THE MAILBAG

Subject:   Help!

Mr. Hill,
I just spend the past hour going over your web site - very nice!
If you would, I do not wish to bother, could you make some suggestions as to where to collect minerals with a family. My twins are starting to get their dad's rock fever and I would like to take them someplace structured. I have heard of places where you can even rent tools. We live in Cincinnati Ohio and any help you can offer would be most appreciated.
Thank you!!!. Brent & Scott Erke

Hello

And thanks for your email. It's always a blessing to me to hear of a young person getting the "bug" of rock collecting. I don't know of any other hobby that is as rewarding and that provides interest in sciences such as geology, paleontology, geophysics, and mary other fields in earth science.

Unfortunately I don't know of any specific collecting sites near Cincinnati Ohio. I do, however, know that Ohio is one of the richest fossil locations in all of the USA. I have a two inch thick hardback book, a really large volume, on fossils in Ohio. It is arranged by county. At one time all of Ohio was covered by shallow seas and with the receeding of the seas, massive amounts of marine critters were deposited where there is now dry land.

I have a sister that lives near Youngstown, Ohio. I have driven there a few times. All along the highway I could see deposits of shale rock, that at one time was sediment in the oceans. I have stopped a few times and in almost every case was able to find marine fossils. Sea shells (brachiopods) crinoids, sand dollars, trilobites, corals, and others.

I have a couple of suggestions for you. One is to read my article in RAY'S RAMBLINGS entitled "So Your Child Likes Rocks". The article tells some things you as a parent can do to help your child learn and grow in the rock collecting hobby. I can honestly say that I am where I am today as a result of being encouraged with I was a child. I still collect rocks. I get to play with my hobby all day, every day, and make money doing it.

Number two, find out where the nearest Gem & Mineral Society (Rock club) is to you. Go join the club. Go on collecting trips with the club. Most clubs go on monthly field trips. They are free to members and it is a great way to find out where the collecting places are. Just go on-line and type in "Gem & Mineral Society" and your state. The clubs should be listed there. Membership in these clubs average about $15.00 for a whole year. It is a good way for all of you to learn about rocks, minerals, crystals, fossils, etc. The rock clubs also have monthly meetings where they usually put on a short program about something of interest hobby related. This is free to members.

I know I haven't been much help, but, hopefully reading my article and checking out one of the local rock clubs will be of help to you.

Also, I know that if I lived where you guys do, I would be out looking at the banks in all of the road cuts in my area. You're bound to find some really neat stuff.

Good luck. Best wishes.

Ray.

Subject:   Rockhounding

Hi there!
My name is Jana and I am surprising my mate for his birthday (June 16th) with a trip to Laughlin. All he wants to do is go rockhounding! We are from San Diego and are renting a car there and are willing to drive for the right spot. If you have any suggestions (ie detailed maps or references as to where to find rocks with sparkle! or silver, his favorite!) we would be forever grateful for you pointing us in the right direction. I really appreciate you taking the time. We are so excited. (Well, I am, it's a surprise!) I enjoyed your website and hope you may know good directions to some good spots near Laughlin. Please pass this email along to those who may have a moment to let us in on the right spots to hunt!
Thank you so much!. Jana

Hi Jana

I assume you are talking about Laughlin, NV. Is this where you are going?

I have never been to Nevada before. Seems as though I have been all over the western states, except Nevada. If this is where you are going, I have no idea where you might go rock hunting. There is a couple of things I would suggest to you though.

1. Go on-line. Type in Gem & Mineral Society + Nevada. A list of rock clubs in the area should come up. Go to one of the club sites closest to where you guys are going. Call a couple of the people in the club and see if you can get an old retired person, like me, to take you guys out rock hunting in the area. If you can't find anyone that can actually go with you, at least they can tell you where you can go hunting for rocks. Nearly any of the members of the club can tell you.
2. Go on-line and see if there is a natural history museum near where you guys are going. If go, take in the museum as part oif your trip. The natural history museums normally have large mineral and fossil collections. This will be good for any sure-nuff rockhound. And, the people at the natural history museum should have some information on local collecting sites. Try this.
3. Thirdly, there are a lot of rock collecting books out there that will have collecting sites shown in them. And, yes, there are rock collecting books on Nevada (If that is where you are going.) You should not have any problem finding a book on locations where you are going.

