Azeztulite. One of the most foolish scams on the mineral world. Not only are people buying shards of the most common mineral on earth for several dollars per carat, the scam just keeps getting bigger!

One of the reasons I even bother to bring this point up is that I’m seeing all of these variations (all trademarked) whenever the scamsters find enough of a supply to warrant new names.

I was viewing an eBay seller’s account and I saw this nugget, mixed into an account full of interesting minerals…

When this shameful scam will end, nobody can know. We certainly hope it is sooner than later. Azeztulite is broken quartz shards, devoid of worth.

Certainly not something you want to find out about your beautiful gem crystal on matrix…but in fact, a whole subdivision of gem mineral sales at the point of origin are sometimes manufactured specimens involving a liberal slathering of glue to hold everyting in place.

For instance, the new wonderful Scorderite xtls on matrix from China. Beautiful. Glued.

So, if you have any specimens you wonder about, give them a soak in some Acetone. See what falls apart! Sometimes nothing, sometime something substantial. Bummer for us honest mineral collectors and dealers.

Thanks to Dr. L for the photo!

I get e-mails from people who buy gemstones all the time. I am not a gemstone kinda guy…I just cringe when I think about my gem crystals being ground down! So, I don’t have many tips for you that haven’t been handed down to me from others.

If you are buying a rare gem stone and want to make sure that you are getting what you paid for, how about getting it cut yourself?

If you want good quality cut stones, why try and buy cheap stuff off eBay? Personally, I wouldn’t trust cheap gemstones for the sole reason, there is an entire market out there set about fooling you! Some person from Thailand isn’t really going to be too worried telling you that they are 100% honest, non-treated…when in that culture, it just doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t matter to them if they are lying to you. In fact, they just assume that they have to do that to get you to give them your trust. With the conusmerist programing we have had, we are all too willing to give our trust to someone right away when they tell us those buzzwords. The person with the screaming deals and the gemstones at stupid low prices have them that way because they DON’T know what they have.

Just deal with a reputable dealer(s) that you know on a face to face basis. If I was buying gemstones that is what I would do.

If I just wanted cheap brightly colored shiny baubbles, maybe eBay is the place to go.

Look at this crap. Faced green glass sold as faceted Moldavite. Yeah, Moldavite IS glass, so how are YOU going to prove him wrong? Sigh.

Azeztulite is nothing but plain old Quartz, one of the most common minerals in the entire world. I could take you to thousands of locations where junk Quartz is laying all over the ground. But you wouldn’t bother picking it up. Not unless you were planning on putting a “special name” on it so you could sell it for $5.00 a carat!

That’s right, one more time for anyone who wasn’t listening.

Azeztulite is nothing but Quartz.

Ok, so I was following links to this site and I saw someone posted a link, but they messed up and wrote FakeCrystals.com, instead of FakeMinerals.com. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to be mixed up, so I went to register that domain name.

But someone else beat me to it. So, I figured, let’s find out who and see what they are using it for! It would be great to have a new fighter on our side, another person serving as a light bringer. Whoot.

Nope. Go to http://fakecrystals.com

It is now owned by ONE of the WORST on the WEB, http://mountaingems.net, a site that talks about crystal healing and other metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. Getting ready for a Spirit Quest? Look no further than MountainGems.net! MountainGems.net been getting tons of common Brazilian junk and cheaply made Brazilian Chakra kits (I can say all this, as **I** worked for SEVERAL YEARS supplying these sellers while I was manager of a wholesale company…I placed the orders FROM the Brazilian dealers who make this stuff, so we could sell it to people like her.)

So, she registered FakeCrystals.com as a retort to FakeMinerals.com doing a proper hit piece on the overall SCAM that is Azeztulite.

Let me blow her counter claim right out of the water…

“First of all there is a huge difference between the Metaphysical World and that of mineral collectors. Just because we in the healing and enlightened community have “named” our healing stones and crystals for our own use does not make them fake.”

Afraid not. You see, that might work fine when you do something such as call Anhydrite “Angelite”. There is no difference in value to massive Anhydrite rough and the trade name Angelite. That is, you would get the same amount of money for a one pound chunk of light blue Anhydrite as you would a one pound chunk of light blue Angelite. It is the same thing and the same price. You don’t get charged more for the Metaphysical name, Angelite. So, have at it. Use Angelite all you want.

That’s not the case with Azeztulite. Let me make it clear. The reason our little cold black scientific hearts get all agitated with these idiots is that they think that taking a WORTHLESS item, such as junk Quartz and slapping a new name and story on it, they can take a WORTHLESS item and sell it for several dollars PER CARAT!

No.

