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May 2013Re: Must see tv - ProspectorsReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.Perhaps, I just am in touch with the mineral discovery, finding excitement, but I really enjoy when they open a pocket and start brushing off minerals, and start extracting minerals out of the ground.
Despite claims of being worried about safety by the participants, there basically is no safety ...
Jun 2012Re: Please help ID - Thank youReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Lollingite would be make the mineral significantly heavier than a similarly sized piece of quartz.
Jun 2012Re: Serpentine Mineral -- Any idea what this might be.Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Ben,
I conducted your test. The two chips dissolved to a great extent in 1 molar HCl. There was only a slight efforvescence at first. The crystals became clear but retained a bright yellow brown color. The crystals became very tabular, but the edges were yet undefined. After about 10 ...
Jun 2012Re: Magnetic rocks againReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Basalt or andesite, no matter, both can possess zones locally enriched in magnetite which will attract magnets. Iron content itself does not automatically produce magnetism or the ability of magnets to attach. The richest hematite iron ore often has a huge percentage of its molecular weigh as ...
Jun 2012Re: Serpentine Mineral -- Any idea what this might be.Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Ben,
Would the muratic acid found at the hardware store be dilute enough, or should dilute it 2 or more times?
Jun 2012Serpentine Mineral -- Any idea what this might be.Posted by Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.This orangish-brown mineral comes from the Penn-Maryland Quarry, Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This quarry is literally just a high wall away from the Cedar Hill Quarry. It is a serpentine quarry providing fill, road chips, rip-rap.
I was wondering if anyone has ...
Apr 2012Pedigree of Specimens even if low classPosted by Mark J. Sigouin in General.Today, I was working through a flat of specimens I purchased last fall at the twice yearly Sterling Hill Garage Sale. It seems for one reason or other many specimens at that sale have old labels included with them. When I find ones with Ex. ______ collection on the labels, I like to Google or ...
Feb 2012Re: Pentlandite with a perfect partingReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Do any of you have any photos of this?
Feb 2012Re: Today's quiz: Arsenopyrite, lӧllingite or ? From ?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Photos.About three years ago I collected a silvery mineral from Franklin that I thought was Lollingite, Galena, or Arsenopyrite. It was really dense and heavy. Some specimens were hand sized plates. They came from an augen in the Franklin Marble forming the walls of the Passaic Pit, Sterling Hill ...
Jan 2012Re: Franklin Rhodonite associate mineralReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Chester,
Yeah, Franklin and Sterling Hill can present real dilemmas for identification. That was why I originally posted this thread.
Other pieces from the same boulder have redder veins, and lighter pink veins and masses in them.
There is no fluorescence associated with any of the ...
Jan 2012cleaning milleritePosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.A question for the chemists.
Last Fall, I participated in a collecting trip to the Gap Nickel Mine, Bart Township, Lancaster County. The trip leader and pretty much all the participants were convinced that millerite specimens would not exist because chemical weathering would have eliminated all ...
Jun 2011GoethitePosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.Anyone have any idea as to how to remove limonite and other reddish iron encrustations from goethite?
Jul 2011Re: Help Save Rockhound State Park, New MexicoReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.I hope they change the name of this park to something else. Kind of like calling a large fenced area a Dog Park, but not allowing dogs on the premises because when they did allow the dogs, they ran, barked, urinated, and deficated.
Jun 2011Re: What have you collected heavily?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.I have collected heavily in the Passaic Pit, Sterling Hill Mine, Franklin Mining District, Ogdensburg, New Jersey. I have been since college. Unlike many of the other collectors there, I am just facinated with zincite. For no apparant reason, I can't seem to get enough of a non-fluorescent ...
Jan 2012Franklin Rhodonite associate mineralPosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.About a year ago, I cracked open a boulder in the Buckwheat Pit, Franklin, NJ and found rhodonite mixed into a matrix of a greenish yellow to yellow matrix. The matrix has a waxy/oily luster and a slick feel. It is all very hard. While there are flecks of other tiny minerals mixed throughout the ...
Sep 2010Re: Lebanon, PA showReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Mineral Shows.This year there were many less mineral dealers than previous years. Only about 4 mineral dealers inside at the actual show. Only about 5 mineral dealers tailgating outside. You should go next year. The Tailgaters usually have some nice specimens both local and world wide. I noted that the ...
