Is Quartz Rock Worth Anything?
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Original Post
I have just relocated, and the area has a lot of quartz rock. I'm wondering if it is worth anything to collect and sell as chunks, in which jewelry can be made? I tried researching it, but I'm not having much luck.
The rock is all opaque white quartz (no colors, no pyrite, or clear crystals, etc.), which is pretty abundant, so I'm not sure if there is a demand for it. It looks very similar to this:
outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1351279364055315145DldHAR
Any help is greatly appreciated! :)
Posted at 6:44pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
Responses
Honestly, probably not. Quartz, especially the cloudy white kind, is very abundant.
Posted at 8:43pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
I see your point.
It's just screaming to be made into something.
No idea what though.
Posted at 8:59pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
I'm guessing it's too brittle to be used like marble.
Posted at 9:00pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
I feel like this could definitely be made into something, but it will take some innovation. A rough polished cut in a bezel cup could look cool.
Posted at 9:10pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
blueditty said:
I'm guessing it's too brittle to be used like marble.
__________
er, probably the other way around. Quartzite (which that probably is) is both harder and tougher than marble, which is actually rather soft.
It is pretty, but it's also *really* common.
Posted at 9:27pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
I have no doubt that it can be made into something pretty. :) There's plenty of white quartz jewelry here on etsy (also called milky quartz or snow quartz). I'm just not sure if anyone would buy it in clusters.
I would *love* to be able to turn it into beads myself, but after checking out the prices on the equipment, that's not an option right now! :|
Posted at 9:40pm Oct 7, 2010 EDT
It depends on the quality of the quartz. If it's very clear and has few fissures it can be tumbled or cut into beads or jewelry.
But...most of the quartz you find isn't able to stand up to being manipulated much. You might be able to wire wrap it or if you can find long enough crystals you can put them into bezel caps. If you have the equipment you might be able to make large chunks into crystal spheres, but I don't know what is involved or how labor intensive it is.
Honestly, if the beds look like those in the photo, I'd leave it alone. It's much prettier as scenery (IMO) than it would be if it were hacked up and carted off, especially if it's of really limited use.
Posted at 12:43am Oct 8, 2010 EDT
That is what I was taught is milky quartz and there isn't much of a market for it in lapidary work - but - I have seen a lot of it sold for good money as yard rock - either large chunks for focal points in gardens or crushed up and used as ground cover. It's very pretty that way.
Posted at 7:48pm Oct 11, 2010 EDT