Tourmaline Is A Rare Backyard Gemstone
Tourmaline is a gemstone that is usually found in black color but can be found in almost any color, too.
These gemstones can also be multi-colored, and they may differ in color depending on the angle you look at them in the light. These semiprecious stones are popular in jewelry like bracelets and necklaces.
Where Can You Find Tourmaline in Your Backyard?
Tourmalines are most commonly found in California and Maine. Tourmalines easily mimic the appearance of many other types of gemstones, so a tourmaline has to be identified by a gemologist to be verified as a tourmaline.
The easiest way to identify a genuine tourmaline if you think youve found one in your backyard is by holding it up under artificial light. If the stone doesnt change colors as you move it, that may be an indication that the stone is genuine tourmaline. However, youll still need to confirm this with a professional to be sure.
How to Tell the Quality of Tourmaline
The rarest tourmaline you can find is neon blue or green with copper tones, so the brighter the color of tourmaline, the higher the quality. The larger stones are more expensive, as is true with most gemstones.
The price of tourmaline can vary greatly, with some types being inexpensive and others costing thousands of dollars. High-quality tourmaline is usually only found in Brazil, however.
Find A Stone Based On Intention
According to a Buddhist proverb, We are what we think, which is why having an intention is the real game-changer in crystal healing. Take your energetic vibrations to the next level when you search for stones based on what you need in your life from moment to moment. Crystal jewelry is an effortless way to have constant access to the balancing and grounding properties of minerals.
If youre seeking wealth and success in your life, look for bracelets or necklaces made with Citrine and other yellow gemstones, the color of optimism and fresh, light-filled energy. Green stones like Jade and Aventurine make excellent good luck charms as necklaces or single pieces included in your gem collection.
For a life filled with passion and creativity, Carnelian makes a wonderful spiritual companion on any creative journey. A favorite stone of Cleopatra, Lapis Lazuli is a protective crystal that guards the heart from bad energy. Blue Lace Agate is also beneficial to creative types because it enhances your ability to openly express the thoughts of your mind and heart.
For unconditional love of all kinds, pink gemstones like Rose Quartz and Rhodochrosite give you the power to see your relationships with compassion and understanding.
Research State Mining And Mineral Departments
Most states have a department that oversees mining operations within its boundaries that you can review online. These sites typically identify the minerals, gems and precious metals being mined within the state along with maps of current and abandoned mining locations. Check for inactive mining claim locations to avoid encroaching on someones claim. Since many crystals are removed from the earth through mining operations, start by visiting old mining claims and rummaging through the tailing piles alongside mine adits but not inside tunnels, as these areas can be unsafe. Wear heavy gloves and keep on the lookout for deadly snakes, depending on the area and the season.
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Where Can We Search
After getting all the necessary tools for digging the soil, we need to look for the place where there are the highest possibilities of containing gemstones. We can find the gemstones near a rocky area. As you know, rocky areas often contain so much under their surface, just like diamonds. So one should start digging from the rocky area if there is any in your yard.
If you dont have a rocky surface anywhere in your yard, go for in search of a river, lake, or creek if there is any nearby your lawn. If you dont have them both, then it is tough for you to find gemstones in the backyard. So it largely depends upon your geographical area, where you live, which decides whether you can find the gemstones or not.
Cleaning And Storing Your Crystals
With your fiber cloth, make sure to wipe off your crystals before placing them in your container. A standard bucket would work to collect the crystals while you search. Make sure your container is sturdy, and it doesnt matter if it is a plastic container or a metal bucket.
To thoroughly inspect what type of crystal you have, wipe it down with a cloth and bowl of water before referencing a book or the Internet to identify it. There are many books on the subject as well as research on the Internet to categorize your crystals. Even take an extra step and keep a notepad of the different crystals youve collected from your backyard. Once your crystal is free of dirt, you can show them off in a display case alongside your other finds. Crystals can be displayed throughout your home, and you will have the story of finding them in your backyard. While looking for crystals, you may also come across worms!
Another thing you may come across is actually finding diamonds! So go on and get to digging, you never know what you could find!
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Quartz Is A Common Backyard Gem
Quartz crystals are one of the most common gemstones that can be found in topsoil, even though half the time, people dont realize that theyre looking at quartz when they first pick it up.
Because quartz is commonly mixed with gravel and other loose rock, finding it is often no harder than sifting through the surface rocks in your backyard.
The most common form of quartz that you can find is clear quartz. Quartz may be either almost completely translucent or can contain white streaks or smudges within the crystal itself, giving it a milky appearance.
A quartz crystal usually takes the shape of a hexagonal prism, but it depends on the size of the crystal. Some appear as no more than a chunk of shiny gravel.
