Texas has many various gems and rocks that are collected and prized by individuals from everywhere including foreign countries. Texas did not have the large volcanic upheaval that other parts of the United States did. Texas’s western area starting in El Paso east to the Fort Stockton area north and south from there is the end of the Rocky Mountain range and has much lava rock, ash beds of various time periods, volcanic vents and igneous rock areas. A lot of silver and some gold come from these areas. Garnet and other volcanic gas produced crystal comes from these areas also. Beautiful agate of various types and colors comes from these areas also. Gypsum and other gypsum type of glassy rocks come from this area as do fire agate some opal type of rocks to. East of the line from Fort Stockton gets you into the limestone area of Texas. The northern area of this region around the Menard area is the older limestone that has started to turn to chert rock which is harder and going toward flint. Below that is limestone and ash that is younger and except for the different mineral colors in it, if any, there is not much to look at.
Starting west of Mason granite starts coming to the surface. Around the Mason area is where Texas gets its Topaz. Beautiful topaz has been found in the voids in the granite and around loose on the ground forever. Natural blue and clear are the average color found there with the clear being the prevalent color. Texas topaz is a harder rock than most topaz found throughout the world. The Star of Texas cut of topaz is highly valued everywhere. I will be listing places for you to go on a pay to dig site as I get more info in place. And you can call the Mason Chamber of Commerce for that information to. Other quartz crystals can be found along with the topaz and gold and silver along with various quality of smoky quartz that can be cut into gems.
Into the Central Texas area of Llano is where in the Llano river can be found topaz, quartz crystals, agate, onyx, pyrite, feldspar crystals, mica, garnet, Llanonite (only found in Llano, TX), gold, fluorite, hematite, blue quartz, smoky quartz, silver, tourmaline, types of opals and many more. Matter of fact if you look in the migdat.org web site for Llano Co., Texas, USA you will see over 100 minerals listed in the fact part of the site that is in the Llano river and Llano County. There are a lot of iron deposits around the Llano uplift that produced great specimens of hematite and gold. The Hickory sand stone of the area produces gold also. The schists of the area produces tourmaline and has gold and silver and other minerals in the various types of schists of the area. Most of the specimens are small, but are in Llano County and several of the surrounding county’s to be found. I have heard of only two tails of diamonds being found in the Llano uplift. I know where I heard they were found and have found no other reference of any other diamonds. But I believe they were there and there is probably more around that area as there very well could be a diamond in the gas’s that came up in that area. All around the Llano uplift is contact zones where gas’s cooled and formed all types of crystals and some are called rare earth minerals. They are also found in the different type of granite.
There are areas that are very “hot” meaning that the area and most of the areas rocks are very high in radiation. The rocks of the area make great crystals and pretty rocks but are dangerous to stay around. Be aware of the rocks you are collecting.
South of the Llano uplift down around the Rio Grande below Del Rio is great agate country and also where there is a type of marble that one might be able to see free gold in. It is there and I have found one piece. If I could remember where I put it now that would be great. Further down the Rio Grande to Baffin Bay and the Lower Lagua Madre area you can find river wash rocks from when the river flowed more easterly. Some of them are quite pretty and came from no telling where. In the eastern central part of the state from Houston north the land is over burden from the north when there was a lot of water coming down and filled in all that area. But, there are areas of gravels that all types of rocks can be found including fine gold. Up from the Houston area around Huntsville you start getting into the petrified wood area of the state. All around the areas that have the coal mining going on can be found petrified woods of all types and sizes. Various types of hematite iron ore and some crystal gypsums can be found also. I have several multiple terminated crystals from around the lake area in the area. North Texas has the flint areas, some gypsums, some agates and hickory sandstones that has gold in it. Most of north east Texas has iron ores and some gold out of them and various rocks out of the mountains in Oklahoma that washed down the same time the center of Texas was filling up. Central east Texas has iron ore, gold, lead and silver in the galena’s of the sandstones of far east Texas. As I get farther into developing this site I will be putting pictures of these different types of rocks but I will be showing something in the pictures for a person to tell how big the specimen is and not do like the rock books do and show a beautiful specimen that you go out and hunt for and not find only to find out that the picture in the book showed a specimen that was as big as pencil lead and you were not going to find one. Torks me off!
