[Rockhounds] Hanksite

Wed Feb 18 19:19:40 PST 2009

Howdy, Mark!
                       I've been experimenting for the last few months with
hanksites that we collected last year at Trona. The comments that were made
about the crystal itself releasing water, and the other suggestions are
helpful.
However, as I've said, I've been experimenting. If you go to Caring for Your
Specimens <http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/SpecimenCare.html>, which is
on the Searles Vally Gem & Mineral Society website, you'll get their
official instructions on the evaporates available at Trona.

I am not a school trained professional, as many of our fellows are, simply a
"Cowboy Geologist" of some 30 years of private study. Please note that the
advice & observations are the same I would ( and do!) give any of my
customers when they purchase halite, hanksite or any other evaporate.
First and foremost, I tell them "This is perishable. I don't guarantee it,
and I don't accept returns on it, unless it's destroyed in transit." I go on
to say, "Some folks don't consider evaporates worth the work involved in
preserving them. I don't blame them. If I lived where the humidity was high
most of the year, I wouldn't spend my money on them, either."

I do, however, consider them to be "Worth the trouble." I live in the desert
dryness of the Mighty San Juaquin Valley of California. I keep my best
halite and hanksite in a china cabinet, with plenty of silica gel packs to
maintain as close to absolute "parchedness" as I can attain. Living where I
am, I can keep halite out in the open, and not suffer any great change to
its state.
In my "Best" china cabinet, I have great halites, and great hanksites. I
even have what should be considered a "nightmare" combination, a lovely
hanksite with a textbook borax crystal, with another hanksite (psuedomorph
after something that's rectangular!) *inside* the face of the borax crystal.
Now, the is powdery with tincalconite, since it's drying out, so I don't
allow *anyone* to handle the specimen. It is almost inevitible that the
specimen will one day become simply a hanksite specimen ... and that's the
way nature made it.

I don't recommend evaporates for all collectors. They're a "labor of love",
and what began as a convenient commercial decision has become a true
passion. I can say that the best way to clean off those crystals is to make
a saturate solution of hanksite, and brush the brine over the hanksite. This
will preserve the faces, and clean off the powder, which is likely
tincalconite from the borax. (I guess!  *grin!* )

However, if you're looking for a rare, beautiful specimen at a bargain
price, I do recommend evaporates. They're almost always available on eBay,
and the prices are quite low. Just remember that you're taking on a
perishible product, though not nearly as perishible as tropical fish, or a
dog, 'frinstance.
I also recommend taking pictures of them, as I do with any specimen. That's
the only way I'm able to part with* any* piece!  *lol*

When I have my "Care & Feeding of Hanksites" finished, I'll post it to the
list. I'm experimenting with treatments, but won't have conclusions for
awhile. "Science Marches Onward!"

Be Well, and thanks to all!
                                           Kris
                                           Lapidary Specialties
                                           Blog: R&R
Rockhound<http://r-and-r-rockhound.blogspot.com/>

P.S. I like Kriegh's way of dealing with the humidity issue. I might suggest
that he add a silica gel packet (that's how I ship evaporates), and change
it after each time the bag is opened. Silica gel is cheap on eBay, and can
be dried out by placing in a electric oven on "Warm" for several hours. You
could also use "Flower Dry" silica gel, available at most craft stores. It's
great for cabinet presentations, since it generally changes color as it
gathers moisture.

On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 6:22 PM, Kreigh Tomaszewski
<Kreigh at tomaszewski.net>wrote:

> My Hanksite specimen is inside a ziploc type freezer baggie where I placed
> it as soon as I noticed some deterioration. It has not deteriorated any
> further in the past five years.
>
> Kreigh
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009, at 17:27 America/Detroit, DonH wrote:
>
>  Tim Jokela Jr. wrote:
>>
>>  There's an interesting potential experiment here!
>>> Come up with ten different treatment methods, treat a couple or three
>>> hanksites with each, and compare over time!
>>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Tim,
>>
>> Indeed, but it reaches a point where the treatment exceeds the enjoyment
>> of the specimen.  Also, it has become clear that the long-term environment
>> in which the specimen is stored will affect the specimen no matter what the
>> treatment--unless, perhaps, it is cast inside an acrylic block.
>>
>> I know people who had halides stored for years on open display without the
>> slightest degradation.  I also know people who have taken extraordiary
>> Frankenstein measures and still lost their specimens, being left with either
>> a thin shell of spray-on acrylic and a pile of white dust, or perhaps a dark
>> grey former marcasite that decomposed and ate through the label, the box,
>> and was only stopped by the glass shelf before it ate its acidic way to the
>> center of the earth.
>>
>> There is no one correct answer, but it is definitely a good topic for
>> discussion among collectors, and something for everyone to think about as
>> they decide on the collection they want to build and what it takes to curate
>> that collection properly.
>>
>> Best,
>> Don
>>
>>
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>
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