Amethyst is another form of quartz that is rarer and more valuable than clear quartz. This purple crystal owes its bright violet coloration to a combination of transitional metal inclusions and irradiation.
Amethyst is much less likely to be found in your backyard than clear quartz, although it can be commonly found inside rock geodes.
Where Can You Find Quartz Crystals?
If you cant find any gemstones in your backyard, check out the front, especially the driveway. You may have to get down on your hands and knees and look carefully, as clear quartz can mix in easily with normal rocks, especially when it is scuffed and dusty.
Before being tumbled, a piece of clear quartz may appear to be nothing more than a lumpy white stone.
How to Tell the Quality of a Quartz Crystal
What To Do When You Find A Gem
Clean the gem well of all dirt so you can identify what type of gem you found. When the gem is clean, take a look at all the types of gems we have listed and compare them to yours, so you should easily identify which one it is. Once you are sure what type of gem you have, decide for yourself how you will handle it. You can save it as a keepsake, you can take it to a jeweler to make you special jewelry, there are many ways to use it.
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Turquoise Is A Popular Jewelry Gemstone Found In Backyards
Turquoise is recognized by its vibrant blue-green color with webs of gleaming copper running through.
Natural turquoise will often be seen as a vein in the rock, almost like a river climbing through it. A natural turquoise will have webbing on it.
The best way to identify the turquoise is by running your nail over the rock until it hits the webbing. After that, you will need to consider the hardness of the material.
Where Can You Find Turquoise in Your Backyard?
Turquoise is the state gemstone of New Mexico, but it can be found within many American states. Here are some of the other states turquoise can also be found in:
Turquoise can also be found in many other countries around the world, including Mexico, Egypt, Iran, and China.
How to Tell the Quality of Turquoise
Lander Blue turquoise is considered the highest-quality and rarest form of turquoise. Another turquoise that is considered high quality is any turquoise with an even and intense blue coloring.
Since it has been extensively mined, turquoise has only increased in rarity and is quickly becoming more valuable.
TIP: Turquoise is an extremely valuable gemstone and it is one of the oldest gemstones known to humanity. Find out more about turquoise value in the article below:3 Key Factors of Turquoise Value: Is It Worth Any Money?
What Are The Different Types Of Crystals
Crystals have a very regular and symmetrical structure. This makes them very strong and durable. There are many different types of crystals, each with its unique properties.
The most common type of crystal is quartz. Quartz is tough and can be found in many different colors. It is often used in jewelry and as a decorative stone.
Other types of crystals include:
Diamonds
Sapphires
Emeralds
Each type of crystal has different properties that make it unique. For example, diamonds are the hardest known material, while emeralds are known for their beautiful green color.
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Herkimer Diamond Mines In New York
Tucked away in St. Johnsville, the Herkimer Diamond Mines are a great place to hunt for crystals. It is specifically known for its abundance of Herkimer diamonds, which despite the name, are not actually diamonds but instead a type of quartz.
However, the crystal-clear clarity of the stones makes them reminiscent of diamonds, and they are still a very popular find among crystal enthusiasts.
The mines are above surface mines, meaning you can easily search along the surface of the ground if you like, or you can dig deeper if desired. Often, it is handy to have a hammer or chisel because many of the crystals are found by breaking open larger rocks.
You can keep everything you find, and the Herkimer Diamond Mines also has a Build and Wear, Build to Share activity center where you can transform your crystal finds into jewelry.
TIP: For a complete rockhounding guide in New York, check out this article.
What Other Cool Artifacts Can I Find In My Backyard Other Than Gemstones
Gemstones arent the only treasure to find if youre a rockhound looking around in your backyard. There are many other things you can potentially find, including the following:
Several kinds of fossils can be uncovered in your backyard, from shark teeth to trilobites to stone imprints of animal tracks or plant leaves. While they arent a gemstone, a home-caught fossil can be a great addition to any rockhounds collection.
- Arrowheads and other native artifacts
Another treasure you might find depending on your geographical location is flint or obsidian arrowheads, pottery shards, and other native artifacts.
Even if you dont manage to find any gemstones while youre searching your backyard, you can still find some really neat things while youre digging.
BTW: Do you want to know more about rock and mineral identification? The books listed below are the best ones you can find on the internet :
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Things You Should Know
- Find a spot where geodes are naturally found or call your states welcome center for rock and mineral sites. You could even go on a trip with a gem and mineral club.
- Identify geodes by finding round or egg-shaped rocks with a bumpy surface texture. Ensure the geode is lighter than other similar-sized rocks.
- Open the geode on-site by wrapping it in a sock and cracking it with a hammer and chisel. You could also use a saw at home, or bring it to a professional.