We will do everything in our power to make sure that the thought that junk Quartz can be re-branded and sold as a premium is stamped out all across the world. We will destroy your lies and your myth and all you’ll be left with is the wads of cash you’ve taken from people…use that to wipe up your tears.

I promise all of you Metaphysical dealers. All of you who think you can just slap names onto rocks and charge 10x the normal max retail price. You’re going to LOVE Tucson!

And my new website,
Http://www.FakeAzeztulite.com

Pwned.

And thank you to all the metaphysical dealers out there who are actually very honest and up front with their customers and don’t buy into this whole fake rock thing. Your e-mails are very much appreciated!

We have been over this one before, the first time I saw it was in 2002 and it seems it will never stop, though the popularity it dwindling.

Red Quartz polished items from China are Red Glass. Very simple. In fact, some also say it is from Madagascar or somewhere in the asian pacific. Of course it is really just polished red glass.

These two pictures are both links to two different auctions, run by the same person on two different accounts!

One is a buy it now with FREE shipping! Only $88.00

Next is an auction for .99 with $70.00 shipping!

Either way, getting his price! Advertises it as “POLISHED BLOOD-RED QUARTZ CRYSTAL”, but in reality needs to be labeled “Bright Red Glass Sphere”

NOTICE! SAME PICTURE, DIFFERENT AUCTION. DIFFERENT AUCTIONS, DIFFERENT SELLERS!!! SAME PERSON, TWO ACCOUNTS!!!

Don’t we all WISH there was a RED QUARTZ location in nature that actually produces stuff like this? Who knows, maybe one day we will find one just like that in a huge quanity, but until then, GLASS. It is glass.

Click on the link to go to the eBay auction and bid on the ACTUAL Fluorite in the photo!
Be sure to pick up your own copy of the new magazine, on sale NOW on eBay! Mega 64 Page Special!

Citrine is one of those minerals that causes the most confusion when people start collecting minerals. Naturally occuring Citrine is a variety of Quartz that is found at only in superb examples few places in the world. The color of natural Citrine is a lemon shade, in stark contrast to the predominatly red influence to the majority of “Citrine” available to begining collectors.

Since there are so few locations for great quality natural Citrine, the demand for this brightly colored mineral lead to people figuring out that if you stuck certain types of Amethyst into a kiln you could turn the purple into a deep reddish orange. Like this geode below

This seller with the picture above is a real tool. I’ve sent numerous messages to them about the misleading descriptions and they respond by making the descriptions that much more misleading!

Take this quote for example…

Citrine is very difficult to acquire, and the cost is more expensive than Amethyst of the same quality. This Citrine is a higher standard of quality which of course commands a higher price as with all of my Citrine speciments they have very little matrix which means more crystals for your money.

The problem with this statement is that there is no difficulty to acquire heat treated Citrine from Brazil. Do you need a 5000 pound contaner load? I can have one delivered to you with a couple of phone calls. The Amethyst deposits of South America are nearly limitless and while amazingly beautiful, not lacking in abundance. The problem with heat treated Amethyst is that it becomes brittle and subject to cracking. Is this a “bad” thing? Not really, there is always room for treated decorator minerals. But honesty should be key, informing the customer of what they are buying, rather than leading them to belive that bright orange citrine crystals come out of the basalts of southern Brazil. This stuff is sold by the kilo. Don’t be a sucker, shop around for the best price and form, you’ll get much more enjoyment that way.

Now, a language barrier is leading many dealers from Asia to sell Quartz that has been found with a layer of Iron Oxide over the surface as Citrine. In reality, a dip in some Oxalic acid will return these Quartz crystals to their proper form, white Quartz. Western Vs. Eastern ideals on names and the nature of fakes varies and while we might demand proper identification, the asian market will just label minerals whatever suits them that day. So, iron stained Quartz becomes Citrine! But in reality, most people remove the Iron staining from their specimens.

One of my favorite websites for gemstone scams is Colored-Stone.com! There are always people coming up with new ways to dye, irradiate, heat and otherwise screw with the color of a natural gem.

Well, this material, “Andesine Labradorite” has been on the market for awhile, mimicing the most sought after colors and effects shown in top quality Oregon sunstone. Long story short…injected with dye. Whoot!

You should go to this website and read the whole story. It is quite amazing!

http://www.colored-stone.com/stories/may08/sunstone.cfm

First off I want to thank each and everyone who has sent in alerts to FakeMinerals.com! We love getting your feedback and article ideas!

During Tucson of 2008 a mineral dealer recieved these specimens from a Chinese dealer. Just as soon as they were unwrapped they were wrapped back up to be returned! Obviously these matrix Copper specimens are quite fake. These natural specimens have these copper splashes on them as an afterthought.

