Lead Minerals
![galenite crystal cluster](https://rockhoundingmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/galenite-crystal-cluster.jpg)
Lead minerals are highly collectible and some of my favorite specimens to collect are lead-based. All of the specimens you see at rock and mineral shows are commonly found at active lead mines around the world. As you know, Lead is also widely used for car batteries, ammunition, cable sheathing, pigments, weights for lifting, weight […]
Opalized Fossils
![opalized clams](https://rockhoundingmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/opalized-clams.jpg)
Australia is the only place on Earth where Opalized Animal fossils can be found. If you haven’t heard of Opal then you might have been living under a rock. This gemstone is also a key to Australia’s mysterious past because dinosaur fossils and various other creatures that lived over 110 million years ago are buried […]
Chert
![black shale and chert beds](https://rockhoundingmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/black-shale-and-chert-beds.jpg)
You have 99 problems and Chert isn’t one of them. This relatively common rock is found worldwide and it comes in limitless colors and varieties. Despite the stone’s popularity, there are many misconceptions about Chert. Chert is a sedimentary rock comprised of microcrystalline Quartz which makes it fairly hard, 7 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. […]