Quartz, the mineral of a Thousand Uses - Everything about Quartz, the gold host and gemstone
Quartz is the most common mineral on earth, but it is also the most interesting. From beautiful gems to gold ores to high tech essentials, to low tech glass making quartz is the mineral of 1000 uses. Today we are exploring everything about the world of quartz. Quartz is amazing stuff and we use it in so many ways. It’s a hard material that can withstand pressure, heat, and chemicals but it also makes so many great gems.
For those who want to learn more about Prospecting and finding gold check out my book, Fists full of Gold. It’s an encyclopedia of everything on the topic of prospecting. It’s available on Amazon. You can find it at (affiliate):
www.amazon.com/gp/product/098...
For even more information on prospecting, minerals, gems and other related information you can also check out my website at:
nevada-outback-gems.com/prospe...
this just sparked my interest yet again in minerals and rocks in general.... i remember at the age of around 10 i started a rock collection most were not anything but i would like to call plain old rocks ... but when revisiting that collection years later i found that i had a raw diamond rock amazing find since iam in michigan ... great stuff and you earned a sub 👍
Thanks much, glad you liked the video.
Thanks again Chris, I never knew that common old quartz came in such a variety of colors and shapes. Amazing stuff!
Glad you enjoyed it
“Crush it and pan it” this seems to be the common catch cry for every piece of barren quartz posted on social media. Imagine if you crushed and panned every piece of quartz you found. You would be crushing and panning forever, the likely hood of finding gold this way would be pretty slim.
agreed. 99.99% of all the quartz you see on the ground has essentially no gold.
If it ain't ugly as a mofo, empty
This comment is quartz (crushing it)
Yeah but lets not pretend as if gold is not found beside inside or intwine in quartz.
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Glad it was helpful!
Hello Ralph, I love your videos, thank you for all the effort. I'm a chemist (inorganic). I studied some of the minerals you show but never saw even pictures of them....just molecular structures, on paper. I would recommend your videos to anyone who starting a career in chemistry or mineralogy. Angelo
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the videos.
Great informative presentation!💯
Glad it was helpful!
I've collected minerals for 40 years with a primary focus upon North Carolina. Here in NC, we are blessed with a multitude of quartz varieties. I have collected colorless "rock crystal" quartz from tiny crystals to some weighing 30 or more pounds but have seen some weighing in excess of 750 pounds from NC. The amethyst or purple variety is also fairly widespread in the state with the Reel Mine near Iron Station in Lincoln Co., NC being the most well known locality. It occurs in at least 20 counties or more. Smoky quartz often irradiated to almost black in color by radioactive trace elements occurs in many of the western counties associated with quartz veins that form in largely granitic areas. Beautiful large gem-grade crystals from Hiddenite, Alexander Co., NC are well known and they sometimes occur in pockets with emerald, the state gemstone. Citrine, is less common but I have seen some great natural citrine from the cores of pegmatites and also in good crystals. Alexander and Catawba counties produced some good citrine. Rose, the pink variety is less common but again it forms in some of the pegmatite core material especially in the Spruce Pines mining district, Hiddenite area in Alexander County, Wake County and a dark pink rose quartz was once found on Fox Mt. in Iredell County, NC. The quartz that I love the most though are the varieties with other mineral inclusions such as rutile, actinolite, chlorite and even mud. These can make beautiful specimens and gems. NC has produced what is probably the best rutilated quartz with the rich red variety of rutile needles included within the clear to smoky quartz in the US. Magnificent examples are found in Alexander, Catawba, Randolph and Cleveland Counties. There are so many quartz localities in just NC alone that it would be near impossible to list them all here. If you can't tell, quartz is one of my favorite minerals also!
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Live in Pennsylvania, took a trip to spruce pine area last april and did some mining when we weren't hiking. Such a beautiful area. Cant wait to come back, unfortunately i was unable to find much due to time restraints and nobody I asked was willing to give me much information on localities even if i paid. Quartz has always been my favorite form of crystal/mineral to find
Always learning from your videos. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure!