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Starting west of Mason granite starts coming to the surface. Around the Mason area is where Texas gets its Topaz. Beautiful topaz has been found in the voids in the granite and around loose on the ground forever. Natural blue and clear are the average color found there with the clear being the prevalent color. Texas topaz is a harder rock than most topaz found throughout the world. The Star of Texas cut of topaz is highly valued everywhere. I will be listing places for you to go on a pay to dig site as I get more info in place. And you can call the Mason Chamber of Commerce for that information to. Other quartz crystals can be found along with the topaz and gold and silver along with various quality of smoky quartz that can be cut into gems.
Into the Central Texas area of Llano is where in the Llano river can be found topaz, quartz crystals, agate, onyx, pyrite, feldspar crystals, mica, garnet, Llanonite (only found in Llano, TX), gold, fluorite, hematite, blue quartz, smoky quartz, silver, tourmaline, types of opals and many more. Matter of fact if you look in the migdat.org web site for Llano Co., Texas, USA you will see over 100 minerals listed in the fact part of the site that is in the Llano river and Llano County. There are a lot of iron deposits around the Llano uplift that produced great specimens of hematite and gold. The Hickory sand stone of the area produces gold also. The schists of the area produces tourmaline and has gold and silver and other minerals in the various types of schists of the area. Most of the specimens are small, but are in Llano County and several of the surrounding county’s to be found. I have heard of only two tails of diamonds being found in the Llano uplift. I know where I heard they were found and have found no other reference of any other diamonds. But I believe they were there and there is probably more around that area as there very well could be a diamond in the gas’s that came up in that area. All around the Llano uplift is contact zones where gas’s cooled and formed all types of crystals and some are called rare earth minerals. They are also found in the different type of granite.
There are areas that are very “hot” meaning that the area and most of the areas rocks are very high in radiation. The rocks of the area make great crystals and pretty rocks but are dangerous to stay around. Be aware of the rocks you are collecting.
South of the Llano uplift down around the Rio Grande below Del Rio is great agate country and also where there is a type of marble that one might be able to see free gold in. It is there and I have found one piece. If I could remember where I put it now that would be great. Further down the Rio Grande to Baffin Bay and the Lower Lagua Madre area you can find river wash rocks from when the river flowed more easterly. Some of them are quite pretty and came from no telling where. In the eastern central part of the state from Houston north the land is over burden from the north when there was a lot of water coming down and filled in all that area. But, there are areas of gravels that all types of rocks can be found including fine gold. Up from the Houston area around Huntsville you start getting into the petrified wood area of the state. All around the areas that have the coal mining going on can be found petrified woods of all types and sizes. Various types of hematite iron ore and some crystal gypsums can be found also. I have several multiple terminated crystals from around the lake area in the area. North Texas has the flint areas, some gypsums, some agates and hickory sandstones that has gold in it. Most of north east Texas has iron ores and some gold out of them and various rocks out of the mountains in Oklahoma that washed down the same time the center of Texas was filling up. Central east Texas has iron ore, gold, lead and silver in the galena’s of the sandstones of far east Texas. As I get farther into developing this site I will be putting pictures of these different types of rocks but I will be showing something in the pictures for a person to tell how big the specimen is and not do like the rock books do and show a beautiful specimen that you go out and hunt for and not find only to find out that the picture in the book showed a specimen that was as big as pencil lead and you were not going to find one. Torks me off!
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TEXAS TOPAZ NOWHERE BUT MASON COUNTY
TEXAS OFFICIAL GEM STONE
THE TEXAS TOPAZ
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and flouorine. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces. Topaz in its pure state is colorless and transparent. Topaz can be in nature tinted with impurities to make other colors like yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, blue, pink along with several other colors. Most of the Texas Topaz is clear or blue. Blue Topaz is the actual State Gemstone of Texas, ( Topaz became the State Gemstone in 1960) and is rare in nature. Topaz can be heat treated to turn blue. Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the precambrian granite which is where the topaz is in Mason county Texas. In the Mason Texas area topaz is most if not always found in the Streeter, Grit and Katemcy areas which is in the central west to south western side of the county. Topaz was first recognized in Mason county in 1904. To fully know if a crystal is topaz or not one would need to drop the stone in a container of a liquid called Bromoform which stinks and is toxic to anyone or thing so please be careful if you wish to do that.
