[Rockhounds] Hanksite

[Lapidry at aol.com]

Mark:
 
The serious collectors out in Trona bring back bottles of the saline  
solution these things grow in for cleaning. Maybe you can find one or two that  are 
just too far gone to save and make your own solution to clean the others in?  I 
wouldn't be real quick to clean them with straight tap water.
 
Dan

 
 
In a message dated 2/17/2009 12:51:50 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
markstanley at bellnet.ca writes:

While  working through some material I have from a basement cleanout for  an
estate, I have found a box of about 100 Hanksite crystals from Searles  Lake,
Trona, California, USA.  From the date on newspapers that were  used to wrap
them, they have not been looked at for 15 years.  They  range in size from 2
cm single crystals to 10 cm groups.  They are all  covered in a very thick
white powder.  The wrapping material,  cardboard box and the metal shelf they
were sitting on are all damaged or  corroded.

The basement where they were stored was quite dry, with a  dehumidifier set
to keep the humidity below 70%.  The Halite I found  was okay, but about half
of the Pyrites (from various locations) were in  various stages of decay.

My questions are: Can I simply wash the white  powder off the Hanksites with
water and them coat them with something like  mineral oil to prevent this
from happening again?  Is there a standard  way to treat them to protect them
from this?

Your suggestions would  be appreciated.

Mark Stanley
Norwood, Ontario, Canada

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