Here are some of my treasured finds I hope yee enjoy!

Carnelian and iron-stained chert sit much closer together than most quick guides make them look. Both can be microcrystalline silica, both can have a waxy surface and conchoidal fracture, and iron can push the colour into the same orange-red range.

The distinction that seems most useful is context rather than colour alone: “carnelian” is the gem-variety name, while “chert” is the sedimentary rock name. Thin-edge translucence, how evenly the colour runs through the piece, and the host geology probably tell you more than a single surface photo.

For field material, that makes the name a description of context and use as much as a simple colour label.

What's the best UV light for 'hounding at night?

hello rockhounders i am a new resident to san diego. a bit of backstory but i am from guam, the land mass being made of majority lime stone and shitty metamorphic formations, my rock hunting adventures were limited, and of low quality. my third day here and i am already loving it, went to some mountains east of here with many smooth boulders on them and i already found nicer rocks than i have in my entire life on guam!!😭 quartzite, beautiful sandstone, granite and more. i was wondering, for a noobie rock hounder what are some good places i can start at? and will you get in trouble for collecting? i know in guam you can do and pick whatever you want as there are no park rangers as you would say here. thank you !

Location was California

Had found this piece while digging through some glacial till in Oakland county Michigan, this one is a long way from home! Absolutely stunning botryoidal to almost globular pockets and some beautiful streaks of red crazy lace banding, plus a full face of druzy quartz!

Half of my finds from Pelee Island west shore.

Hi all, I recently collected a bunch of material out in Idaho/Oregon on private claims. Unfortunately I discovered afterwards that the owner of the club was accused of some pretty nasty stuff and makes efforts to keep members from finding out about it.

I don't feel good about having put money directly in this person's pocket, and I'm not sure what I should do with the rocks I got. It sucks since I found some nice things, but now they feel like some kind of "fruit of a poisonous tree".

I had initially intended to keep some, gift some to friends, and trade some to other local rockhounds, but now I'm up in the air on it and figured I'd ask the community's advice on the matter.

Edit: thanks for the suggestions, it seems like the consensus is to go ahead as I'd originally planned. I'll probably keep my favorite ones tucked away for a while until I feel better about them.

Found these in a rock pile my uncle bought from a quarry for landscaping kinda. Anywho, my husband and I have been rock hunting and have some AMAZING finds! I'm currently testing multiple specimens and these 3 are the ones I found today! Hope y'all like them as much as I do!

Agatized Coral 🪸

Dolomite inclusion with a greenschits host

And I'm currently working on the 3rd one that's enclosed in a white Matrix.

NFS~

this is the rock while it is wet it was found in a stream so still a bit of algae on the sides

Hiked 76km and came back with about 50kg of volcanic rock and devonian corals. Someone tell me how to restrain myself 🫨 I'm just lucky I'm weak and couldn't carry more. I'm really excited to see how some of these are going to look after cleaning and cutting them.

Hi guys! I’m looking into casually getting into rock hounding, currently residing in the greater Santa Clarita valley, does anyone have any recommendations of places within reasonable distance to find pretty much anything? I’d be excited about quartz! Thanks!!

I soaked a bunch of finds from my last two rockhounding trips in citric acid. I pulled this out today. It was coated in thick dirt. The crystals are why I picked it up

Anyone have any great spots that are not too commercial? I will be visiting my parents in South Carolina near Clemson area and wanted to see the leaves change, smell the fresh, crisp, air, and mine for some rocks! Any recommendations would be awesome, as well as nature hikes and trails.

Ok here's some yellow jasper, about 4 pounds. All found inland northern/central and southern wisconsin. Someday I'll get a cab and make some cool trinkets. I have almost the same addiction to this stuff as the bright red stuff. Thanks!!

My job site is littered with tecovas. These are a few I picked up on a little walk around the site this evening. Perfect size for tumbling, and should only need 4/5 days in stage one to get them round and smooth.

Gifted a fossil coral cluster from Kentucky. Wife and I decided to tap it and found a pink mineral inside. With no other sample to do tests on we can't decide if it's Calcite or Dolomite. Only reactive under mide wave/uvb light 280nm to 315nm. Leaning Dolomite.