite. Because he couldn't find a good hold on the steep slope he decided to dig a foothold. Upon doing so he heard the typical noise of iron against Quartz. He dug deeper and found a Quartz vein. Soon a hole opened and he could take out the first Quartzes. Groups and loose crystals up to 35cm long. He had to stop working the cleft when the snow came. During winter he informed his friend Walter Pfeffer and as soon as the snow was gone they returned. The cleft turned out to be huge. Together they worked days on end and the most fantastic smoky Quartz crystals came out. Some of them up to 60cm long, weighing up to 82kg, and they were very clear, with great lustre and undamaged.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Habach valley
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| Quartz Habachkees 14,5cm | © |
Valley famous for the Emerald deposit, but also very rich in mineralised Alpine clefts.
Breitkopf Mt., Habach valley
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| Quartz Breitkopf 7,5cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Breitkopf 13cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
In 1934 Lois Steiner sen, together with Hubert Prossegger, found a very large smoky Quartz cleft on Breitkopf mountain. 500kg of excellent quality smoky Quartz crystals came out of the cleft, the largest weighing 52kg.
After the find they got in trouble with the forestry and only after one whole year they could recollect their find at the forestry department.
Only one photo and a cut crystal remain from the find.
Leffler Brunnen, Habach valley
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| Quartz Leffler 6cm | © Harjo |
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| Quartz Anatase Leffler 5cm | © Harjo |
"Schwarzphyllit" (black phyllite) outcrops and blocks situated near the Leffler Brunnen (Leffler source), on the orographic left side of the lower Habach valley.
The outcrops and blocks are particularly rich in TiO2 minerals and quartz in clefts.
A series of small clefts were found by Harjo Neutkens in 2005. They produced nice Quartz crystals up to 12cm but most importantly some Quartz groups were covered with hundreds of Anatase crystals.
Teufelsmühle, Habach valley
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| Quartz Teufelsmühle 10cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Teufelsmühle 8,7cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
Mineralized clefts in chlorite amphibolite.
Located about 1 km NNW of Leiterkogel mountain.
Famous for "Skeletquarz" or in English corroded Quartz; dramatically etched Quartz crystals. Fantastic specimens of these, with single crystals to over 1m in length, from the find by Andy Steiner and Heinz Kirchtag can be seen in the museum of Bramberg, Austria.
Wiesbachrinne, Habach valley
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| Wiesbachrinne Quartz on display, note the different shades of smoky colour of crystals from the same cleft | © Harjo |
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| Quartz Wiesbachrinne 15cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz 9cm | © |
Talc schist outcrops and mineralisations in cavernous gneisses. Located SW of Schafkopf mountain and NW of Nasenkopf mountain. Famous for very dark smoky Quartz specimens.
Large smoky quartz find in 1993 by Andy Steiner in the upper Wiesbachrinne. The best smoky Quartz from Austria came from that cleft, crystals up to 40cm and specimens up to 70cm with very dark smoky Quartz, Morion at its best. They, Andy and Reinhard Heim, worked on a small cleft that got bigger and bigger. At the end of the day it started to look like there was a system of clefts. They found very nice smoky Quartzes and they showed them to Alois, Andy's father, and to Manfred, Reinhard's son. They decided to come along and for days on end they worked the cleft system. The spectacular Morion specimens can now be seen at the Steiner's private museum in Steinach-Bramberg as well as in the Bramberg museum.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Hollersbach valley, Scharnbachgraben
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| Quartz Schafkopf 17cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Scharn 22cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Obersulzbach valley
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| Quartz Seekar 23,5cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Schleiferspitze 16cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Wartkopf 10cm | © |
Several very good localities for excellent Quartz crystals. Alfred Aichberger found the largest smoky Quartz from the eastern Alps in the Sattelkar. An undamaged 203kg heavy, perfectly clear, coffee brown Quartz crystal. Many friends helped to get the crystal down the slopes into the valley. It now resides in the museum of Bramberg.
In 2006 Franz Gartner (the discoverer of the largest Alpine Kainosite) found a cleft full of perfect water clear Quartz crystals up to 40cm in length in the lower Untersulzbach valley.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Rauris valley
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| Quartz Rauris 7cm | © E Burgsteiner |
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| Large group ~100cm recent find by G. Aschacher | © Harjo |
A valley famous for very good Quartz finds. very often the Quartzes appear as Rauris habit crystals, comparable to Tessin habit Quartzes.
