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Just a wild guess you have a siltstone or shale there. Pyrite is a common component with those. Of course there are others but that's my guess.

It depends how large the particles of sand are. It could be too coarse and it also depends how cohesive it is. If too much sand comes off as you use it that's not too good either.

I guess you'll...

Not that many rocks form in layers like that. Sedimentary rocks do especially shale, sandstone, limestone. It's probably one of those. Slate does also but it's metamorphic and it doesn't look like...

A very longstanding joke about rockhounds. They always look down at the ground whenever they are walking.

Microcrystalline Quartz. It's very similar to flint which is why the Indians used it for arrowheads. Chert is usually found in Marine deposits throughout the Southeast. It works great for road...

Yea, if it is Nephrite there is none in NC. There's plenty in Alaska. You can find just about everything in Alaska similar to Minas Gerais, Brazil.

By the way Nephrite ain't Jade. That's Jadeite...

Most Nephrite Jade comes from Western Canada though it can be found in Wyoming. It's the state mineral.

It's all about particle size with slate. You have to find some with larger sizes. I've seen some slates that were like a medium fine sandpaper. You flatten it but don't polish it.

Actually one of the commonest associations is Gold and Quartz.

Also Granite is Quartz, Feldspar and Mica which is very soft stuff.

An old old method is put a score line in the rock and work hammer and chisel back and forth across the score line. You can split some incredibly large rocks with this method. You just need the time....

There are books about roadside Geology made for car trips. Often times these can be useful to cue you in on specific formations and their exact locations.

You rang? Actually we do or did have at least one working Geologist on the site. I studied it but never actually worked in it.

In Devonian times much more of the Earth's surface was covered by...

Rock is subject to weathering and depending on the minerals in the rock commonly the rock you pick up looks nothing on the inside as it appears on the outside. Really simple, hard stuff like quartz...

Exactly.

Finding something is a bonus. It should always be about the trip and having a grand time.

Keep in mind there are hones and good hones and really good hones. The really good ones are prized and rare and aren't just lying around somewhere. Good Hones are uncommon and can be found if you...

I don't know about this case but you can check the USGS reports which describe pretty much all the formations and General Geology of the U.S and it would be mentioned there.

So what is it?

It depends how you define hone. Just about any rock will serve in one way or another. There is a reason certain rocks are prized as hones and cost so much. Such stones have the ideal characteristics...

Like with most commercial deposits they are worked because of the size of the deposit. if you look you can find just about anything in small deposits. Idaho is a mineralogists playland it's so...

Slate has a natural cleavage so a brisk blow with a hammer and chisel will cause it to cleave. If its subject to weathering it will begin to deteriorate after all is metamorphosed shale. Slate is...

Check roads cuts and railroad cuts and areas along rivers. There are plenty of outcrops in that area. Also if you know who owns the old area often times they will let you collect for a small fee....

Most heavy duty lapidary saws use a gravity feed device and if I recall correctly our large saw in the Geology Dept used a combination of oil and diesel. We could cut through quartz all day with no...

Really, when you are doing any lapidary work you should be using some kind of lubricant as you cut or grind.

That's because yer sitting on Limestone and you got the Chattahoochee they import in from up north. You need to make some field trips up north.

Yes, there are many but you need to look at the location where you found them. You have varieties of Quartz like Citrine and you have Sapphire and calcite (not a gem stone). If you are talking...