Aug 2010Re: Rogerley fluorite lined swimming poolsReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.Crush it up super fine, put it in somesort of clear epoxy that doesn't quench the fluorescence, paint the sides of the pool. Mount lots and lots of black light. Actually, the water might quench the UV before it can react with the fluorite. Better to try it on a small scale first. Lots of ...
Aug 2010Re: What do you have the most of in your collection?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.Hey Gary,
I have approximately 300 Zincite/Franklinite specimens from Sterling Hill, or the Franklin Mine, Franklin Mining District. I am attracted to the red or orange zincite in contrast to the black franklinite. I hope to someday find a large crystal of zincite. Usually there is enough ...
Jul 2010From Sterling Hill, The Noble Pit, Help?Posted by Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.I would like some help on IDing these. Perhaps there is a Sterling Hill Expert out there?
Attached are three photos of four specimens I collected in the Noble Pit, Sterling Hill Mine, Ogdensburg, New Jersey, Franklin Mining District. As I was heading out of the pit, I looked at a boulder that ...
May 2010DiopsidePosted by Mark J. Sigouin in General.I was looking at Diopside on Ebay. There are lots of labelling of "Cleopatra - Diopside". Anyone, what does the Cleopatra mean?
May 2010ZincitePosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Fakes & Frauds.Yesterday, I went collecting in Sterling Hill. I was busy collecting franklinite in a matrix of zincite when I overheard another collector talking about the great specimens of zincite from Poland that are on ebay. I looked on ebay and basically there are many specimens from Poland. Yet I see no ...
Mar 2010Re: Probably/PossiblyReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.I agree totally.
Nov 2015Re: >1kilogram black tourmaline crumbles with bare fingersReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Fakes & Frauds.Not touching it was my first thought too. Find a nice place to display it, put it on a display stand, and leave it alone.
Nov 2015Re: >1kilogram black tourmaline crumbles with bare fingersReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Fakes & Frauds.Speaking of healing, is there some way to save this specimen from becoming a zillion microspecimens?
Nov 2013Re: Turquoise - How do you tell the difference between natural and powdered?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Fakes & Frauds.This is a tangent, but I am going to ask anyway.
Recently, I purchased a large turquoise pendant for my wife. It was wrapped in silver. After some wear, the silver began to corrode. She then dipped it in a jewlery cleaning solution that dulled it.
Talking to a jewler in a small local ...
Feb 2010Re: Woods chrome Mine Lancaster PAReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Field Collecting.The location on Mindat is about as accurate as one can be. Go to "locate" and type in Wood's Chromite Mine and you should find it in the page that comes up. Pick it, and then go to maps. Turn on the "USA topo" selection and the topographic map will come up. The mine is actually located on the ...
Jan 2010Re: moved from the lavender pit to maryland usa need new sourceReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.The Central Pennsylvania Rock and Mineral Club have outings though they are somewhat rare. They have gone to quarries in Maryland in the recent past.
The Delaware Mineralogic Society is very active as far as field trips.
The Franklin County Mineral Club host field trips.
The Berks ...
Jan 2010Stack PhotographyPosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Mineral Photography.Is it absolutely necessary to use a microscope to do stacked photography. I realize a tripod for stability would be a must. I also realize that the magnification some of the examples shown would not be there, but can I go through the focusing manually with just my camera so that my three ...
Jan 2010Re: Maintaining the wet green color of serpentineReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.Over the weekend, I tried dipping some smaller serpentine specimens in paraffin melted in a double boiler. Then I went over it with a butane torch used for soldering. Wow, it worked great. Just enough effect. Better, to get it off, all I have to do is boil them and the wax comes off. Not that ...
Nov 2009Re: WORLD CLASS MINERALReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.Michael,
Once again Best Find are still just marketing words.
If you truly have a very good specimen, it will speak for itself. All collectors will want to see it and perhaps rich collectors will pay top dollar to possess it. But there never was, and never will be an Academy Award for a ...
Jan 2010Re: Maintaining the wet green color of serpentineReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.Thanks Michael and Ezekiel. More things to try. And I will.
Jan 2010Re: Maintaining the wet green color of serpentineReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.Thanks for the advice about the oil. I didn't think of the dust issue. I will try lacquer on a small piece and see what happens. When I can get some paraffin I will try a piece. I have a whole 5 gallon bucket to experiment with. I don't have anything to cut and polish the rocks with.
I ...
Jan 2010Maintaining the wet green color of serpentinePosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.When I was recently washing some green serpentine specimens, I was taken by the brillliant greens of the rocks. But when they dried the green fades and many of the specimens become almost white. I was wondering if anyone has ever treated any of this kind of material to bring out those greens on ...
