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1. Selling on the net. |
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Success Is A Process
If you are reading this article, you are probably
aware of the growing number of people who are trying to establish
themselves as a successful "net-preneur". And YOU
surely are one of them!!! So, what's the secret to becoming one
of those that actually make it? Is there a secret? Is
there a formula? Is there a checklist that you can follow to
insure your foothold in this ever-growing, ever-changing internet goldrush?
I believe there is. I DO NOT believe it is
simple. But I have no doubt that anyone that commits themselves
to the following "check-list" will be able to call
themselves successful. Take note, though - this is not a one
time checklist that you get to the bottom of and you're
finished. It is a DAILY checklist, that you follow today,
tomorrow, and as long as you remain in business. Success on the
internet is a PROCESS. It's not finding the perfect program,
signing up, sitting back, and watching it do its thing. ( You'll have
a hard time ever convincing me that there are ANY of those out there! )
So, are you ready? Here are the four P's that make up
"The Process" |
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1 |
Prepare
Know what you want to accomplish. Then break
down the steps that are necessary to get there. Get in a hurry,
get ahead of yourself, and it will show in whatever you are
attempting. Your customers won't be fooled! Many times you only
get one chance to show someone you have something worth their time,
and that you know what you're talking about! One click and they're
out of there - possibly forever! You have to know what you're
doing, and believe me, if you don't, it will show immediately to your visitors. |
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2 |
Promote
Do some type of promotion every day!!! Whether it is:
your site, your product, your service, whatever you are doing, you
MUST put time into promotion. And you must do it in more than
one way. Use search engines, ezines, classifieds, ad swaps,
write articles, write an e-book, seek a joint venture. Just do
SOMETHING every day. Don't let a day go by without spending the
time it takes. And it WILL take time. So remember that when you
are preparing! |
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3 |
Progress
Every day. Progress in your knowledge of
something. You should be able to say that you've learned at
least one new thing each and every day. And with all there is
available, you should never run out of material!!! The internet is
changing daily. There are new methods of promotion popping up
all the time. One that worked yesterday, may not work
tomorrow. You've got to stay on top of things! It's been
said that the most important quality that a person needs in order to
be successful, is to possess the willingness and drive to
learn. Take it seriously! Make it a daily goal |
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4 |
Pay Attention!!!
One of the quickest ways to lose your credibility is
to fail to pay attention. NEVER let a spelling or grammatical
error make its way into publication! And I know that is
sometimes easier said than done. If you are not a good speller,
don't rely on yourself. But, don't rely on your spell-checker
totally either! I learned that one the hard way! Trust your
instinct and look it up! ( I didn't!) If you are in doubt,
don't let it go out!!! If you have to, have someone else proof it for
you. Your level of professionalism is judged immediately by
what you set into print. And on the internet - guess what- it's
ALL in print!!! Poor spelling and grammar skills are
rampant. I've even seen errors on what were 'suppose' to be
professional banners! It DOES make a difference! And it is something
very small that can make ALL the difference in your business image!
Every one of the items on this checklist are daily
steps that ANYONE can do. Notice how they all overlap in one way or
another also. Cover these 4 P's everyday, and you'll make it!
Yes, it will take commitment, work, time, effort, all those
things! But... you never expected to get there any other way,
now... did you? |
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2.Mineral of
the month |
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Emeralds
How to Buy Emeralds |
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History of Emeralds
Like rubies and sapphires, emeralds have a long and
interesting history, which I shall touch upon only briefly. In
ancient Egypt, emeralds were mined not far from the Red Sea. Judging
by the quality of Egyptian emerald we know that their stones were of
a spotty, light color variety.. This tranquil green color was much
prized in the Egyptian world, although it is not very popular among
and investors today, as finer grades of emeralds have been discovered.
Emeralds in ancient Rome were valued for the cool,
calming effect of their color. Nero watched the Roman games in
Coliseum; when he tired, he would peer at the exhibition through
emerald glasses.
Not until much later, however-at the time of the
Spanish capture of Central and South America in the sixteenth'
century-that fine emeralds really entered the gem world of US$pe.
The first precious stones found in a mine tend to be
the largest and most beautiful. The deeper one goes into the earth,
the less perfect the color and the less pure the crystallization When
Pizarro and Cortez subdued the Americas, the claimed the great
emerald and gold wealth of the Inca and Mayan civilizations for their
native Spain. As these stones were the first fruits of the rich mines
of the Americas; it is believed that the finest examples of emeralds
came from this period in history.