I am so grateful to find your channel I got curious about gold just a few days ago because I was looking at packrafting and bushwalking and it seems to be a process that can involve both. Gives you an excuse to "be out there". Your channel really gives the understanding from first principles and cuts the fluff out. Your enthusiasm is infectious!
Thank you for the kind words. Gold prospecting can be a really fun activity. If you don't mind my asking, what state are you in?
Great video keep them coming plus it keeps you from shoveling all that snow !!!!
You got that right! I worked hard to break up the ice on my back patio recently, it was clear for 2 days, and then covered again in snow.
@@ChrisRalph more coming !!!!!
Great lesson like all of your vids. Keep it up and thank you.
Thanks, will do! Glad you like them!
Thank you for your knowledge
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it.
Here in Oregon we get a lot of agates, jasper, and pet wood. If youre really lucky, you'll find sagenite. It's like the agate version of rutilated quartz. Super neat stuff ^^
There are a number of attractive agates and jaspers.
🙏🏽 Thank you.
You are so welcome
Thanks for the info
Glad you liked it.
I moved to AZ a few years ago and am excited to join a local club and do some prospecting especially after all the heavy rains and now armed with the knowledge I did not have a clue 10 years ago even having read a stack of books. You're vids in the am Dan H around midday and Jeff W at night when a little crazy is in order . I'm south of Quartzsite and the stuff is everywhere!
Best of luck to you in your efforts - a friend found a 4 ounce nugget near Quartzsite a few years back...
Great Video man
Glad you enjoyed it.
Hey Chris, Thanks for sharing your emense knowledge on geology and your valuable experience in this field. I have been retired for a few years now from Managing a highly advanced water treatment plant that utilized Micro and Nano filtration methods, in this form of filtration there is a concentrate stream which is the waste product and in this stream it is highly concentrated with mineral and biologic elements which we needed to very carefully balanced where we needed to delay or eliminate the chance of mineral precipitation mainly calcium and magesium salts so when we didn't get it right we would build crystals! In my retirement I have taken up the hobby of hard rock prospecting,I know I'm nuts but I love it! I am currently reading your book and studing the sections on mineral precipitation and WOW how useful and informative it is!! Chris keep the information coming!! Thanks again, Bob Wall
Hi Bob - my dad built and ran a reverse osmosis water plant. Hard rock is fun and interesting - I do it sometimes myself.
Quartz outcroppings, or float in a wash, is the "Numero Uno" mineral I look for while prospecting. If it's mixed iron sulfides or oxides, even better ! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this subject. BTW, quartz mixed with aluminium and borax (Pyrex) are good for making telescope mirrors. 🔭👍
Borosilicate glass is low expansion with temperature, so makes a good glass for telescope mirrors. My brother just put a little 4 inch telescope together for his grandson.
Awesome !
just found a bunch of cool rocks, some of them was regular quartz and yellow quartz. got me intrested in all the different kinds so finding your video was a godsend 👌🏻💕
That Sounds great! Best of luck.
way to make minerology interesting and fun! good video!
Glad you liked it!
Thank you
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done😎
Thanks.
Very good.
Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful
This is the best video EVER
Thanks. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much.
I learned so much!
Good stuff here. Lots of crystals here in butte mt. Unfortunately I can only locate low quality stuff. The people that find the high quality crystals are tight lipped. And it's amazing how we are finding more and more uses for this product. Ty sir
Hope you find some good ones when the weather improves this spring.
I keep trying Thanks Chris
I have a piece of rose quartz I bagged about 30 years ago in Amador county that has amazing clarity. I have some nice amethyst pieces and other rocks I've collected over the years. I need to find myself a meteorite.
A lot of meteorites have been picked up on some of the dry lakes in Nevada.
❤Thankyouverymuch
You are welcome.