Sorry I can't tell you where to go personally, but, hopefully this information will help.

Good luck to you guys and happy rock collecting.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   River road

Ray I live in Augusta. I have been collecting arrowheads for a couple years now. here recently I have started to try and make them just to see If I could. I collected some chert from river road but I cant figure out the exact name of it so I could heat treat if needed. Would you happen to have an idea of the name.

Thank You in Advance for any Help. Chad

Hi Chad

Here is a link to an article I wrote some time ago about the material being found in Girard, Georgia. I assume that is the material you are referring to.
http://www.greatsouth.net/field_trip_girard_georgia.htm

I recently heat treated some of this material myself. I knocked off a few flakes or blanks from larger pieces of the chert and heat treated them. I built a fire out in my yard and fed a few pieces of wood into the fire. When the fire had died down to hot coals, I put a piece of sheet aluminum on top of the coals. I then placed the chert blanks on the aluminum. I placed another piece of aluminum on top of that piece and covered the whole thing up with dirt and sand. The next morning I took the pieces from the mound and found hat they flake very easily. I had never done this before, but, it worked great. You can also heat treat the stone in the oven.

Good luck with your project. When you finish the project, please write and let me know how you did and send some photos if possible and we'll put them up in our new section on our home page........FROM OUR CUSTOMERS.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Round rocks

I have a collection of rocks dug from gravel pits in the southwestern Michigan area. These are almost perfectly round rocks of all different sizes. My grandfather owned these gravel pits and told us they were from dinosaurs who swallowed the rocks to use in their gullets to smash their food - much like the birds of today - which is how the rocks gradually wore down to their roundness. No one ever excavated the gravel pits for bones or such, but I wonder if there is credence to his story. He was a very honorable Christian man and to my knowledge, never told a lie in his life or was he prone to tell whoppers of stories. Can you help me or send me somewhere on the internet to investigate further?

Thank you.

Hello

Your grandfather told the truth about how dinosaurs commonly swallowed rocks to help in their digestion. And, yes, modern chickens, ducks, geese, and others of their species still do the same thing today. I think the question is whether these particular stones were swallowed by a dinosaur.

In Michigan, especially around the Great Lakes areas, it is very common to find rounded stones that are simply water warn. Around Lake Michigan, rounded stones of a fossil coral is very common and many people collect the fossil coral stones for sale to collectors and for use in making jewelry. This stone is called Petosky Stones.

I know of no way, personally, to establish whether the stones your Grandfather passed down to you are stones from dinosaurs, or not. I don't think science can establish the fact or not. So, it is very possible that the smooth stones you have were swallowed by dinosaurs.

Ooooohhhh, I just thought of something! If the stones you have are the fossil coral stones found around the great lakes area, then, doing testing on the age of the fossil corals would tell whether or not it is possible for the dinosaurs to have swallowed them. If, taking a sample of the fossil coral, if that is what it is, and testing it for age, and should the age of the corals be in the 50 million years or sooner, it would prove that the stones were not swallowed by a dinosaur. Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago. If the testing of the fossil coral, if that is what it is, shows that the age of the material is older than 65 million years, all it would tell us is that it was there when the dinosaurs were there, but, unfortunately, would not prove that this rock had been swallowed by a dinosaur. Again, I know of no way to prove that it was or was not.

Yes, I know. This does not help much. But, I hope you can appreciate the problem.

If the stones had been found in an area where there absolutely had never been any "moving" water, such as a river, stream, creek, lake with waves, it would show that the stones had been picked up elsewhere and move to where they were found, giving a more indication that an animal had picked up and moved the stones.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Cactus fossils

What identifys it as a cactus fossil and not petrified wood or petrified tree root? What should I look for to see signs that it was a cactus? Are they all similar or do they vary a lot? What epoch are they from?
Do you know specifically in Arizona what locality the peridot is from? I meant I ordered a cactus fossil. The ones from Arizona. Do you have any more info on them or information cards?