If you want to go out and look for your own topaz in Mason county you can give the Mason Chamber of Commerce a call at 325-347-5758 or go to www.masontxcoc.com and they can give you information on the several different ranches that have pay to dig topaz on their property. Texas Topaz is harder to locate now as there has been a lot of persons out looking for their own topaz in the past years, but, if you take your time and work the low spots and water run off areas of the properties with a screen and buckets of dirt you can still find topaz right out of the ground on these pay to dig sites.
Now if you are just in the mood to buy some of the finest examples of Texas Topaz jewelry from already found Mason Texas Topaz there is THE place in Mason to do just that. The name of the store is the MASON COUNTRY COLLECTIBLES & MUSEUM. INC. and this store has it all. I love going in this store and I can spend a number of hours looking over the several thousand square feet of down stairs and up stairs of store as well as the outside of the building at all of the collectibles, antiques, old tools, old books, old pictures, old nick-naks and the old everyday items that was used in the “good ol’ days”. You will not believe the items on the shelves in the store that you will be able to look through that will bring back old memories if you are or are not older and whether you are from the country or the city or just someone looking for some of the fore mentioned items. The other and larger draw to the store as noted above is the area of the store that has the Topaz treasures in it. You will be hard pressed to find a finer display of TEXAS STAR CUT TOPAZ STONES both displayed in silver or gold settings or in loose and faceted stones that you can buy and take them with you or have the store personal put the Topaz stone of your choice put in a setting of your choice. The owners, Warren & Susan Grote, allowed me to take some pictures of several different Topaz Star of Texas cut stones and jewelry while I was in there a couple of weeks ago and as usual when you are in that part of the store there is a line of people that you will wait on to get your turn to look and buy some the Topaz items the store has to offer. I always keep my wife away from that part of the store if at all possible. Of course she already has one or two or three or more topaz rings and necklaces but it would turn out she would not have THAT particular stone she would key in on in the display cases that I would have to get her. There are truly some fabulous Topaz stones and jewelry in the cases in the Mason Country Collectibles & Museum store for you to go through.
The whole information on location and contacting the Mason Country Collectibles & Museum store is: phone number 325-347-5249, 2 blocks North of the County Courthouse on HWY 29 West on the right hand side of the rest. Web site is: www.masoncountrycollectibles.com. You will not be disappointed.
Earl
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THE TEXAS TOPAZ
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and flouorine. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces. Topaz in its pure state is colorless and transparent. Topaz can be in nature tinted with impurities to make other colors like yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, blue, pink along with several other colors. Most of the Texas Topaz is clear or blue. Blue Topaz is the actual State Gemstone of Texas, ( Topaz became the State Gemstone in 1960) and is rare in nature. Topaz can be heat treated to turn blue. Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the precambrian granite which is where the topaz is in Mason county Texas. In the Mason Texas area topaz is most if not always found in the Streeter, Grit and Katemcy areas which is in the central west to south western side of the county. Topaz was first recognized in Mason county in 1904. To fully know if a crystal is topaz or not one would need to drop the stone in a container of a liquid called Bromoform which stinks and is toxic to anyone or thing so please be careful if you wish to do that.
If you want to go out and look for your own topaz in Mason county you can give the Mason Chamber of Commerce a call at 325-347-5758 or go to www.masontxcoc.com and they can give you information on the several different ranches that have pay to dig topaz on their property. Texas Topaz is harder to locate now as there has been a lot of persons out looking for their own topaz in the past years, but, if you take your time and work the low spots and water run off areas of the properties with a screen and buckets of dirt you can still find topaz right out of the ground on these pay to dig sites.
Now if you are just in the mood to buy some of the finest examples of Texas Topaz jewelry from already found Mason Texas Topaz there is THE place in Mason to do just that. The name of the store is the MASON COUNTRY COLLECTIBLES & MUSEUM. INC. and this store has it all. I love going in this store and I can spend a number of hours looking over the several thousand square feet of down stairs and up stairs of store as well as the outside of the building at all of the collectibles, antiques, old tools, old books, old pictures, old nick-naks and the old everyday items that was used in the “good ol’ days”. You will not believe the items on the shelves in the store that you will be able to look through that will bring back old memories if you are or are not older and whether you are from the country or the city or just someone looking for some of the fore mentioned items. The other and larger draw to the store as noted above is the area of the store that has the Topaz treasures in it. You will be hard pressed to find a finer display of TEXAS STAR CUT TOPAZ STONES both displayed in silver or gold settings or in loose and faceted stones that you can buy and take them with you or have the store personal put the Topaz stone of your choice put in a setting of your choice. The owners, Warren & Susan Grote, allowed me to take some pictures of several different Topaz Star of Texas cut stones and jewelry while I was in there a couple of weeks ago and as usual when you are in that part of the store there is a line of people that you will wait on to get your turn to look and buy some the Topaz items the store has to offer. I always keep my wife away from that part of the store if at all possible. Of course she already has one or two or three or more topaz rings and necklaces but it would turn out she would not have THAT particular stone she would key in on in the display cases that I would have to get her. There are truly some fabulous Topaz stones and jewelry in the cases in the Mason Country Collectibles & Museum store for you to go through.
