Rock Hound Terms

Rock Hound Terms!

Carat - The word CARAT (care-et) is derived from the word Carob (care-ub). A Carob is a bean that is often used as a chocolate substitute. So what does that have to do with gemstones? Well, it turns out that Carob Beans are very uniform in weight and therefore have been used for centuries as a means of determining the weight of other objects, such as Gemstones! Carob Beans each weigh about 1/5th of a GRAM, or 200mg. So, keep in mind that Carats measure weight, not size. Stones such as Rubies & Sapphires weigh more than stones of the same size, such as Amethyst. So if you have a 5 carat Amethyst, it will be much larger in size than a 5 carat Ruby - But which one is worth more? The Ruby, definitely!!!!!!!!

Corundum - CORUNDUM is a mineral oxide of Aluminum. It is second only to a diamond in hardness. In addition to its beauty, it is also used as an abrasive in industry and even in the home workshop. The transparent stones that are Red, are known as Rubies. Any other transparent corundum is known as Sapphire. While the most commonly associated color of a sapphire is blue, it can in fact be one of many different colors.

Emory - EMORY (em-or-ee) is an impure form of Corundum that is used as an abrasive. (You file your nails with it every week!)

Enriched - ENRICHED implies that the stones did not come from the area that you are mining in. They could have come from just a few miles away, or from thousands of miles away. But don't be confused, if a stone isn't NATIVE, that doesn't mean that it has no value. All of the stones in the RAINBOW BUCKETS at Sheffield Mine are Enriched, but they are also Semi-Precious and therefore they do have value! The term ENRICHED is interchangable with SALTED.

Honker - A HONKER is our definition of any Ruby or Sapphire that weighs 30 Carats or more. A stone of this size can most likely be easily fashioned into a beautiful piece of jewelry for yourself, a loved one or to sell at your discretion. There were over 220 Honkers found at Sheffield Mine in 2000. Maybe this season, you'll find one!

Matrix - MATRIX is a material that forms around a gemstone, acting much like a mother, in that it protects the gemstone from outside influences. Some gemstones are difficult to separate from their MATRIX, while others are set free with ease. The term Matriarch (may-tree-ark), which means Mother, comes from the word MATRIX.

Native Stones - NATIVE STONES are gemstones that come from the area that you are mining. They are not imported, and in fact, you are probably the first human to lay eyes on them and to hold them if you are lucky enough to find them. All of the Rubies & Sapphires that you might find at Sheffield Mine are NATIVE!

Rainbow Buckets - RAINBOW BUCKETS are filled with Semi-Precious stones from all over the world. The stones that you might find include, but are not limited to: Amethyst, Amazonite, Garnet, Hematite, Moonstone, Calcite, Flourite, Iolite, and more.

Ruby - A Ruby is in the Corundum Family and the only thing that sets it apart from a Sapphire is that it is reddish in color. Not to be redundant, but it's Color is Red or Pink/Purple and on the Moh's Scale, it has a hardness of 9. It's Specific Gravity is 4.02 and it's Crystal Structure is Hexagonal. Non-jewelry quality Rubies are used as jewel bearings in watches and as components of scientific equipment and in lasers. Look closely at the top of the Washington Monument, and you'll find it there too! Rubies that you'll find at Sheffield Mine aren't the traditional RED rubies that one usually thinks of. They are Star Rubies, and therefore the definition of their color is a bit different. They are more of a Purple-Red color. If they were not Star Rubies, but Facet Rubies, the color would denote a Sapphire instead of a Ruby, but even though the color is a bit different from what most of you would expect, make no mistake, these ARE rubies, and if they are a good quality, they can be more valuable than diamonds!

Salted - SALTED implies that the stones did not come from the area that you are mining in. They could have come from just a few miles away, or from thousands of miles away. But don't be confused, if a stone isn't NATIVE, that doesn't mean that it has no value. All of the stones in the RAINBOW BUCKETS at Sheffield Mine are SALTED, but they are all considered semi-precious and therefore they do have value! The term SALTED is often interchanged with the term ENRICHED.

Squeaker - This is our definition of any Ruby or Sapphire that weighs between 15 and 30 carats. This size stone is much more common than Honkers or Super Honkers and is still large enough to be fashioned into jewelry.
Specimen Stone - A SPECIMEN STONE is one that is not suitable for turning into a piece of jewelry, however since it is a precious or semi-precious stone or piece of stone in matrix, it is suitable as a conversation piece. SPECIMEN STONES are often quite exquisite in their own right and can give their owner an enormous amount of pleasure by being something interesting and/or beautiful to look upon. Specimen Stones are often large, or at least larger than a piece of jewelry would be.

Star Ruby - A STAR RUBY is made of corundum that has needlelike inclusions. The STAR can only be seen if the stone is cut in a Cabochon (caboshun) shape, which means that it is cut with a convex or rounded manner resembling a half melon. When the stone is polished, a 6 pointed STAR mysteriously shows itself when in the light. Star Rubies and even Star Sapphires, are rare indeed, being found only in two locations in the world, one being Burma, and the other being right here at Sheffield Mine!

Super Honker - A SUPER HONKER is is our definition for any Ruby or Sapphire that weighs 100 Carats or more. You can usually get 2 or 3 smaller stones of exquisite beauty fashioned from a Ruby of this size, or go for one large beaut! Super Honkers are a bit more rare. There were over 20 found in 2000.

More Definitions coming soon, and pictures too!