Time to collect some beautiful Fluorspar January 15th!

Rock collecting trip: JANUARY 15, 2007
Our first rock collecting trip of the year will be to the fluorspar mine which is
southeast of Chiriaco Summit. Fluorspar is a form of fluorite. It comes in beautiful purples, greens and yellows in massive rough perfect for lapidary work. Fluorspar has globular inclusions oftenly fortified. On rare occasions fluorspar can even be found in two sided crystals formed on matrix. Fluorspar is a semi translucent mineral with a hardness of about 5 out of 10.
We will meet at the Arco T/A, Interstate 10
and Dillon Road in Coachella, at 7:00 AM, SHARP. After collecting fluorspar,
we will proceed southeast on the Red Canyon route, SR2013, to Salt Creek
Wash. Time permitting, we will research the bloodstone area near Canyon
Spring. Bloodstone is a beautiful form of jasper rough with a hardness of 7-7.5. Bloodstone comes in deep reds and greens and is considered a semiprecious to precious stone found cabochons and jewelry. You can find varying degrees of it here in it's colorful opaque rough. We then return down to Hwy. 111, and back to the travel center in
Coachella.