Hoher Sonnblick Mt. area, Rauris valley
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| Quartz H.Sonnblick 9cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
In this zone at the southern end of the Hüttwinkl valley, gneisses and amphibolitic migmatites are the predominant rocks.
In 1988 Huber Fink found a cleft in the north face of Hoher Sonnblick mountain. The crystals from the cleft were determined and described by Rudolf Rykart as being the first proof of genuine Citrine crystals from the Austrian Alps (Rudolf Rykart - Quartz Monografie)
Grieswies - Krumlkeeskopf Mt. area, Rauris valley
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| Quartz with Rutile, 15cm tall | © H. Fink |
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| Quartz Grieswies 11cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Grieswies 7,6cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Grieswies 12,8cm | © Rob Lavinsky |
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| Quartz Grieswies 5,3cm | © Rob Lavinsky |
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| Quartz Grieswies 11x9cm | © H. Fink |
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| Quartz Grieswies 9cm | © H. Fink |
Within this zone, extending west of the upper Hüttwinkl valley and south of the Ritterkopf massif into the upper Krumlbach valley, Penninic amphibolites, chlorite schists, micaschists, phyllites, prasinites, quartzites, as well as triassic lime and dolomite marbles (Seidlwinkl formation) alternate in a rapid succession. In some places, such as in the cliffs of the Grieswies, the different layers are well exposed over a height of up to several hundred meters. This area is very rich in mineralized clefts, which yielded many specimens of outstanding size and quality.
Hocharn Mt., Rauris valley
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| Quartz Hocharn 43cm, recent find from Franz Bründl | © E Burgsteiner |
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| Quartz Hocharn 15cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Hocharn 18cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Hocharn 26cm | © Rob Lavinsky |
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| Quartz Hocharn 23cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
The Salzburg side of Hocharn mountain. Very rich in mineralised Alpine clefts.
2007, the summer was already going towards its end when Franz Bründl was already passing the Erfurter Steig at the first light of the day. He was on his way towards Hocharn mountain, an area where one could often find him. The area is well known by many collectors so chances of finding a good cleft are very small. That day he searched the rocks recently exposed by the retreating glacier, but nothing was to be found. Late afternoon, when he was already starting to get tired, he spotted a narrow 20cm wide Quartz vein that appeared to show a small hole at the lower end. The vein however was located in an area where many collectors had been before so he had little hopes, he was sure that the cleft had been emptied by others before him. Nevertheless, he got his clefthook out and began to scratch the surface of the cleft interior and after moving 5cm of the sandy surface he looked at a perfect 15cm tall Rock Crystal. What happened next made his hart jump even more, he touched another Quartz face that didn't seem to end.......he started working like an archaeologist, nothing should get damaged.., and after some work he was holding a perfect Rock Crystal, 43cm long and 16kg heavy. He returned the following days and many more crystals followed, among others a 60cm long slender crystal. Everyday his backpack was filled to the rim, he hardly managed to bring everything down the mountain every day, but, he was in very good spirits, I suppose that gave him an extra dose of power.......
Ritterkopf Mt., Rauris valley
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| Quartz Ritterkopf 20cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Ritterkopf 10cm | © |
Mineralized clefts in micaschists and prasinites.
Vorsterbach valley, Rauris valley
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| Quartz Vorsterbach 5,1cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Vorsterbach 5cm | © Martin Gruell |
A major southeastern branch of the Rauris valley. Located SE of Wörth.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Stubach valley, Ödenwinkel area
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| Quartz Johannisberg 13cm | © |
This area includes the Ödenwinkel, a steep slope above the Ödenwinkel glacier, and the chain rimming it, from Hoher Kasten Mt. in the east to Johannisberg Mt. in the west. The Ödenwinkel forms the upper terminus of the Stubach valley.
The largest Quartz crystals from the Eastern Alps were found on in north face of Eiskögele mountain. On the 16th of July 1965 Peter Meilinger and Hans Hofer found gigantic Quartz crystals in an open cleft wile climbing the tricky Eiskögele north face.
The largest of the crystals was 116cm tall, 220cm in diameter and weighed 618kg.