Hi Chris. I was wondering, I see for example clear quartz sold as Himalayan clear quartz. Is there any way to confirm by any characteristics that it is in fact from such an area? Thanks in advance. Wayne.
Not that I know of. These trade names are unclear as to what exactly they mean. Ask the dealer what it is.
Hi. I think I just found a big chunk of quartz. Not sure what type of quartz. It was in our backyard here in Loganville GA 😅. I was digging up the mulch that turned into dirt to fill in the yard and this quartz was in the dirt. Cool. I washed it twice,the first time with baking soda and warm water and then with Crud Cutter and warm water. GA dirt is red so it may have stained the quartz? It's shiny learly white,hints of Grey and rose gold tone. Thank you for the video
Sounds great!
Hi from Illinois and I love my crystals
Greetings from Nevada. Crystals are fun.
Absolutely Outstanding Information Sir! Purchased your book from Amazon immediately upon your revealing you were an author! I've been an amateur in many fields, geology, gemology, I also create custom jewelry, & would love to break out some of my old Fire Agate if you still would like to sport a ring, Love of stones & geology is something that we live for! We are crystals! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Subscribed!, Commented!, Shared!! LIKED!❤👈😎👍
I have my own self collected fire agate. Just have never done a video on that.
Love your videos I have learned so much. I contest what you say. Past 70 years of erosion has exposed so much. Big finds are around every corner. If you are in Phoenix, I’ll prove it too you!
Depends on where you are. Some places 70 years makes a huge difference, while other places it's pretty much zero difference.
@@ChrisRalph so your saying we’re both right. you though education and me through experience. Bring a truck and you can leave when we break the suspension!
I do have the below crystals 1. Ametyst pendent 2. Clear Quartz mala 3. Yellow Tourmaline 4. Blood stone pendent 5. Lapis Lazuli 6. Labrodorite 7. Black tourmaline 8. Golden Obsidian Which of the above crystals should not be worn together
Many crystal advisors seem to say do whatever works best for you.
Chris, I had a handful of white Quartz crystals about the size of my fingers with points on one end and I cleaned them with HCL and rinsed well with water. They were very bright and clean but when I let them dry in the Summer sun, they turned lemon yellow in a few hours. Does that mean they contain Sulfur ?
Not seeing or really knowing much about it, I have no idea. I doubt it was sulfur - there are hundreds of chemicals and minerals that are yellow.
Clear Quartz is said to amplify energy and when paired with Amethyst amplifies it , if someone is going to negative emotions and if he/she wears Clear Quartz will it amplify his negativity or will lt remove that negativity?
I'm going to do a video on crystal healing in the coming months, but it wont be about how to use crystals to change your life.
Could you do a video on blue quartz since it wasn't mentioned here? I'd like to hear your take on what forms it. I suppose the general theory is unknown proportions of iron, titanium and magnesium. I've found specimens on my property with mixes of rose quartz colors in them and one that is distinctly have blue and half rose much like ametrine. I do seem to fine less translucent blue quartz and when I do, it seems to usually be banded.
The problem is that there are lots of different things that are called "blue quartz". Most are kind of a blue/gray agate or chalcedony. I had a picture to use in that video but it was getting too long, so I left it out.
@Chris Ralph, Professional Prospector Ah ok that's pretty interesting. Most of what I find isn't very grey unless it's near the creek surrounded by limestone. There is a lot of blue "dust" I call it that washed into the creek bank. Most of the blue I find is a royal blue that can be pretty bright. Ive also found michae inclusions in it. We have a ton of the blue stuff in the Blue Ridge Mountains. So, is there a true blue quartz?
Chris, ive inherited 180 acres of old gold mining claims in central Arizona which is covered with outcroppings of white quartz, where do i begin in seeing whats there? Do i start busting open rocks or panning or just cook a ribeye and smoke cigars up there?
Patented or unpatented claims? Do you know for sure they were worked for gold?
