"I must apologize, I'm only partially computer literate (& I mean partial). Someone posted a comment on a thread (these things confuse me), but they wanted to know where to get a copy of my recent book on gemstones (http://danhauselauthor.pbwiki.com/Some+books), minerals & rocks in Wyoming. I couldn't find the comment again, so here are the website address to the book. Thank you for your interest.
Dan

Booksurge
http://www.booksurge.com/Gems-Minerals-Rocks-of-Wyoming-A/A/1439218560.htm

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Gems-Minerals-Rocks-Wyoming-Prospectors/dp/1439218560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234540692&sr=1-1

And one other note. Last night I was watching a jewelry channel - they were selling silver rings with tanzanite and chrome diopside and I found it amazing. The story indicated the chrome diopside was recovered from Siberia. Siberia has several major diamond mines where they likely recover the diopside. The host of the show indicated that the miners had to go to Siberia and could only work 3 months out of the year and to get to the locality was a major challenge.

I love it! Things like this always fascinate me. One can find as high as quality (if not better) chrome diopside by driving down US 287 to Ft Collins, Colorado and turning off at the Cherokee Park road and sampling some of the best chrome diopsides in North America (I have some in my collection that are over an inch in diameter). Or just take a drive south of Green River Wyoming and pick them out of anthills. The ants already did the mining for the jewelers and those in the anthills are some of the best chromian diopsides in the world. Yet, no one, other than the ants, are taking advantage. Hey, this would make an excellent program for the travel channel!
"

"Do those red ants bite? and how large are they?"

"It is fraud . The mumbo jumbo they use. Marcasite jewelry "Come On " its pyrite. Most marcasite is not stable when exposed to water and air. It ruins many amateurs display cabinets. Every one knows pyrite is called "fools Gold" so that simple call it something else.Then there is clear "laboridite" - give me a break its feldspar.Feldspar is the name of a group of rock-forming minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust. True Labradorite has colors that flash like an opal.
Actually Sun stone is feldspar also but some what hard to find. The list goes on, Quartz is often misrepresented as Arkansas diamonds. Then there is North Carolina Rubies and Sapphires. I do not want to burst any one's bubble but most of the material in many of the mines come from Sri Lanka. They buy it by the pound. I have seen 150 carat sapphires people thought were worth thousands of dollars that were sapphires alright - if you want to call a big chunk of blue corundum a precious gem when it can be bought for a dollar. There are unsalted mines in North Carolina . I bought a full pound of star rubies- nice but not precious- for $50 bucks. And emeralds- people are being scammed into paying a big price for green beryl. Yes emeralds are Beryl but there is a big difference between gem quality emerald and common beryl. Common beryl is not rare. It is down right fraud. Dyed magnetite sold as turquoise. One of the biggest rip offs around. Reconstituted turquoise (filled with epoxy glue) Lad created gems sold as natural. Serpentine sold as jade. When it comes to jewelry let the buyer beware. Know the gemologist you are buying from. Do not buy on the Internet unless it is a reasonable price and you do not mind if you get took. I buy from the Internet and I at times get took. I will NOT buy an expensive gem on the Internet.
Bill"

"Hi Bill,

You bring up an excellent topic. Most of the cut gems I see online have inclusions or inconsistant color changes, like brighter on one side then the other (color fading), or visible imperfections on the surface of the gem like minature indentations, barely visible to the naked eye, but never the less visible especially with a magnifying glass. I am no gem expert, but I see the word flawless used alot on gems that I can see imperfections. Could be poor polishing, or inconsistanties in the gem itself that may make it impossible to get a clean surface, or internal color fading. Would love to hear more from you about this subject.

Thanks,

Aaron"

"This is a subject that our WIKI folks needed to be warned about. Gems and gemstones being sold at high prices and that are cheap rip offs. It is as big a scam as the Nigerian Scam where a rich fool will send you $100,000,00 if you give him your bank account number so he can transfer the funds. Yea, Sure. Gems are a specialized field of study. Aaron to appraise the value of a precious Gem requires years of work in the industry, I do not claim to be able to put a price on a high price stone I can tell if it is a good quality or is junk. But if someone showed me a Columbian emerald, uncut and asked me to appraise it - I would tell them to contact a certified gemologist. I might make a fair guess but they should not sell it based on my evaluation. Semi precious stones I would give a value on . I have dealt in semi precious stones for years and know value when I see it. Some precious stones such as opal I feel confident in pricing. But the prices vary greatly on the precious gems. Again let the buyer beware.
Bill"

"This is a subject that our WIKI folks needed to be warned about. Gems and gemstones being sold at high prices and that are cheap rip offs. It is as big a scam as the Nigerian Scam where a rich fool will send you $100,000,00 if you give him your bank account number so he can transfer the funds. Yea, Sure. Gems are a specialized field of study. Aaron to appraise the value of a precious Gem requires years of work in the industry, I do not claim to be able to put a price on a high price stone I can tell if it is a good quality or is junk. But if someone showed me a Columbian emerald, uncut and asked me to appraise it - I would tell them to contact a certified gemologist. I might make a fair guess but they should not sell it based on my evaluation. Semi precious stones I would give a value on . I have dealt in semi precious stones for years and know value when I see it. Some precious stones such as opal I feel confident in pricing. But the prices vary greatly on the precious gems. Again let the buyer beware.
Bill"