My crystal and mineral finds from Diamond Hill mine in South Carolina

in #rocks7 years ago (edited)

A few weeks back, I took a trip to an area known for gem formations found in the ground. Some of these hot spots allow people to visit and with a donation can dig and keep what they find. This is the case for Diamond Hill mine, links at the bottom of the page to the site if you want more details.

I cleaned them off this week and now are ready for some photos. I took these with my phone as I could not set up my DSLR, I regret that as these photos are not showing how awesome they look in real life. I plan to follow this up with better photos in a future post.

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My white crystals, more of a pure quartz.


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The last two photos have something interesting, inside that hole are more crystals. I was told by other diggers at these sites they are sometimes worth splitting open to see if they go throughout the rock. If there was a better vein in that rock I think I would have already done it.

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Yellow crystals I am told are Iron or Manganese Oxides.

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I found these black crystals as well. Not sure what caused them.

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Last 4 are large photos, so you can see details in each rock.

I spent about 20 hours collecting these, I have more which I will share later.

Website to places where I found these gems:

https://diamondhillmine.com/

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Wow absolutely gorgeous pieces, there are smokey quartz, chalcedony, clear quartz, i think some citrines also.
The complete black one looks like Tourmaline, very good for clearing negative energies.
The closed rock piece is the geode, when you cut them open you will see the inside full of crystal points. They are very unique and sold expensive in markets. Very good for manifestations. You can write your wish and keep it inside the geode.
Wonderful crystals pics, absolutely delightful to see them raw in their natural state

@nainaztengra

thanks for helping me ID them! Greatly appreciate your comments. I mostly found smokey quartz without points. I think ill tumble the ones without points. The chalcedony are those small crystals I believe, its hard to notice them in the wild as the clay completely covers them. I mostly found them rubbing my fingers through the dirt to find their jagged surface. They sure are pretty, they glimmer alot.

Interesting on the energy points, I believe crystals can store alot of power. You can find them in most modern electronics to keep time. Holding some of them sure seem to have a feeling to them I cannot explain.

I hope I found a Geode, I need to find a wet saw to cut it open. May need to save it for when I can use someones saw to cut it open. I dont want to smash and shatter it with my sledge.

Thanks for the tip on the note, ill try that sometime :-) and glad you like them, they are extra special to me since I found them out in nature. Ill keep an eye on your posts as well.

i have white quartz is a great minerals

I found some amazing white quartz in both Graves Mountain and South Carolina. I plan to tumble the ones without points.

White quartz I hear is the most pure and got the hottest in the earth making it pure white.. cool stuff.

Yes! Finally! :D
Pls upload the 'even better photos' from your camera.

This one looks lit.
The next one too.

The last three photos look nice too.


The second from bottom left. Love these amazing white/'glassy' ones as well.

Yeah man lots of good finds, they were just really dirty and required some good soaking before I could post them. I hear if I soak them in paint thinner it will get more dirt out but I really dont want to bleach out the cool colors I found.

The one Im holding reminds of me bowsers shell from super mario.. hah

Those clear white glassy ones have the least impurities in them. I personally like all of the impurities the elements and environment adds into them. But the clear white ones sure are pretty.

thanks for being nice about my smartphone photos :-P

Indeed. Okay, np.


I hear if I soak them in paint thinner it will get more dirt out but I really dont want to bleach out the cool colors I found.

Well, I have never heard about that; however, I know what you mean. I understand your concerns.

Haha, yes, so true. Did not think of that but now that you mention it. Lol

Indeed.

Haha, it was not meant in a mean way. They look lit but your DSLR camera probably is a little better, I guess. :P

they are amazing. natures wonder ! you inspired me to write a post on the crystals I picked in Himalaya & south India. thanks

Thank you, sure are.. This was my first planned trip to go crystal and rock collecting and I was not let down. Ill keep an eye out for your post, id love to see them.

Great photos!!! Would love to visit there someday!

Thanks much! I think if you are in the area its worth a day or two of digging around as I was finding things about every hour or so.

Cool! Yeah your photos are awesome and look really good on the screen (which is not always easy). Would love to see what the area looks like that you sampled in. If you have any photos of the digging operations, would be keen to see a post about that someday! Seems like there is a lot going on with the rocks there...

@snowyknight

thank you, ill post some others soon. I did steem posts on both places, see below for links. Inside I have links to their websites to get more info about their digs.

https://steemit.com/photography/@solominer/graves-mountain-rock-quarry-exploration

https://steemit.com/photography/@solominer/diamond-hill-mine-in-south-carolina

Thank you! I'll check these other posts out. Thanks for sharing. Have a good day!

those crystals are fascinating ❤️ , they made me thing why i didn't apply for my master degree in metallurgy 😩

they sure are, hah I have no formal background in geology so no worries. Just researching and exploring new places.