During the very warm summer of 2003 Hannes and Gerhard Hofer went in the north face to look around the seldom ice free area around the Meilinger-Hofer cleft. They opened a new cleft containing large Quartzes with very good quality. In 2009 the Hofer brother found yet another very nice cleft in the same area. The top specimen was a cross shaped Quartz specimen, consisting of a 65cm tall Quartz crystal crossed by a 30cm large Quartz.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Untersulzbach valley, Ascham Alp - Breitfuß Mt. - Sonntagskopf Mt. area,
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| Quartz Breitfuß 9cm | © |
This area is dominated by gneisses, just like the Abichl Alp - Beryller area, southeast to which it is located. However, there also are leucocratic gneisses present, which include a suite of rare bismuth sulphosalts.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Hohe Tauern Mts, Wildgerlos valley, Wildgerlos glacier
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| Quartz Wildgerlos 13cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Wildgerlos 10cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
Good localities near the glacier for excellent smoky Quartz. Recently Christian Niederegger found a cleft containing large, up to 40cm tall, smoky Quartz of outstanding quality.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Murwinkel, Rotgülden, Lower Rotgülden lake, Arsenic mine
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| Quartz Rotgülden 10cm | © |
Abandoned arsenic mine (arsenopyrite-pyrite-chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite mineralisations with minor gold).
Famous for excellent gustavite crystals collected underground.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Murwinkel, Weißeck Mt. area (incl. Rauchkopf Mt.; Riedingscharte)
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| Quartz Weißeck 8cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Weißeck 13cm | © Martin Gruell |
Located on the ridge between the Murwinkel and the upper Zederhaus valley.
The area around Weißeck mountain is dominated by dolomites and limestones of the Radstadt formation. They occupy an area that is elliptical in plan view, about 3.5 km long and up to 1.5 km wide, with Weißeck mountain located a little south of its center. Fluorite is found in outcrops and loose boulders in numerous places on the slopes, either in clefts or in quartz veins. These occurrences have been known since the late 18th century.
Quartz
Austria
Salzburg, Lungau, Zederhaus valley
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| 23cm large Quartz from Zederhaus. The pocket was in "Grünschiefer" | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 31kg! | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 31kg! | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 10cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 16cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 13,2cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Zederhaus 9cm | © Martin Gruell |
Valley oriented parallel to the adjacent Mur valley (Murtal).
Quartz
Austria
Styria, Graz, Wildon, Weitendorf Basalt quarry
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| Chalcedony FOV 5cm | © ReMi |
A quarry in andesitic basalt.
Famous for nice chalcedony, aragonite and zeolites (e.g., ferrierite).
Located about 1.5 km west of Weitendorf (west of Wildon and around 17 km south of Graz).
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, East Tyrol, Tauern valley, Froßnitz valley, Wildenkogel Mt.
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| Smoky Quartz Wildenkogel, 9x7cm | © Rudo |
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| Quartz Wildenkogel 18cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Wildenkogel 6cm | © |
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, East Tyrol, Virgen valley
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| Quartz Virgental 26,8cm | © Rob Lavinsky |
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| Japan Law twin Pebell Alp 2cm | © Volker Betz |
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zemmgrund, Mörchner area, Mörchnerkar
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| Quartz Mörchner 14cm | © www.mineralienkluft.at |
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| Quartz Mörchnerkar 17,7cm | © Martin Gruell |
Info:
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zemmgrund, Mörchner area, Saurüssel
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| Quartz Saurüssel 22cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Saurüssel 3,5cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Quartz Saurüssel 9cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
A steep ridge west of Kleiner Mörchner mountain and the Mörchnerkees. This area is well known for exceptional iron roses and sceptre amethysts.
The Hofer brothers cleft
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| Amethyst Saurüssel 17cm | © Martin Gruell |
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| Amethyst Saurüssel 10cm | © Martin Gruell |
A remarkable Amethyst find in the Saurüssel was done by the Hofer brothers, Hannes and Gerhard, on a rainy (and snowy higher up in the mountains) day. They didn't expect anything and because most of the area was snow covered they looked at an old cleft in a small mountain stream. Because it was their only option they began to work the rock around the old cleft when all of a sudden they broke into a cleft. When one of the brother got inside with his hands he could feel crystal faces, he took it out and what they saw was something they never saw before. A 17cm large perfect Amethyst sceptre on a thin Rock Crystal stem with the deepest purple colour imaginable. The rainy day turned into a colourful festivity!
The Planitzer cleft
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| Sceptre Amethyst 21cm tall | © Martin Gruell |
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| Amethyst 9cm tall | © Martin Gruell |
Another remarkable Saurüssel find was done by by Erika and Rudolf Planitzer in August 1976. Mr. and Mrs. Planitzer discovered one of the largest Amethyste-clefts ever, in this area. It took 5 days to bring all specimen down in the valley. The find was never published and the discovers don´t show them to many people. Now Mr. Planitzer decided to show some of the best pieces here on Mindat for the Best of Quartz/Austria Page.
