I wanted to create a thread talking about Gemstones and Precious Stones, talk about Metals and Minerals is also acceptable.

I used this image of Prince Chunk because, well, he's a funny fat cat who is quite large haha!

Anyway, some neat things about gemstones, specifically of the Quartz family.

Did you know? Amythest is simply Purple Quartz, and Rose Quartz is a Pink variant of Quartz? However, the pizoelectric nature of Amythest and Rose are actually less than standard clear quartz, when the only real difference is the color and slight different chemical compound. Weird right?

Did you also know there is a similar situation in regards to rubies and sapphires? They are actually the same thing, just a different color. What a Ruby or a Sapphire is ultimately Corundum, just with a different color because of slight changes. If you had a "pure" Corundum, you'd actually have a colorless sapphire! Neat huh?

And diamond is carbon processed by millions of years of tectonic activity

I have no idea about any of this shit. But it is pretty fascinating. What are some good resources on learning about it?

>>5017561
Yup! But here's something really cool about that too! So you can actually turn graphite into diamond in about a second! Not kidding!

You're probably wondering "How do I get this infinite diamonds hack?" well, the diamonds you get aren't like, jeweler quality, they are industrial quality, hence your diamond tipped tools.

However, essentially what you do is essentially dentonate graphite (very cheap on bulk) into pipe bombs, and blow them up in shipping containers. What you'll get are dirty diamonds and diamond dust, that sell for a decent amount, but not huge.

Pro tip: This is extremely illegal if you don't have a licesnce and certification to do this

Back in the day on old mining quarries, people would just have a very pressurized drums of graphite, and then stick a bunch of TNT in the containers and kablooey! It's still reckless as fuck, but not as bad as the early days.

Diamond dust is good roughage, and most excellent grit, and its fun to use in fireworks, but the real money is selling the dirty diamonds for industrial purposes.

>>5017569
Unironically, autistic people. Depends on your particular flavor of gemstone you want to pursue, there's the geology side of things, in which, your local mine/quarry or nature preserve will help you out in that. They are very autistic about that thing, and quarries literally throw out anything that isn't their quarry, even crystals the size of your arm.

If you're interested in the chemical aspects of that, I'd recommend your local Ecology office, or taking a course, or your local Stonecutters guild, because these are the people who make lab grown gemstones from seeds!

If you're interested in the "ooh shiny" I'd recommend your local jeweler's guild or one of those crystal hippies, because they can certainly spin a yarn about the value and energy of a crystal or gemstone, and its meaning.

Oh, and never buy painted quartz, that's tourist junk, and never trust the Chinese market either.

>>5017569
Rock tumbling forums.

Labradorite looks very cool.

>>5017569
Lapidary clubs are a thing. I'm not that into stones, but I chatted with some people from one once. They collect rocks, discuss geology, and make jewelry. Seemed like cool people and have a foot in both science and art.

>>5017609
>hence your diamond tipped tools
Oh, I wondered about that, like how diamond tipped tools could possibly be affordable and whether it was straining a super rare resource.

Does any anon know where is a good source for radioactive gemstones? Double points for gem style cut

>>5017589
Shit graphic. Lithium is bigger than the silver market.