Mineralogy & Mining of Oregon Sunstones
Join us this month for an exciting presentation by Dr. Gabriela Farfan of the Smithsonian Institute as she presents on the mining and mineralogy of Oregon Sunstones. Dr. Farfan will also discuss how these experiences led to a career in mineralogy!
Oregon Sunstones are a gem-quality form of calcic labradorite from Central Oregon that formed 13-14 million years ago when a volcano in Steens Mountain erupted, pouring out massive amounts of lava. The lava flow was subsequently covered by a vast lake and remained underwater for thousands of years. As the lake gradually dried up, the exposure to weather caused the lava to decompose and reveal loose sunstones.
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a really interesting and comprehensive presentation!
Thank YOU so much for this video!! You made my day!!!
Awesome, I'm leaving in the morning to spectrum mine,plush 😉 was there last week and stopped by for a look see, well I'm driving 500 miles one way to do it!!!!! I'll leave update,, happy Independence day my fellows!
Thanks for this video, this helps greatly in just knowing what 'schiller' is. I have recently gotten interested in sunstones. I know the area and live in Oregon. Unfortunately I have had recent back surgery and my body keeps telling me I am not ready to get out there digging in the dirt and gravel all day. So, I started snooping around Spectrum Mine's website and discovered a couple of interesting options. 1) They will do a run of gravel through the belt and pick the stones for you for about $250.00 plus s/h 2) They will send you a 5 gallon bucket's worth of concentrate, and let you pick through it for $100-150? plus s/h. I decided to do both.😏
Oregon for the win!! I go there a few times a year.
Great stuff, thanks for sharing!
You’ll want to review your info on the formation. The basalt from which the sunstones comes from wasn’t part of the Steens event and is in fact Columbia basalts…
Very interesting, great video.
The Bag I dug 15 minutes was mostly clear but I noticed the fine horizontal layer's? Banding, some were witeish are those the Inclusion?? Color/copper and such??
Remind me of rythmites just small scale
26:05 in the video: that’s a spiral helix viewed from the side. Compare with a birkeland current. ✌️ That’s what I see anyways. Your looking at it in a two dimensional sense with this image right? So that would be a side view. Possibly the organized bands and the perimeter of the current? 🤷♂️ I could be way off but current could explain the copper being organized into sheets as well..
@2HighNoon
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Notice the lower part of it bends to the right. Now notice the particle band on the right suddenly changes as well right where the current bends. I wonder if there is another bad of particles just off the image and if it’s density/characteristics suddenly increased to what we see in this upper band above the bend. 🤷♂️