Collection Erika and Rudolf Planitzer. [Martin Gruell]
Quartz
Austria
Tyrol, North Tyrol, Ziller valley, Zillergrund
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| Quartz Grasleiten 22cm | © Gerd Stefanik |
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| Quartz Elfriede 20cm | © |
Info:
[Harjo Neutkens, Rudolf Hasler and Martin Gruell 2010-2012]
Click here to view Best Minerals Quartz and here for Best Minerals A to Z and here for Fast Navigation of Best Minerals articles.
Edited 198 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2013 10:07AM by Rudolf Hasler.
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Re: Quartz, Austria December 03, 2010 04:25PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria December 05, 2010 07:56PM |
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I agree Chris. I saw fantastic pieces in collections of several friends of mine in Austria.
Problem is, they haven't posted pics on mindat, and for the article I'm limited to these.
I got some photos of very good specimens from Erwin Burgsteiner and Martin posted photos by Christian Hager of some very nice Amethyst from Saurüssel.
We're getting there in the end
Problem is, they haven't posted pics on mindat, and for the article I'm limited to these.
I got some photos of very good specimens from Erwin Burgsteiner and Martin posted photos by Christian Hager of some very nice Amethyst from Saurüssel.
We're getting there in the end
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Re: Quartz, Austria December 07, 2010 04:52PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria December 07, 2010 08:36PM |
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Next time I'll bring my camera when I visit them, usually talking about and looking at minerals and especially drinking wine prevail
Did you see the snapshot in the article that I took from the huge Rauris specimen? The best crystal of that cleft is in the collection of a friend of mine, not in the museum.......
In due time I'll upload more photos and Martin will upload some good ones too.
Did you see the snapshot in the article that I took from the huge Rauris specimen? The best crystal of that cleft is in the collection of a friend of mine, not in the museum.......
In due time I'll upload more photos and Martin will upload some good ones too.
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 21, 2011 09:03PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 22, 2011 12:23AM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 22, 2011 11:16AM |
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They're already there Rock, check the article above
Cheers
Harjo
Cheers
Harjo
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 22, 2011 11:52AM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 22, 2011 02:46PM |
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Great pics Harjo, we are comming nearer the top quality 
I`m no expert in Alpine quartz but what I`m still missing is the great find from the Ritterkar from the brothers Asch...
Any chance to get a pic? PM me if you don`t know their adress.
I`m no expert in Alpine quartz but what I`m still missing is the great find from the Ritterkar from the brothers Asch...
Any chance to get a pic? PM me if you don`t know their adress.
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Re: Quartz, Austria January 22, 2011 07:10PM |
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Dammit....thanks Amir, that's a silly one.......I copied that from the Sonnblick Mindat page without paying attention to it.....changed to Rudolf now. His Quartz monography is my bible
I'll call the Skeletquarz corroded Quartz, thanks again
Chris, I think the large specimen from the Bramberg museum is from Gerhard Aschacher's find, it's in the Rauris section of the article. Last year I held a loose crystal from the same cleft in my hands. Even better then the ones in the museum!
You're right Rock, I'll invest some time to learn hoe to use Dave's program.
Thanks guys!!
I'll call the Skeletquarz corroded Quartz, thanks again
Chris, I think the large specimen from the Bramberg museum is from Gerhard Aschacher's find, it's in the Rauris section of the article. Last year I held a loose crystal from the same cleft in my hands. Even better then the ones in the museum!
You're right Rock, I'll invest some time to learn hoe to use Dave's program.
Thanks guys!!
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Re: Quartz, Austria February 24, 2011 09:41PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria February 24, 2011 10:32PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria February 25, 2011 05:39PM |
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Quote
Rock
I think Rob Lavinsky must be at work here in Best Minerals or the irrepressable artist in you has escaped yet once again!smoking smileywinking smiley
(:D
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Re: Quartz, Austria March 25, 2012 07:06PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria March 25, 2012 08:04PM |
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Re: Quartz, Austria March 25, 2012 08:19PM |
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Yes he will
Danke Rudolf! Ich werde gleich an die Arbeit gehen!
Danke Rudolf! Ich werde gleich an die Arbeit gehen!
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