Many of the first fine South American emeralds were
shipped to India through the trading ports of the Philippines Some
Chinese still call emerald the "Filipino stone.' A Study of the
inclusion patterns of the emeralds in the collection the Moghul
rulers of Delhi reveal that these gems originated in the mines of Colombia.
In Pizarro's time, the mines at Muzo and Chivor had
been working, but they were covered up and hidden by the Indian
before the Spaniards could seize them. The mineral wealth of the
Mayan civilization was more than a sign of affluence. The Mayans
believed that their gold, silver, and emeralds were direct gifts from
the gods, and the gems held a prominent place in all celebrations.
Given the religious significance of these precious
gems, it is no wonder that the Mayan and Incan people, even under
torture, refused to disclose the whereabouts of their emerald mines.
A jungle enclosed these Colombian mines in much the same way that the
Angkor Wat temple laid covered by the jungle in Cambodia, until a
wandering Parisian tourist discovered it after a thousand years. In
1895, traces of emeralds were found near Muzo, and that ancient and
fabulous mine was reopened. Chivor was rediscovered in the 1920s.
There are other sources of emeralds besides Egypt and
Colombia. Emeralds have been found in Russia-unmistakably pale in
color-and in large quantities (but poor quality) in Austria and
India. More recently) emeralds have been discovered in Brazil,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Afghanistan, Norway, and the United States |
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Mining Emeralds
Emeralds are not found along riverbanks like diamonds, rubies, and
sapphires, but are imbedded in the rock itself, this accounting for
the high price of extraction. Emerald deposits are often found in
conjunction with layers of mica Schist They also often run along
pegmatite dikes. A small pocket of emeralds might well be located by
cutting through the mica area.
This is extremely laborious work. The recently discovered mines near
Carnaiba, Brazil, provide an example of what an emerald strike is
like. About fifteen years ago, the Brazilian government decided to
build its section of the Pan American highway, linking numerous
countries in North and South America with Central America. This huge
and ambitious road project meant, in effect, that people with a high
degree of geological engineering skills were sent from the capital
and from Rio to the very underdeveloped hinterlands. As these road
builders cut roads through the jungles of Brazil, they uncovered
incredible sources of mineral wealth.
Rumors circulated that there were pockets of emeralds near Carnaiba.
Within weeks, vast numbers of Brazilians descended upon this small
town to begin mining on the most primitive scale. Tens of thousands
of claims were filed with the government. The Brazilian government
has long favored the protection of the small miner; at one time there
were twenty thousand mines with separate shafts going into the ground
in Carnaiba.
In the center of town, where traffic is most dense and a rotary has
been built, there exists an emerald mine of about fifty feet across
and two hundred feet straight down. Similarly, in the back of stores,
in front of people's homes, there are small-scale mines being dug and
worked each day. Workers are lowered into the mines on ropes, where
they gouge out rocks with the simplest of hand tools. Blasting is
impossibility because it might destroy the fragile emerald crystals.
Once they are pried from the bottom of the mine, the rocks are
hoisted up with a pulley system to be sorted and evaluated by a
partner aboveground. Generally, the mines are a cooperative effort on
the part of three or four individuals. The output of the mines is
traded either in Carnaiba itself or in Rio de Janeiro.
In the early 1980's Carnaiba gave the appearance of being a 'old
rush" boom town, with its tens of thousands of wandering and
hopeful prospectors, its dance halls, bordellos, and its strange,
transient beauty. One has a feeling that if the mines were to run
out, the town would become a jungle within several weeks and its
entire population would travel to another part of Brazil with the
same idea of striking it rich through a combination of luck and hard work |
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Judging the Color of Emeralds
The emerald reveals much of its origin through the shade of green
visible to the eye.
A bluish green has been identified as coming from the mines of
Chivor. Colombian stones in general possess a deep color that is
preferred by most collectors
In comparison to the Russian emeralds of the nineteenth century that
tended towards a patchy, very pale green.
The Sandawana emeralds from Zimbabwe are a very deep, rich green
color; but the size of the crystals is usually small and they are
most appropriate for small, round, or melee stones. From time to time
we get bigger stones and will make them available on the website.
Brazilian emeralds are characterized by an even lighter shade of
color than the Russian emeralds, although new mines have been
discovered recently in which the quality appears to be more
promising. Emeralds were mined in India after 1944. They had a deep
bluish cast to the green and today are highly prized by dealers and
investors in fine gems.