Determine Where You Should Start Looking
Once you have all your equipment ready, youll need to pinpoint exactly where to start searching. Keep in mind that youre very likely to find crystals near concrete, like your driveway. This can be a great starting place for some beginners luck!
The driveway is always a good idea because of the rock formations beneath the rock and concrete mixture. If you have any regions of your yard with limestone deposits, this is also a great starting place to forage for some quartz. Wherever you can find rocks, its possible youll find quartz.
Another great starting place is near natural water sources. If your property is along a river, creek, or lake, you may be able to find gemstones in the soil near the water. While all of these locations differ immensely, your luck in finding crystals will solely depend on the area you live.
Apart from your location, having good luck plays a massive role in finding quartz. Some days you may come up empty-handed, and others, you may find several crystals.
Popular Regions to Find Quartz
The United States is generally rich in quartz. These crystals can come in several colors, including:
Therefore, if you find a crystal that isnt wholly colorless, dont write it off as something other than quartz. And while you can find these crystals everywhere in the US, theyre most known to be found in Arkansas and North Carolina.
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What If You Succeed In Finding Gemstones In Your Backyard
- The very first thing you need to do is, clean the gems. Remove all the dust, soil, or mud from the gems properly as it may be difficult for us to identify the variety of gem we have found if it is not cleaned correctly
- After cleaning the gems properly, we need to identify them. We have already discussed different types of gems with their properties and appearance. So it would be easy to identify them once we gain knowledge of different types of gemstones.
So thats all about the types, of gems, techniques to find them, and the qualities of different gemstones, etc. have also been discussed with you. If you are lucky enough, you will surely find the gems in your backyard by using the right methods and tools we have suggested. One must have a curiosity to do this task.
How Is A Diamond Formed
Carbon, a naturally occurring chemical element, is used in the formation of diamonds. How much time is required to create a diamond? To the best of the scientific community’s knowledge, diamonds have been buried underground for around 3.3 billion years, making them nearly as old as the Earth itself.
Diamonds were formed hundreds of kilometres below the Earth’s surface when carbon was subjected to extremely high temperatures and pressure.
Carbon was subjected to pressures almost 50,000 times higher than those of Earth’s atmosphere, and as a result, carbon atoms linked together securely to form diamond crystals. Due to the extreme conditions under which they are created, diamonds rank among the most complicated minerals on Earth.
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What Tools Do You Need To Find Crystals In The Yard
A shovel is the first tool you should get. Your backyard soil type and the area to be covered will dictate the type of shovel to use. A simple hand shovel or trowel with a rounded or sharp cutting edge would be sufficient to break up the topsoil.
Whether youre dealing with soft or hard topsoil, a round digger shovel is an ideal tool for the job. The rounded tip penetrates the dirt with ease.
Other useful tools include:
- A sifter, to remove large materials from the soil.
- A bucket made from either metal or plastic.
What Is The Difference Between A Crystal And A Geode
is that crystal is a solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions while geode is a nodule of stone having a cavity lined with mineral or crystal matter on the inside wall..
Besides soil, crystals could be mixed in with gravel or within a rocky area. When it comes to finding specific types of crystals, it depends on your region. Crystals can pretty much be found anywhere on your lawn.
Popular Questions:
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How To Find Quartz Crystals
Im often asked by readers young and old where they can find quartz crystals in nature. The answer is that you probably already have some right at home! Its necessary to keep your eyes open as there are many types of quartz, and it doesnt always look like what youre looking for, since quartz crystals can take on many different colors and appearances.
The good news is that quartz crystals can be found just about anywhere. But what were going to do in this article is provide some tips on what you can look for so you can find lots of beautiful, gemstone quality quartz crystals.
Understanding Crystals And How They Are Created
I used to think of colored minerals each time I heard the phrase crystals. However, with time, I learned that minerals and rocks are not the only kinds of crystals.
Crystals include snow, the graphite in pencils, and table salt, to name but a few. Agate, calcite, and peridot are more complex crystals. The molecular compositions of minerals vary. Different molecular compositions combine to produce structures of varying forms.
Take, for illustration, NaCl more popularly identified as table salt. The crystals constitute cubes of Cl and Na ions. Six sodium ions surround each chlorine ion. Six chlorine ions surround each sodium ion. Its repetitious, but thats what creates it into a crystal. As a result, table salt forms cubic crystals naturally.
On the contrary, snow is a kind of ice crystal. It is composed of H2O molecules, which crystallize as flat hexagonal planar crystals. Another example is SiO2 molecules, which form hexagonal prisms which have hexagonal pyramids on each end, forming quartz crystals.
In a simple definition, a crystal is any dense substance in which the surface regularity mirrors its internal symmetry, and all component atoms are organized in a specific pattern.
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