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Post by hodgehound on May 21, 2008 15:21:33 GMT -5
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Post by lizziebird on May 21, 2008 15:24:48 GMT -5
mica schist with garnets?
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Post by hodgehound on May 21, 2008 17:35:38 GMT -5
Is this common in South Georgia?
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Post by amythestguy on May 21, 2008 22:01:11 GMT -5
Mica is very abundant, in fact the most common variety of schist is known as mica schist because of the quantity of this mineral usually present. Mica schist being of silvery color and glistening luster. Mica schist often contain almandite garnet crystals, which may be as small as pinheads or as large as baseballs, formed into beautiful crystals or appearing only as rounded masses showing no crystals faces at all.
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Post by hodgehound on May 22, 2008 14:43:02 GMT -5
Cool! I was guessing they were Garnets. Most of the ones I see are about the size of a BB. They are scattered all in the rock. My 5 yr old dropped it the other day and a chunk broke off revealing more on the inside.
What kind of area would you normally find something like this? This particular one was just out in the yard buried about 6" deep. I just happened to dig a hole there for a post, and there it was.
Is there any use trying to get the Garnets out or will I be better off cleaning it up and making it my 1st "find" of a collection to come? It has definately got me looking at more closely at rocks I used to brush off as just rocks. I did not know that "rockhounding" was so active til I found this site! I've seen some really cool stuff found not far from here, since I joined a few days ago. I may have found another hobby! HA! The wife'll love that!
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Post by arappaho on May 22, 2008 16:30:47 GMT -5
Yeah, well wait till she can't pull the car into the garage anymore because of all the rocks. She'll really love that! ;D
I don't know what your neighborhood looks like or how much dirt was moved around when it was being developed, but your garnet mica schist probably comes from right around there somewhere. Where there's one, there could be more.
We have alot of that material in this area. Unless you find more of it you will probably want to keep it intact as a specimen. The garnets are not usually gem grade, so no good for faceting, but if you find a bunch of the stuff you can sometimes get a decent looking stone by grinding and polishing a dome on it. Maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 look good and the only way to tell is to try it.
Welcome to the sport!
Joe
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Post by hodgehound on May 22, 2008 16:56:14 GMT -5
Well the house I live in and the neighborhood was developed in the '50s-'60s, so there is no telling. Probably little or no dirt being moved. It's relatively flat here in S Ga. and after about 6-8" of topsoil it it all red clay! Hard as a rock when dry and just plum nasty to try to work in when wet! I'm definately gonna keep an eye out for more stuff! I never knew you could find all this stuff in the SE US! I knew there was gold and such in the N Ga Mtns. but not all the other stuff I've seen here!
Thanks Joe!
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Post by crystal ocean on May 26, 2008 23:23:36 GMT -5
I agree with the mica schist with garnets. I used to find what looked exactly like this in Staten Island, New York. My grandmother took me to a place where they dumped the rock they dug out one of the tunnels.
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LOL
