Published On Jul 5, 2022
One of my favorite mineral collecting sites is at the McCoy Mountains, California in search of limonite “cube” crystals. While much of my hike was on the valley floor, I camped on the ridgeline of the McCoy Mountains for a spectacular sunset that evening. The limonite crystals can be found in the alluvial fans along the southeastern flank of these mountains. The crystals were originally pyrite (FeS2 -- fool’s gold). Over time, and with the introduction of water and oxygen, these pyrite cubes became iron hydroxide, or limonite (FeO-nH2O). Its external appearance remains essentially the same, but the composition has been altered. These limonite cubes have also been called "Indian Money" because people believed that the strangely shaped minerals could only have been shaped by man’s hand, not by nature. DesertUSA posted that these limonite cubes can be found between 33°40.033' N and 114°46.913' W. You can watch this video, in addition to all of my adventures on my YouTube channel at: / @joseph_wright . Love to all, Joe