Oct 2009Re: relative rarity and where can I find info on new discoveriesReply from Mark J. Sigouin in General.Beware the label Rare.
It can have all these meanings.
Rare as a Species.
Rare as far as localitites in a worldwide perspective.
Rare at a particular locality.
Rare as far as crystal form, clarity, size, color, shape, etc. at a particular locality.
Rare as in availability from a ...
Jul 2012Re: How can I clean dirty wavellites?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.I've been to the National Quarry and got Wavellite there. I washed off the surface sand and clays, and then soaked them in Wood Bleach/deck cleaner/ Oxylic Acid for about a day. They came out clean and looking ok.
Sep 2009Re: Buyer beware! Native zinc is back.Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Fakes & Frauds.Good to know.
It probably represented a guess by an inexperienced collector seeing a non-yellow metallic luster. After alll, they mined lots of zinc there, right? And then it just goes on from there. That is what is scary about minerals from Franklin and Sterling Hill. While the sites ...
Dec 2011Re: Collecting HazardsReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Field Collecting.Usually Stinging nettle grows in association with jewel weed. If you see the jewel weed flower, don't got there. If the stining nettle gets you, you and rub crushed up jewel weed on the the site and it takes the sting away. I've tried it and it worked for me. ...
Apr 2013Re: "Pyrite Disease"Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.Pyrites aand Marcasites are subject to chemical weathering upon exposure to oxygen and water. The water can come from just the humidity of the air. Some pyrites are much more stable than others, but all, given time, oxygen, and water will decompose. The sulfide in the molecule become oxydized to ...
Oct 2009Re: Display cabinetReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Techniques for Collectors.A large mirror backing along with lights mounted in the top and bottom make your specimens attractive. Also, try and seal it up as much as possible because minerals seem to attract buckets of dust.
Jul 2017Re: Beginners "Budget" Mineral Photography SetupReply from Mark J. Sigouin to an article.Excellent article. Is it paper that you are covering the lights with, or some other filter.
Jan 2009Re: Vesuvianite from Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestoes CanadaReply from Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Being of cynical nature, I am now figuring that someone at a show switched labels on specimens in order to get a cheaper price on a nice chunk of Vesuvianite ($45 USD on the label) for the price of a dolomite specimen. Anyway, thanks for the tips on Canadian Quarries, but I won't venture a guess ...
Jan 2009Vesuvianite from Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestoes CanadaPosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Identity Help.Has anyone ever encountered white vesuvianite from the Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestoes, Canada? I found a large specimen for sale at a very inexpensive price. I an not experienced in vesuvianite. The specimen does not appear to match any photos of vesuvianite on mindat. The attached photo is the ...
Dec 2008Re: Chrysoberyl: Five New York City LocalitiesReply from Mark J. Sigouin to an article.Makes you wonder what kind of mineral specimens the sand hogs grind up as they tunnel beneath the city. Watching that TV series about them, I kept straining to see the walls of the tunnels and if there were any crystals showing in the muck on the floors of the tunnels.
Dec 2008Re: Swap ListReply from Mark J. Sigouin to an article.Jenna,
I have found a significant amount of Adamite in the Passaic Pit at Sterling Hill last summer. It was occuring in association with small lenses of lollingite. Some people were thinking it was malachite, but I thought it looked a bit too blue green for that. Some built up into ...
Sep 2008Re: 2008 Southeast Cartersville ShowReply from Mark J. Sigouin to an article.Where are the gold nuggets from?
Sep 2008Re: Open House at Meckley Quarry, Mandata, PA 2008?Reply from Mark J. Sigouin in Field Collecting.I have read in the Central Pennsylvania Rock and Mineral Club newsletter that due to insurance reasons collecting will no longer be allowed. Usually there were a number of trips per year by the club to Meckley's and there has not been any this year. But the club's field collecting activities ...
Jun 2013Re: Igneous and Metamorphic Mineral Assemblages, Morton Homestead, Prospect Park, PAReply from Mark J. Sigouin to an article.I agree. Very good article. My sister just moved to Media, and I hope some day to collect here.
Apr 2008Pequea Silver Mine, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA is located incorrectlyPosted by Mark J. Sigouin in Improving Mindat.org.I just visited this old mine site which is now a park,and later that day looked the location up. The coordinate location was placed on the name Pequea on the Google Map which is miles away from the actual Pequea Silver Mine Site. I have the correct coordinates located to within feet of the main ...