The whole information on location and contacting the Mason Country Collectibles & Museum store is: phone number 325-347-5249, 2 blocks North of the County Courthouse on HWY 29 West on the right hand side of the rest. Web site is: www.masoncountrycollectibles.com. You will not be disappointed.
Earl
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THE ELUSIVE CONCHO PEARL - "The most wonderous of gems hidden beneath the murky waters of West Texas" - Statment of Mark Priest of Mark Priest's Legend Jewelers, San Angelo, Texas - legendjewelers.com
The Concho pearls shown above are some of the biggest to come from the rivers around San Angelo. Most are not nearly as big. Mark allowed me to photo theses pearls from his safe in his store.
I had to drag my wife out of the store, twice, because of the beautiful settings he has with these rare pearls for sale in his store. Thanks Mark. And yes, my wife does have a necklace with a Concho pearl in it.
Before I go any further in this writing let me say that it is now illegal for anyone to hunt for these pearls. The state of Texas did have a permitting program for hunting or collecting the pearls but no more. Please be aware of this.
When in the 1500's the Spanish came through the West Texas region around what is now San Angelo and the areas west of it they found the local natives had in their possession beautiful pearls. The Spanish asked the natives where the pearls came from and the natives showed them the areas of the river where they could pick the pearls up like hail stones after a heavy hail storm. The pearls were light brown, pale blue, and pink in color. The natives had the pearls laying in piles with the clam shells they cracked open to get the clam meat out that they ate. The Spanish made note of the pearls and soon came back and collected all that they could to send back to Spain because the pearls were of such high quality. It is said that the Spanish crown has Texas Concho pearls in it.
I also have to say that there are other rivers in Texas where pearls can be found when the lakes are drained for some reason. The pearls will be in the lowest areas in the mud or muck.
JUST DO NOT!! DO NOT! KILL THE CLAMS TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND A PEARL IN THEM!!!
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The Concho pearls shown above are some of the biggest to come from the rivers around San Angelo. Most are not nearly as big. Mark allowed me to photo theses pearls from his safe in his store.
I had to drag my wife out of the store, twice, because of the beautiful settings he has with these rare pearls for sale in his store. Thanks Mark. And yes, my wife does have a necklace with a Concho pearl in it.
Before I go any further in this writing let me say that it is now illegal for anyone to hunt for these pearls. The state of Texas did have a permitting program for hunting or collecting the pearls but no more. Please be aware of this.
When in the 1500's the Spanish came through the West Texas region around what is now San Angelo and the areas west of it they found the local natives had in their possession beautiful pearls. The Spanish asked the natives where the pearls came from and the natives showed them the areas of the river where they could pick the pearls up like hail stones after a heavy hail storm. The pearls were light brown, pale blue, and pink in color. The natives had the pearls laying in piles with the clam shells they cracked open to get the clam meat out that they ate. The Spanish made note of the pearls and soon came back and collected all that they could to send back to Spain because the pearls were of such high quality. It is said that the Spanish crown has Texas Concho pearls in it.
I also have to say that there are other rivers in Texas where pearls can be found when the lakes are drained for some reason. The pearls will be in the lowest areas in the mud or muck.
JUST DO NOT!! DO NOT! KILL THE CLAMS TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND A PEARL IN THEM!!!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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EARLS NOTES ON THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
Teri Smith runs rock hunts for agates and other beautiful rocks of the Big Bend area from her rock shop in the Antelope Lodge in Alpine, TX, 2310 HWY 90, Alpine, TX her home phone is 432-837-1026 or 432-837-2451. email - [email protected]. These are HER ROCK HUNTS. IF you are interested in joining the Rollin' Rock Club and participate on her hunt schedule. Please contact Teri. Please let her know that you saw this information on this web site.
Earl
EMAIL comments to [email protected]
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