AllThingsArkansas.com
  • Home
  • Store
  • Weekly Blog about All Things Arkansas
  • About Us
  • Find Us
  • Contact Us
All Things Arkansas

Quartz Crystal in arkansas

2/11/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Pictured is the largest quartz crystal of its quality and size in the world. Mined at the Old Coleman Mine in Jessieville, Arkansas.
Arkansas' state mineral is quartz crystal. It is a naturally occurring six-sided crystalline structure comprised of silicon dioxide.

One of the most common questions people ask about crystal is if it has been polished. The Arkansas quartz at All Things Arkansas most definitely has NOT been polished. God made it just like you see it.

Our quartz is from the Old Coleman Mine in Jessieville, Arkansas, and is the world standard for quartz. The Old Coleman Mine is located in the Ouachita Mountains and the best quartz around the world is going to be from there.

To anyone looking at the mine from afar, it looks like an open pit mine with red clay mud.  Tourists are allowed to mine for the own quartz in specially designated areas at the top of the mine. They are digging through the tailings, parts of the dirt that have been brought to the surface by employees and not gone through.

Many people tend to doubt that the tailings have not been searched. Trust me, they haven't. Crystals are primarily located in "pockets" and it simply is not cost effective for large-scale operations to mine outside those areas. Instead, they move the dirt to the top so you can find your own treasures.

To find the "pockets," one follows the trail of the veins until it circles out. Veins are similar to what you think of in your body, except in this case its a long white line amidst the red clay.

When it circles out to the large pocket, employees pull out crystals one at a time. They may even use old bed mattresses to protect the crystal points.

From there they are brought to the cleaning area and rinsed off and allowed to air dry. There is a lot of red clay staining the piece at this point, so they are then cleaned in a hot vat of oxalic acid overnight.

The next day they are removed and rinsed with water once more. Once this is done, most of the red clay residue is gone and the beauty of the quartz has been exposed.

The crystals are now ready to be sold to customers around the world. Prices range from $1 to several million.

1 Comment
Deborah
6/22/2014 02:55:14 am

What year was this found?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lisa Carey is the owner of All Things Arkansas. She knows a little about a whole lot of Arkansas. Explore with her here.

    Archives

    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All
    Bill Clinton
    Buffalo
    Downtown
    Flowers
    Hot Springs
    Hot Springs Community School
    Minorca
    Novaculite
    Parking
    President
    Quartz
    Revitalize
    Trail
    Tulips
    Waterfall

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.