MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Cathy]

Quartzite Stone Rock ?

Trying to get in quick before Tizer wakes up

[Stanley]

Sorry Cathy but no. Dig deeper!

[Cathy]

Is it just pure white Quartz? Man made.

[Stanley]

Cathy, you are correct in that it is a geological sample. Strictly speaking it is a silicate. Clue, think unusual crystal.

[Cathy]

I thought crystal, then changed my mind because only a tiny part of it looked like a crystal, to me. Oh well... I’ll take 1/2 a point anyway.

[chinatyke]

Asbestos? Chrysotile? It's a very pure specimen if that is what it is.

[Big Kev]

Okenite?

[Stanley]

Thank God! Kev has got it. Yes, see THIS link.
Next one?

[Big Kev]

Thank God! Kev has got it. Yes, see THIS link.
Next one?

Only after all the clues from everyone else

[Stanley]

But you got it Ken.
I wonder where Peter was yesterday? He would have got it straight away I think.

[Tizer]

I've been distracted during the last few days but I've got more time now. I have to admit that when I looked at Stanley's last object okenite didn't come to mind, even though I'm familiar with hundreds of minerals!

[Stanley]

My geological idol has feet of clay!



Try this one.

[plaques]

But you got it Ken.

Not me I didn't have a clue. Thought it was an upmarket toilet brush. It was Kev who gave the right answer.

[Stanley]

Sorry both of you.... Eyes again!

[Tizer]

Natrolite?

[Big Kev]

Just a short interlude while you're discussing your minerals (is it in a cave somewhere?) this was a mystery object to my grandson

20201009_194454.jpg

[plaques]

Good old fashion brace and auger bits. A bit spooky or nearly spooky. After putting a shelf up for Mrs P. she tried to claim my gimlet tool just in case she wanted to put some cup hooks in it.
Gimlet (tool)
A gimlet is a hand tool for drilling small holes, mainly in wood, without splitting. It was defined in Joseph Gwilt's Architecture (1859) as "a piece of steel of a semi-cylindrical form, hollow on one side, having a cross handle at one end and a worm or screw at the other". A gimlet is always a small tool.

[Stanley]

Sorry but no Peter, more common than that.
That's a posh gimlet you've got Ken, all the ones I have ever seen were like a small sharp screwdriver.

[plaques]

Reminded of Iceland Spar crystals. Calcium Carbinate. Brings back memories of school chemistry.

[Stanley]

Even more common than that Ken. Clue, look at the bloke and think about size.

[Big Kev]

Gypsum

[Stanley]

Once again Kev gets it. The Cave of Crystals in Mexico. (LINK) They are some of the biggest crystals in the world and formed from Gypsum.
Next one?

[Stanley]

If you found an unusual concentration of these in the ground what would it signify to you?

[Marilyn]

Ancient river bed, of glacial origin.

[Stanley]

No Maz, sorry. The key is 'unusual concentration'.