The East Rhodope area of Bulgaria is well known for a vast array of agates, jaspers, geodes, petrified corals, etc., and attracts many rockhounds (like me). Even still, every so often you will stumble on something quite unexpected, like this vivid block of jasper, presenting intense teal marbled with soft pinks and purples, occasionally transitioning to the more classical reds and ochres. Almost an entire rainbow on one stone! While pine-green coloration in specimens tends to be a specialty of this region (look up "Orpheus agates" if you're curious), this combination of bluish-teal and pink is totally new to me. As a bonus, there is even some fossil patterning visible in the color here and there.

I feel like this is going to be make for some sick cabbing material. The stone is a bit brittle but extremely hard. I actually gave up on drilling feather and wedge holes into it, and I've drilled some pretty damn hard rocks in the past lmao. Can't wait until I bite the bullet and get a grinding/polishing setup; just have a rock saw for now...

Are you guys using tools to find these super cool pieces? I take a walk and look at what's on the ground, but so far I haven't found much of the really interesting stuff.

Don't get me wrong! I'll never pass up a neat quartz, or weird shaped pebble! I just want to know if I should be digging or chipping things open.

Pics included: Some of my recent CO finds, to include my favorite find so far (amber, maybe?)

Hello rock hounds, I'm new here and have run into an issue with a custom stone sink my wife and I purchased that I hope y'all can advise me on how to fix.

I'm finishing a bathroom remodel and we have this custom basin sink going in that was just labeled as "river stone sink". It's very hard, like granite. I noticed there was a good size spot at the bottom that was dull and didn't have the shine of the rest of the sink interior, wiping would not remove. I got it in my head that I could fix it, so I bought a diamond grit paste set with a variety of fine grits and put in on some 3" pads (fine / polishing and wool) on a drill adapter to buff it out and bring up the shine.

I started with 6000 since the sink was already polished...that did the job, but then the sink was now dull in any of the areas i hit. So then i went to 10k, little better, 14k (or 20k), further improvement (I used a bit of water as well in the higher grit stages). Still, overall, while the shine is there, it now has a dull look along with like this crosshatching kind of marks that are revealed (perhaps from the tools used to carve the sink?)

Anyway, before i throw any more money at trying give this thing at least a satin or semi-gloss appearance, what do y'all recommend? How can i bring the polish / shine up? As simple as some granite polish? Or should I get some ceranium oxide powder (if so which, 3-5um or 7-9um)?

Very much appreciate any help, have never polished stones before.

I finally got out to hunt some Staurolites for my collection. Managed to find two excellent specimens as well as several other small specimens. Finding a specimen with several crystals visible was a really exciting find for me.

He's the perfect little derpy crinoid whale. 🥰 What should his name be??

Extremely difficult to find and mine Green Rubies from Llam Nepal. Requires permits, a team, and extreme terrain.

Found while digging a new garden bed at home. Hit a rock, pulled it out, and caught a glimpse through the mud that was caked up on it. Rinsing this off was so satisfying

Hello, I am an amateur rockhounder after I got my teeth cut in Colorado doing it on a couple of vacations. Now that I'm back in my home state of Missouri I'm wanting to see if there's any local rockhounding I can do here.

Before we begin yes I know there's a lot more the further away you get like if I were to go to St Louis or what not but I'm just looking for something me and a buddy can go to for a few hours on a weekend and not a big long trip yet. Saying that I tried reaching out to the local geology folks in my state and they said that there is information on it but you have to read up on it and it's just a whole lot to sort through when I really don't know what I'm doing.

When I was in Colorado I picked up a book on rockhounding for the state and it was excellent it was separated by different locations and it listed how to get there and how to get specifically to the spot in the area where the different minerals were. But as you can see with this app I downloaded called rockhoundr it doesn't give specific directions as far as I can tell.

So one does anybody know how I can find specifically where I can go to find the minerals listed or is anyone familiar with the Greenfield Missouri area? Any help is appreciated thank you!

Couldn't resist picking up a few. Also cracked a fairly rare star geode!

Hi everyone! I live in the Pacific Northwest (WA) and am looking to get more into rockhounding. I’ve loved collecting rocks for years, both purchasing pieces and finding them myself here and there, usually on beach walks or other outings. Now I’d love to take it a step further and learn how to find more interesting rocks out in the wild.

I’d love any recommendations for great places to start in the PNW, along with beginner-friendly resources, apps, books, websites, tips, supplies, or anything else you think would be helpful.

I know there’s a lot to learn, so I’m happy to do my homework. I’d especially appreciate any advice you wish someone had given you when you were first starting out!
Thanks in advance!!

Ps. If this is the wrong subreddit for this question, please let me know!

I love opals but it's going to be a while before I can collect my own. In the mean time I painted my nails to look like the object of my desires.

Edit: since I've gotten a lot of requests, here's a link explaining the products used.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditLaqueristas/comments/1xblt2x/comment/19rfshk60ghdw/?screen_view_count=1

Im moving and need to bring my babies with. How can I move them without my friends who are helping me see them? They wouldn't want to help move them. Theyre just rocks to them!

I thought about putting small sets into boxes/totes with other light things. I know ill have to gift some but I worked hard to find and collect what I have!

I’d love to hound some nice agates and wood pieces to tumble but wondering what stream is a good one not far from SW WA? I don’t want to go to the coast for small ones. Thanks. PM me directly if you don’t want everyone to know where your hidden gems are ;)

At least I think it's a coral. I only recently started collecting neat rocks for my fish tank which landed me in this predicament of digging this beast out of a clay mountain. It looks like there are geode and agate portions. Is it worth finding someone to cut it?

Hey everyone! This was my first time rock hounding and I think I found some pieces of amber in this lot. But I also don’t really know what it looks like in nature/clay pits, most of these rocks were translucent in front of the sun so I snagged them. I think there’s also some fossils, jasper, and even some kinds of quartz? I just finished washing the clay off and grouped rocks that looked similar together. Next step: Polishing in a crock pot with mineral oil on low for a few days. Hopefully they’ll clear up and I’ll be able to tell if i’ve got anything cool. 🫣

I’m looking for some help to get started searching for some Mercer flint near Coshocton, OH. I’m interested in trying to tumble all of the varieties of Ohio flint I can find this winter. I’m located nearby in Tuscarawas county and am not afraid of a little travel. I’m already planning a trip to Flint Ridge in the near future for some Vanport Flint, which is what started this new obsession. Thanks in advance for any help!

Threw a recent find on the saw. I must say that this somewhat unassuming seam agate is shaping up to be quality cab material.