Thanks, Andy.

Greetings, Andy

Angi, my daughter, gave me your last email and asked that I contact you concerning the questions you asked about the "cactus fossils".

I purchased a batch of this items four years ago at the Main Event show in Quartzite, Arizona. I had never seed anything like this item.

The gentleman that I got these from was the Field Trip Chairman for the Quartzite, Arizona Gem & Mineral Society there in Arizona. I too questioned him about these "fossils". He explained that he had personally collected these in a desert-like area in Arizona. No, I don't remember where he said it was.

The man said that he had showed these items to a number of people within the club and had also to a paleontologist and that while no scientific testing had been done, they all stated that they thought these were cactus fossils.

I can see that if a cactus is a tough, wood fiber material, and is maybe covered with a volcanic ash quickly, then it is possible that the cactus wood-fiber could have been petrified. I agree that this is perhaps the only time I have seen an item that was called a cactus fossil. As you know, petrified wood generally goes through a mineral displacement process in the process of being "petrified". I can see that a tough, wood-grain cactus, may be petrified as well. I have no idea as to what species of cactur that would have been.

So, I appreciate your concern about this item being called petrified cactus specimens. I too have a little reservations.

I am not an "ologist" anything. I've just been at this for about 30 years and have read and studied quite a bit. No, I don't think this is a fulgurite. If it was a fulgurite it would be a fused glass cylinder with a hollow center. The specimens we are talking about here is not like that.

And, unfortunately, I don't have any further information on this item. If you have thoughts that are different in regard to this item, by all means, please share them with me.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Cut Geode Question

We recently bought some uncut geodes (plum to grapefruit size) and cut them open with a wet-saw. The insides are dazzling. However, the cut surface area needs to be polished (it is smooth from the cut, but dull).
What can we put on the cut surface to polish it so that the true beauty of the interior cut stone is presented : the cut area not the hollowed out area ? When we wet the cut area with water, the cut area presents itself well, but when the water dryers, it clouds up again to a dull finish. It there some sort of liquid polish / varnish that we can apply on the cut surface that makes it remain its "wet sparkle?" Any guidance in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Joe.

Joe, Good question!

I can think of two ways to make the outer ring, or cut surface look good. One would be to polish the face with a flat lap machine. It is a flat surface with either felt or leather and a sanding then polishing compound is added to make the out ring shine. This is a slow process and not everyone has a flat lap machine, or, has access to one.

The second method to make the outer ring look more natural and "wet" looking is to spray the outer ring with a clear acrylic spray. You can get this anywhere. I would use a gloss spray. Cover he hole area where the inside is and spray the outer cut-ring area with the acrylic spray. It won't hurt the geode and it will make it look somewhat like it has been polished.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Dinosaur Teeth

Ray, your site stated dinosaur teeth.  I would like to know about the location.

Thanks.

Hello,

Three are three different dinosaur teeth shown in our online catalog.   They are all three found in the FOSSILS catalog section.

• F1531 Spinosaur Teeth - The fierce dino featured in Jurasic Park II.
• F1625 Mesosaur Teeth - Large croc type lizard/fish/reptile from the dino age.
• DINO-T Carcharodontodaurus Saharicus - Large T-Rex type dino, but much larger, with smaller brain.

Hope you can find these in the catalog okay.  If you need more help let me know.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Amber

Dear Ray,

I have bought several items from you before and have been very pleased. Now I am shopping for Easter basket fillers again and I would like to know if you have any small pieces of amber for sale.  I would also like to know if you know of the name of the kind of "stone" that was made when lighting hits the sand in the desert. It turns many different colors.  I saw a very small piece of it in a jewelry store but she did not know the name of it.

Your friend, Mariann.

Mariann,

The stone you are asking about is "Fulgurite".  It is a tube of glass, where the lightning has hit the earth and fused the sand granuals together; actually melting the sand and creating the glass tube.   We usually have these in stock .