What gives an emerald this green tint? The chromium within the
emerald crystal is composed of aluminum oxide and accounts for the
depth of color. If a stone has 1/ 100 of 1 percent too much chromium,
what will remain is a very blackish bluish green emerald. Similarly,
a 1/100 of 1 percent too little in the chromium count might result in
an extremely yellowish green stone. Grading emeralds is said to be
among the most difficult tasks in precious stone dealings, and it is
a terrific help to have other fine emeralds on hand against which to
evaluate the stone in question.
A large number of emeralds fall into the melee category. These
stones, varying between 2, 3, and 4 millimeters in size, constitute
the bulk of dollar volume of emeralds traded in the world today. Most
emerald crystals are opaque, with very little usable material within
a crystal. Therefore, a small, thin sliver of clear green at the edge
of a piece of rough can be utilized to make a tiny round stone; that
is what happens in a great number of cases.
One can see Indian colored stone merchants traveling throughout the
world to every mining center of Brazil, Africa, and elsewhere. These
dealers will buy tens of thousands of carats and ship them back to
India, where they will be cut and faceted by thousands of Indian gem
cutters. Gem cutting in India has existed for over two thousand
years. On a roof in Bombay, for example, there may be a group of ten
cutters who will use the most rudimentary of tools a wheel that is
turned by hand and a cutting device so primitive that it has not
changed in several hundred years. And day after day, year after year,
century after century, these Hindus, Moslems, and Jams have fashioned
under that incredibly bright Indian sky the majority of the world's
emeralds. The destination of these emeralds can be a ring that is
interspersed with emeralds and diamonds, or simply a complicated pin
or necklace using the small round emeralds.
Rough buyers purchase all grades and sizes of crystals. Generally
speaking, emerald rough is sold in 50,000-piece, 100,000-piece, and
even larger lots. Every rough dealer of emeralds throughout the world
who is worth his salt has put aside a few fine emerald rough pieces
as a kind of saving for the future. And there are, of course, legends
about these dealers. One man supposedly has a houseful. Another, in
Brazil, has a treasure chest containing rough that will yield over
five carats for each stone. But these are legends. The fact is that
fine emerald~ are becoming more scarce each day.
In my observation, the vast majority of fine emeralds on the market
have actually been set in pieces of jewelry for the last fifty years.
Only now are they beginning to be taken from mountings and recut to
give them better color and brilliance |
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How to Distinguish Genuine from Synthetic Emeralds
Synthetic emeralds are made by mixing aluminum oxide with traces of
chromium under high heat and large amounts of pressure. There are two
great makers of synthetic emeralds in the world today, and they are
extremely secretive about their methods of operation.
Caryl Chatham and his son from San Francisco, California, have
developed a most remarkable, exceedingly beautiful emerald. Chatham
has priced his product in the hundreds of dollars per carat, and he
refuses to discuss his production methods. Similarly, in the south of
France, another technological genius, Pierre Gilson, has utilized a
method of creating synthetic emeralds.
The secret in distinguishing the natural from the manmade emerald may
lie in the inclusions. A natural emerald is created over the course
of millions of years, and the inclusions are a shorthand diary of
that stone's birth pains and growth history. The short, perhaps month-long,
history of the creation of the synthetic emerald has another set of
inclusions that betray that gemstone's man-made origins.
Under the microscope, one can see wispy, veil like inclusions
permeating the Chatham or Cilson emeralds. These contrast with the
included crystals of pyrite, calcite, and actinolite that dot the
interior landscape of a naturally formed emerald crystal.
Similarly, man-made emeralds become easily activated under
ultraviolet light, appearing reddish, while natural emeralds do not
generally appear to light up. This test is not hard to perform. One
word of caution, however: After a few years' study, the ingenious Mr.
Cilson managed to mix an amount of iron with his synthetic emeralds;
this prevented any fluorescence. Nonetheless, the Gemological
Institute of America has been able to analyze the chemical
compositions and impurities in this emerald by means of a
spectrometer, but the primary tool is a microscope and a ultra-violet lamp |
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How to Value an Emerald
There are no industrial uses for emeralds as there are for diamonds.
Consequently, an emerald mine owners only profit is from the sale of
his gemstones. If there is no gem contents in his mine, the mine
simply cannot be worked. As diamond melee has gone up to $200 to $
300 per carat for finer stones, so too, emerald melee has sharply
increased in price over the past few years. It is not unusual on a
wholesale level to see emeralds selling for $7OO to $8oo per carat of
melee, which often translates into $70 to $80 per stone- a stone the
size of the letter "0" on this page.