@@ChrisRalph patented, yes worked for gold and in the 60s drilled core samples of the area were done but the results are unknown to me
I'd start by taking samples of the vein out crops and from the old dumps.
I'll do that, thanks and I'm watching your videos to learn more
I have so much mica on our land and in my house and in the little creek. Do you think I could find gold here. I have been looking. Only mica.
Can a person really find gold pretty much anywhere? That's the topic of my next video, coming up this Saturday.
As a learned man of quartz, what are your thoughts on it's "healing power"?
See my recent video - kzhead.info/sun/rdird7yQfoammq8/bejne.html
is it possible that native elements; gold, copper, silver, remain imprisoned inside a quartz crystal during the formation process of it?
Yes, other minerals can become encased by quartz when the quartz grows around it.
Is Nickel and copper scrap need quartz for smelting?if use then what % is can be quartz uses
Not for scrap. Just use a little sodium carbonate as a flux to collect any oxide coatings on the scrap.
@@ChrisRalph what chemical element is needed when smelting scrap nickel or copper?it will keep the high purity and the ingot will have no air inside and will be solid and strong.
I think we have a language communication problem. use a little sodium carbonate as a flux to collect any oxide coatings on the scrap.
Kentucky state agates are actually the kings (my opinion) love this video
Also forgot about iris agates (and I love fire agates too)
Everyone has their own favorites.
At 3:30 ,, can that black dust be gold in any other form?? If not, how are they related?
Is black dust black sand?
@@ChrisRalph can it be gold chloride, or gold sulfide?
I have a question, I have found quartz with green inclusion with some studies it's shows some traces of chromium. Is it possible and is the rock valuable?
Having not seen any of it, I have no idea, and I don't do a mineral evaluation service, so I cannot help.
I have some of that
I'm sure you do - quartz can be pretty stuff.
Do you have a ebook
no, I do not.
Will quartz watch work
Quartz watched use a vibration in the quartz crystal to keep accurate time.
Can quartz mineral be recycled? If so, how?
Recycled in what sense? I do not understand what you are getting at.
Why common quartz crystals are observed in manganese bearing areas. What is piezo quartz
All quartz is piezo.
People say agate can't be sync from labs. Is that true and is there a reason?
There may be some synthetic agate - its certainly possible, but there is little to no point as agate is mostly very inexpensive and it would cost more to make than it would be worth.
It can also gennerate elecktricity when you strike it together
You get a spark when they strike together, but not electricity unless to slam them together sufficient to deform them.
I live in Central Oregon and there are Lava Flows and Volcanos everywhere. Shouldn't there be Crystals everywhere?
absolutely not! Crytals associated with lava flows are rare. maybe one in a million.
Extra 👍
Glad it was helpful.
I have quartz
Quartz is the most common mineral on the surface of the earth.
5:57 " prospectors would call it a blow of quartz", " bc it's coming out of the ground like it was boiling up"? I'm sorry did I hear that wrong? Why would they call it blow for that?
You did not hear it wrong. That is what prospectors have called it for well over 100 years. To be honest, I am not sure how they came to give it that name.
Old prospector terminology had little to do with actual geology.
Not true…..this comment will not make it through….However, I have the proof.
Friend, because you have not put any context to your comment, I have no clue as to what you are saying is "not true". I'd be happy to talk about it, but I cant read your mind to know what you think is not true.
How available is the Market for Quartz???
Thank You Chris great video, Living in the Smoky Mountains, we have a nice yr. round spring fed creek. We have tons of black sand & Feldspar & quarts. What's the chance of any gold being in there. I found an out cropping of white quarts on the mountain with black vans, looked like someone blasted & made a mine hole, It smelled of bear, so I didn't try to climb in. I grabbed a few blasted chunks around the entrance, wondering if the black could be silver & how could I know & remove it. I've found gems in the water too. Paradise in the Mountains. Thanks again.
The only way to know is to test it and see. Black sand, feldspar and quartz are all super common all over the world. Gold on the other hand, is rare.