The only amber pieces are the ones shown in our on-line catalog.  We have the rought copal/amber pieces in our catalog also.  These are very inexpensive. You may want to get a couple of these.  The difference between "Copal" and "Amber" is the age.  Young amber is called copal, but, it is the same thing. It is an amber - a fossilized tree resin.  Let me know if we can help you with this.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Arrowheads

Do you ever carry any arrowheads?  If not do you know a supplier?

Laura.

Hello,

Yes we do have arrowheads. Go to http://www.greatsouth.net/ At the home page main menu, click on the NOVELTY page.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Can You Identify This?

My friend is sending this to me from Bali. I would like to know what it is.

Thanks, Mark.

Mark,

From just looking at the photo, this appears to be concretions of some sort.  My guess is that the material inside would be a flint, chert, or some other form of quartz on the inside.  I can't tell from just looking at the photo you sent.  What you might do is ask your friend to see how hard it is by trying to scratch it. (And not just outer "crust" either. ) Possibly there is a spot on the concretions where the specimen has a broken or chipped spot.  This would be a good place to test the hardness.  Generally, a knife blade is a 6 on the hardness scale. If you can't scratch the stone with a knife blade, that means the stone is harder than a 6.  This would be further indication that the stone inside was a variety of quartz.

I don't think this is dinosaur eggs.  I've seen lots of dino eggs and none I've seen look anything like this.  I don't think this is a fossil of any kind.  Ughhhhhh, other than fossilized mud, which I what I think this is, and is known as a concretion.

Hope this is of some help.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Comment

Hi,

Just want to say I recently found your site via ad in Rock and Gem Mag and I am impressed with your prices.  Believe me I've been looking around and you are very competitive.  I will be back soon to buy, right now I am clearing out old inventory.

If you ever get any gem silica, could you let me know?

Keep up the good work.  After moaning about prices at 100 other sites (wholesale even) it was nice to come across yours!

Sincerely, Alison.

Thanks Alison,

We appreciate the kind comments.  Thanks very much.  Let me know if we can be of service in any way.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Crushed Stones/Minerals

I read in a American Association of Woodturners magazine about your company and that you have a very good supply of crushed minerals and stones suitable for making inlays on turned bowls, vases, etc, but on your website I can find only large pieces of the minerals.  Do you supply any crushed or small stones? I'd really like to know.

Many thanks, Jimmy.

Hey Mr. Jimmy,

Thanks for your email and your interest in our products.

We get lots of calls and emails from woodturners and try to assist them.   No, we don't carry any crushed stones for doing the inlay work.   What everyone does is get the material and crush it up themselves.   If you will call me, I'll try to recommend some material that you can use.

Thanks again.  Best wishes to you and your inlay projects.

Ray.

Subject:   Lava Rock

Ray,

Are there other names for Lava Rock?   I ordered the samples cause it said Lava Rock. 

Great Spirit Bless You, Donna.

Donna,

Thanks for the inquiry.  The Lava rock is a "Tuff", or, hardened volcanic ash.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Hi - I have a question

My seven year old daughter and I want to get started rock/fossil/relic hunting but we have zero experience, just some books and a few tools.   Can you direct us to a club or groups that we might hook up with and get an education?  We really want to go out to a site with someone who knows what they are doing and can explain things to us as we go.  We are located in Atlanta but also spend a lot of time in Brunswick.

Thanks and best regards, Tom.

Hi Tom,

There are a couple of rock clubs in the Atlanta area.  Not sure about Brunswick.

There is the Georgia Mineral Society which I think meets at Emory each month. And there is the Cobb County Gem & Mineral Society that meets somewhere in Marietta. You can find the info for the Georgia Mineral Society in our "Links" page.  Just go to http://www.greatsouth.net/ then at the home page menu click on "Links". The Georgia Mineral Society is listed there with lots of information of interest for area folks interested in rockin'.  Anyone there should be able to give you information on the Cobb County Society.  There is also a club in Stockbridge. It's smaller buy nice friendly folks.  If you want info on this one let me know.

I personally go rock collecting about once a month.  If you'd like to go on a trip with me sometime let me know.

Thanks for the inquiry.  Best wishes to you and you daughter.