The stones, however, that capture the dealer's and investor's
imagination are mainly the bigger stones-those that are cut into
carat sizes or better. Emeralds over 10 carats are a great, great
rarity. However, unlike rubies, which had to be presented to the king
if they exceeded 6 carats, emeralds were never placed under this
constraint in Colombia or in other gem-mining areas. Consequently, we
can see in the Smithsonian Institution two emeralds that are over 30
carats, of superb, sea like transparency.
The popularity of emeralds has been so strong in recent years that
most auctions offer at least one important stone for sale. Even if
you have no immediate intention of buying an emerald, an auction is a
good place in which to become familiar with its various shades of
color and market value.
If you want to get an idea of the full, delicate range of the emerald
colors, there is no question but that a trip to the Iranian
collection of precious stones would easily he the finest education
possible. Barring this, the same mechanics are involved in purchasing
an emerald as in purchasing other precious gems. Ultimately, you will
depend upon the reputation, knowledge and skill of the establishment
or person from whom you are buying the gem. It is thus wise to find,
by means of inquiry, who in your town has an understanding ear and a
stock of emeralds for sale. And arm yourself in advance with as much
knowledge of the subject as possible.
One thing that always shocks a new investor is the fact that almost
every emerald contains some blemishes or inclusions. Although it
seems incredible that one could pay several thousands of dollars for
a stone that is not perfectly flawless, the overwhelming factor in
the price of emeralds is the strength and purity of its green color.
Flawless emeralds are nonexistent!
Finally, by comparing the sizes of the stones, the shades of green,
and the relative absence of flaws with the price of a stone, one can
normally make a decision as to which emerald is most suitable for purchase |
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This month we will also be looking at how to
tumble your own stones.
TUMBLING |
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TO BEGIN
(a)You must have good rock to work with.
(b)Sort out your rock in pieces of about the same hardness.
(c)If cracking rock, use a cold chisel, approx 1kg
hammer and an anvil (a large flat-sided rock will do). Wear goggles,
and wear a glove on the hand holding the rock
(d)Trim odd ends, rough edges. You can use a grinding
wheel to shape some of the choice pieces.
The shaping phase
Place the rock in the tumbler barrel. Fill to
two-thirds full. Add 500 grams of 60 to 80 grit silicon carbide for
every 10 kg of stone. Let me give you a tip here. Get some grinding
stones from your local engineering workshop and break it up and put
some of these pieces with your rough stone. Add water to just below
the rock; seal and run for one week, twenty-four hours a day. If you
should have to stop the tumbler for more than a couple of hours,
remove the rock and clean completely as the solution will start to
harden like cement. If your unit is lined you will not have to worry
about gas build-up. There is enough expansion to compensate. If
unlined, add a little bicarbonate of soda and make a practice of
opening the barrel every second day to allow the gas to escape.
Another tip from Gerdus, I suggest that you open the tumbler every
day to see if a slurry has been formed. Real tumbling only starts
when your water has turned into slurry. Do not let the level of your
stones drop to below two thirds full. If the stones get grind away
you have to fill the barrel with fillers like walnut shells or more
rock. Your tumbler operates best when it stays at two thirds full.
Keep the slurry mix just right. If the mixture is too watery it will
take longer in this shaping phase. If the slurry gets too thick it
will also prevent your stones from shaping in time.
At the end of the first week, take out a handful of
rock and see how much has been ground off. If surfaces are not
smooth, add a handful of grit (60 to 80) and grind again for another
week. Two weeks is usually enough for smooth materials such as beach
agates. Rough cracked material will come out smoother if tumbled for
three weeks. Don't clean the barrel out every week, it is the slurry
that grinds the stone to the proper shape. If you allow the proper
length of time in the coarse grind, a finer polish will result,
because the succeeding grits merely eliminate the scratches left by
the coarser grit.
NEXT.
Now take out the rocks and wash them clean and make
sure there is no grit on them. Be sure that your barrel is washed and
clean. Reload the rocks as you did before and put in 220 grit and
water. Run for one week. Repeat again with 500 grit for one week. You
are now at the final stage.
Take the rocks out, rinse and lay stones on a cloth
for inspection and drying. At this stage there should he a fairly
good polish on them. Back to the barrel again and add 1/2 kg of tin
oxide or cerium oxide or another polishing compound that you can buy
from your rock shop and water to underneath the stone level and
tumble for another week.
THAT IS IT!
You're finished. Make sure that you rinse your rocks
in several changes of water, and in the final rinse you could add a
little flaked household soap to give a little more gleam. If you keep
the material clean and use hot water, and operate the tumbler in a
warm place, you should have no problem.
Be sure that you DO NOT use liquid detergents in your liners.
