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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums > Prospecting, Mineral Collecting and Treasure Hunting Forums > Gem and Mineral Specimen Finds or Processes
MikeS
My friend and fellow claim owner went up to our claim for the first time this year on Saturday. He found the top of a colorless Topaz crystal that is nearly flawless inside. 193.5 carats(38.7 grams). We just confirmed it with a scratch test and a specific gravity test. It has some red and green inclusions near or on the surface. Looks like we can add this to the growing list of minerals that can be found on our claim. greensmilies-012.gif
I was able to take some photos. char098.gif
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Crusty
Wow, very nice find!
mandbh
QUOTE (MikeS @ Feb 15 2015, 01:02 AM) *
My friend and fellow claim owner went up to our claim for the first time this year on Saturday. He found the top of a colorless Topaz crystal that is nearly flawless inside. 193.5 carats(38.7 grams). We just confirmed it with a scratch test and a specific gravity test. It has some red and green inclusions near or on the surface. Looks like we can add this to the growing list of minerals that can be found on our claim. greensmilies-012.gif I was able to take some photos. char098.gif Click to view attachment Click to view attachment Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

That's awesome! How exciting! Congrats
llamabox
Hoping to see a long field report here soon. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
swizz
Congratulations, that is stunning! signs021.gif
Denise
extra_happy.gif Score!! That is a fantastic Topaz and what a great way for him to start the new year on the claim. smiley-clapping.gif Like I said...good things to come for you guys because it's your time! happy112.gif So excited for you guys, you will have to make sure you keep a camera or video recorder (for your own records) on hand for those action shots when those beauties are being pulled out.

Looks like a healed face (?) on the one side giving it very cool features, looks incredible!! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

Congratulations on the great claim finds guys! Tell him I said "congrats" from me also please Mike!
You guys "rock" literally!!
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GemHuntinMama
Wow - very nice, Mike! We drove past Pilot's Peak yesterday - the weather was so pretty and I'm glad you had such success!
Rockytop
Congratulations, very nice find!
MikeS
QUOTE (Mrs.CP @ Feb 15 2015, 02:09 PM) *
make sure you keep a camera or video recorder (for your own records) on hand for those action shots when those beauties are being pulled out.
Looks like a healed face (?) on the one side giving it very cool features, looks incredible!!

I promise to pull my cameras out more often and use them this year. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

I don't see any healing on there but besides a few chips on the side(pic 1 left side) it is natural face on the sides and several small terminations on the top. Pic 3 shows the fractured bottom (perfect basal cleavage). My guess is this is the top of a larger crystal that must of been 400 ct. or more.

When we started prospecting the area over a decade ago we were originally looking for topaz crystals but found just about everything else first. Now we found one! There is only 2 well known areas for cut quality, bi-colored topaz in the world.... Ural Mts. Russia and Colorado, right in the area we are working in. Hope I can get into some of those.
Caveman
Very cool find!
CP
That's a sweet season opener, congrats you guys!! emoticon-misc-004.gif signs021.gif
fenixsmom
Great job boys!!!! Sorry I've been slacking on responding. Awesome specimen!!!
RhodoRose
Nice find! Very beautiful, congrats! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
NewRockHounder
Question - how do you know it's topaz and not a clear quartz? What tests did you do, either in the field or at home, to know?

Colin
Dave S.
It is not very hard to test for TOPAZ. If you have an isolated piece to test, you can do the home gravity test we have talked about in a few other topics. Quartz's specific gravity is 2.65 (times heavier than water). And Topaz is 3.4 - 3.6 (times heavier than water). If you find pieces that have crystal faces, then you can maybe tell from the different crystal shapes. If you have a different type of sample that can't be tested these ways, then let me know, or bring it to the next outing, and we will try to figure it out.
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