Ray

Subject:   Inlaying Stone in woodturnings

Dear Ray,

I'm another one of those people interested in doing stone inlay in wood turnings ala Stephen Hatcher. Just before Thanksgiving, Stephen demonstrated at our turning club (Olympic Peninsula Chapter of American Association of Woodturners), and the next day I attended a hands-on workshop with him.  I only completed one small bowl with simple grooves, but I'm hooked.  Now I need to get some stone, and so I too am coming to you and Great South. However, I am having a hard time determining how to buy what I need.  Seems like a crime to be buying specimen pieces and then crushing them into bits from the size of pea down to dust.  I don't know your process for preparing specimens, but I'm wondering if there are waste pieces which you could sell for this process?

If you don't have waste pieces available for sale, my next question is: "are small or large specimens a better buy when all I'm really worried about is the quantity of stone for a given cost?"

Thanks for your time!

Norm.

Hi Norm;

I see Stephen Harcher has been at it again ................ (Hehe)

This morning I have answered four other emails about stones for doing inlay work, and we welcome the business.  Personally I'm not an wood turner.  I've never done this.  I'm just the rock guy.

What I advise folks is to call me. (Toll-Free 888-933-4367)  Let me know what type project you want to tackle, and I can suggest stones for doing that.

Sorry, but we don't actually "process" any of our specimens here, therefore, we don't have any chips or small pieces.  Unfortunately you have to take the stones and break them up into the size needed for your project.

We will assist in any way we can.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Looking for Something Special

Hi Ray:

Love the web site, I am an amateur collector in the beginning stages of starting my hobby and I have a question.

I am looking for something(sorry, I do not know the scientific term for it) that is very unusual and rare, and I hope you can help me locate one.

I love glass, in all its shapes and forms(just like I love rocks/minerals!) I am looking for something I saw in a movie called"sweet home alabama" until then I did not know these things existed. It is what happens to sand when it is struck by lightning. Its forms an "upside down glass tree" from where the heat of the lightning strike melts the sand. I have searched your web site and been unable to locate it, do you have any ideas where I might find something like that?

Thank you! Karen.

Karen,

What you are looking for is called a "Fulgarite". It is where lightening has struck the earth and has fused the sand together into a glass tube.  We have those in our on-line catalog.  On the Catalog Navigation Bar, click on MINERALS, then go down to M607 Fulgarite.

Let me know if we can be of service to you.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Merry Christmas Ray

Hi Ray!  I am looking for a nice piece of petrified wood for a customer.   He wanted something stump shaped, about 7-9 inches high with a diameter of about the same.  Do you have any suggestions?

Bill.

Hey Bill,

I found two nice pieces of petrified wood that you may be interested in. One is 6-3/4" high X 6" wide X about 2" thick.  This one is rough looking pretrified wood on the back side with a nice polished face on the front. You can clearly see the wood grain in the polished face.  This display piece has nice wood-grain colors to it.  It weighs 4.8 pounds.  Your cost on this one is $32.00 less 40%.

The second specimen is larger and heavier, and, better looking.  This one is right at 8" tall X 7-1/4 wide at the base X about 3-1/2" thick.  The back side of this specimen looked like a water tumbled wood section, in that it is somewhat smooth on the back. It has two polished faces on the front. The bottom or lower section goes up about 5" and then goes back to the back of the section at about a 30 degree angle for another 4".  This is a great looking piece and will make a very nice display.  Your cost on this one is $50.00 less 40% wholesaler discount.

Let me know if your customer is interested in either of these.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Need Help

I am looking for a specific rock that i cant seem to locate.  It is called a "sand rose" and i need one that is orange.  My original rock was from the deserts of Algeria. Can you steer me in the right direction?

Thanks, Cheryl.

Hi Cheryl,

I think the "sand rose" you are trying to describe is the "Sand Selenite Crystals" that we have in our online catalog. They are shown in the Mineral section, item M1098.  These are the larger crystal clusters and are from the Sahara Desert, Morocco.  Please take a look and let me know if we can be of service.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Newsletter - Great South Gems & Minerals, Inc.

Hello!