KEEPA LOG of your operations. By varying the above you
may find a method that may suit you better.
TUMBLING HINTS
Tumble your stones through the various grits, washing
the stones and tumbler well between each grit. Put them in the
tumbler and fill with water to 25 mm below the surface of the rocks.
After the week, remove and wash well, replace in
tumbler and run your material in clear water for 24 hours. The result
will be equal to the polish obtained by using any of the oxides.
To prevent the rocks from chipping each other in the
tumbler during the polish operation, plastic pellets are available to
cushion the roll. Rice hulls are also excellent. Dried corncobs
chopped fine make a good filter..
A few tablespoons of oxalic acid in your final tumbler
will give your stones that extra luster. Use a pinch of detergent
with your polishing compound, to allow the oxide to spread to all
parts of the rock
DON'T turn polished rocks out into metal containers.
Chrysocolla will pick up iron stains readily, so keep away from iron
ores or containers.
DO NOT POUR YOUR TUMBLING RESIDUES INTO HOUSE DRAINS!
Pour them into a bucket and let stand until you can pour of the
water. The dry residue can go in the garbage.
If your tumbler revolves on rubber rollers, clean them
with a rag dipped in lacquer thinner.
Lastly I want to mention that I am using a vibrating
tumbler for the latter phases, you can cut your tumbling time in half
if you invest in one of these.
Tumbling mixtures - to prevent undue wear and wastage,
stones of practically the same hardness should be tumbled together
rather than mixed with stones of softer or harder grade.
Mixture 1 - hardness; 6.5to 7.2 Quartz-chalcedony,
jasper, agate, wood, amethyst, spodumene, epidote, tigers-eye,
dumortierite, cassiterite..
Mixture 2 - hardness 5 to 6. Nepheline,sodalite,
Rhodonite, amblygonite, tremolite, actinolite, thulite, tantalite,
obsidian (handle with care). |
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Whats new at Silver Hills |
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I want to take this opportunity to tell you what we are doing on our
site. We have just invested in 9 tons of rough rock and then we will
be supplying the trade with a whole range of faceting rough soon.
Supply lines have opened up for us and we are now getting some
excellent rough from all over Africa. We are aiming to better supply
you with what you need to make a success. If you succeed we succeed.
It has been such a joy to get to know so many wonderful people out there.
I have some people that wrote to me that they got lost on my site.
Well let me give you a quick rundown on how to maneuver around in our
site. You can use this URL to take you straight to my home page.
www.mineralgallery.co.za/enter.htm Once here you will see two frames,
the one on the left stays the same and the one on the right changes
when you press any button on the left. Use the buttons on the left to
take you to any page you want.
On this main home page there is a nifty feature, it is the search
engine connected to my site. Here you can search within my site for
any items that you are looking for. Try it once. It is updated once a
week on a Sunday so changes made during the week will only show at
the end of the week. At over 3000 pages you can struggle to find
exactly what you want.
Then we have the updates button. This take you to a page just behind
the main page, here you will see what we have been up to the last few
days. We do an update every day and will list new stock then. If you
want the best specimens be willing to visit this page every day. I
have now included an updates button on the menu frame on the left
just below minerals a-z. I want to thank my excellent friends who
have allowed us to grow this business the way we have up to now. I
hate to disappoint any of you. Some items are selling just hours
after we have listed it. So visit this page every day if you want the
pick of the crop.
Lastly I want to mention that we have listed only a small part of our
stock on the rough page. We have listed the rocks that we can supply
in large quantities as 30 kg sample lots. Most at a price of $ 2.00
per kilo. This price is for a batch of 30 kg send in a standard box.
The freight on a single box like this can be fairly high. If you are
serious about making good profits you will have to invest in a larger
quantity of rock. What we have discovered is that you will save at
least $ 3.00 per kilo just on the freight by taking a 500 kg pallet.
That is a saving of $ 1500 for that amount of rocks on the freight
alone. For those of you who act quickly we are offering a
further 30 % discount on select rough stones for the month of October
if you make use of our savings offer of a 500 kg pallet. You can also
mix a pallet with your own selection.
I just quoted one of my clients for a ton of rough to Los Angeles and
it came to only $ 295.00 via Singapore. That is only 33 US cents per
kilo. It can hardly get better than that. If you want to make a good
profit this season you need to start communicating with us about
larger quantities.
The month of October I am buying two Tsumeb collections and a Wessels
mine collection. There are over 1000 specimens in the Wessels
collection. Be prepared for a smorgasbord of stunners |