I am very intersted in your amber with insects. Of course my son wants a mosquito. Any chance you will be getting any more in before xmas? What bugs are in the smaller ($18.50?) ones?  Really more interested in the first type that are out of stock.

Thank You, Becky.

Ms. Becky,

We don't expect to receive any of the amber pieces, that are listed as out of stock, before Christmas. We would love to find some at a reasonable price to pass on to our customers, but haven't been able to find them.

We have the small pieces and most of them have recognizable insects in them. Not sure if there is a mosquito.  We have the Columbian amber pieces that have lots of termites in them.  These are nice.  Possibly your son would want one of those.  Let me know if we can be of service.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Package Starter Set

In the magazine Creative Design there was an article by Stephen Hatcher where he used crushed minerals as inlaid design for turned wooden platters and bowls. Do you offer a starter kit of several minerals like the ones he used or do I need to buy them separately?

Thanks, Rick.

Rick,

No, we do not offer a starter kit, sorry.  Call me, toll-free, when you get a chance and I will help you select the minerals needed for your project.  What you get depends on the type project you want to do.

Our toll-free number is 1-888-933-4367.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Wholesale Catalog

Dear Ray,

Please send me one of your wholesale catalogs.

Thank you, Michelle.

Michelle,

Sorry.  We don't have a printed catalog.  Our catalog is online.

We do sell wholesale to dealers. If you are a mineral/fossil/rock dealer, please fax us a copy of your sales tax permit and your business license and we can set you up as a wholesale buyer. To receive the full discount, you must have a shop in which you sell the items you purchase, outside your home.

The discount is 40% off the retail prices we show in our catalog. Minimum $100.00 net initial order and $50.00 thereafter.  Let us know how we can be of service.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   A surprise for me!

I ordered some pecans to be sent to my brothers yesterday. My father was born in Coffee County there in Georgia and every year my grandfather sent us a bag of Georgia pecans for Christmas. I remember how wonderful they were, and how we had an old cake pan with an old fashioned clothes iron in it and a hammer and we worked away at those pecans for months. I had forgotten that memory until recently and decided to send pecans to my brothers in memory of those more simple days.

I noticed on my bank debit record the name Great South Gems and Minerals and looked it up on the net. Well - one of my old hobbies as a child there in Wyoming was fossil and rock hunting and I never outgrew it. I habitually look at the ground when I am walking - looking for some interesting rock in my path.

Anyhow, I loved the connection and wanted to tell you about it.  One day I will look at your specimens more closely.

Best Holiday wishes, Cherie.

Cherie,

Thank you for sharing this with us.  I appreciate it.

You're like me ... my Step-Dad drug me all over the southeast US as a kid and planted the interest in rock in my heart. I have love rock hunting and collecting every since.  Now I'm 61 and go rock huntin' every chance I get.

Thanks for your orders.

Best wishes, Ray.

Subject:   Question about fulgerite

These rocks that my kids find I believe we figured out what they are. They are pieces of coal that are hit by lightning. There is 2 very old train tressel bridges that are very close together made of steel and we believe this attracts the lightning. There are also many big chunks of sand and gravel that have crystalized from these lightning strikes. I will send some pictures in the near future or I could send some small samples too you.

Thanks, Bruce.

Bruce,

From what you said in this email, it sounds like what you have here is railroad slag. This is quite common around railroad tracks. Some trail companies have their own foundries where they pour the steel for the tracks they use. Slag is a by-product of their making the steel from iron ore. The iron ore has lots of sand, dirt, and tiny pieces of gravel mixed in when they pour it into the smelter furnace. The sand melts along with the metal ore and the result is the glass slag that rises to the top. The trail companies pour this melted sand off and it cools into a glass slag which they put on the railroad beds when laying their tracks.

From what you said I think this is what you are finding.

In the mountains here in the south, there are a few places where the confederate army would sit up a simple smelter plant to process iron ore and make cannons, bullets, and cannon balls and shot. Back in the hills of Tennessee these sites have been found and there is always lots of glassy slag that has been dumped from the manufacturing process.

But, I may be wrong. I will take a look at the material and see what it is.

Best wishes, Ray.