I have scanned eBay and the internet and I have not seen any more examples of these for sale, but as always, be aware that manufacturing specimens is a never ending endevor for some!

I was alerted to this fraud by a reader of FakeMinerals.com. Thanks John!

Written By Justin Zzyzx and Brandy Naugle for FakeMinerals.com

Investigative Reporting by Hal Guyot

Arkansas is known for something very unique.

The ONLY public access diamond mine in the entire world. For a small fee, anyone can go to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro Arkansas and search for diamonds in the giant open dirt field.

While it is certainly no easy task to unearth a diamond here, amazing finds have been reported and tracked through time. The average diamond found at the “Crater” is far less than a carat, most weighing in at under 10 points (that’s 1/10th of a carat) (TINY!). Finding a nice big fat stone over a carat is something people work for years and don’t find!

Diamonds at the Crater come in several shades, 70% of them being white, with brown coming in second and yellow is a close third.

The state park registers all of the diamonds that people find at the park, if they are willing to register it. Some don’t because they want to keep it private, while many want the nifty card that you get when you register your diamond with the park. They even keep track of everyone’s finds on their website, www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com.

Diamonds from Arkansas are also special because of a very important fact. They are worth some SERIOUS dollars! They are so special and unique, plus they tend to be among the hardest diamonds known to man. They have a unique form and often look like sleek drops of glass, rather than crude cubes and rough diamonds of so many African locations. So, an Arkansas diamond is going to be one of the most expensive diamonds you can get, but rightfully so!

Now that you know all about the important facts about diamonds from the “Crater of Diamonds State Park”, learn about how someone almost came up with a perfect scam. Almost.

You certainly couldn’t take any diamond into the park and plant it on the ground. Or at least no one thought you could. A diamond from Africa, Brazil, Russia, et al. would not produce diamonds that look like the ones from Arkansas. But someone found a source that could pass for Arkansas diamonds. A source in India that imports diamonds from the Panna Mines.

Photos of diamond lots sent to Eric to examine prior to purchase.

India produces hundreds of thousands more diamonds than the US, therefore, the diamonds from India are much cheaper than their American counterparts. A man named Eric Blake (www.arkansasdiamondjewelry.com) figured out he could make some money by purchasing diamonds from India then take them into the park and “find” them. A brown diamond from India costs around $100 per carat, while a similar diamond from Arkansas costs $1000 -$2000 per carat. A profit of more than 1000%.

In late October of 2007, Eric Blake and his family took a trip to the “Crater” and found an amazing amount of LARGE BROWN DIAMONDS!

It was no coincidence that he also placed a rush order for an assortment of Indian diamonds to be delivered no later than October 18th.

On 10/6/07 Eric sent the following message from his girlfriend (and accomplice) Susan Gabrielson’s email account.

Hello (Name Withheld),I may have deleted your last mail by accident. As I have not gotten a response from you. We are eagerly awaiting your mail. The stones must be received no later than October 18, 2007. Anything you can do to expedite this shipment would be greatly appreciated.

Over the span of 5 days, Eric and his three assistants “found” over 16.5 carats of diamonds at the park, including a whopping 3.92 carat stone! What great luck, eh? Out of all of the recorded finds they had that week, 60% of them were brown! What an interesting thing, because usually only around 20% of the finds are brown in color.

Screen captures of from the park diamond find archive for Eric Blake, Susan Gabrielson, Sarah Gabrielson, & Sayde Gabrielson

Eric also owns a website called ArkansasDiamondJewelry.com which sells diamonds and jewelry, reported to come from the “Crater” complete with certificate of authenticity issued by the Arkansas State Park. However, some of the diamonds on the site are proven to be Indian in origin. FakeMinerals.com received paperwork which shows Eric Blake importing diamonds from India in early October.

Kimberly Certificate

UPS Tracking code, screen captured from UPS.com

If that isn’t damning enough, photos taken by the salesperson in India which clearly match up with diamonds for sale on ArkansasDiamondJewelry.com

In addition, Eric sells “Arkansas Diamonds” on eBay (sayde1garcia) and has successfully sold some of his Indian diamonds to mineral dealers here in America as originating from Arkansas.

Private sources have indicated that they have been onto Mr. Blake for a few months now, but they have lacked the evidence to be sure that he was “salting” the diamond field.

One regular digger at the “Crater” met Mr. Blake in 2006 when he first tried out his scam. At that time he only registered a few diamonds. Mr. Blake offered to let the regular digger search his hole when he was done. It wasn’t much surprise that the regular didn’t find anything else in that hole. In 2007 Mr. Blake and his family were digging in an area that is known to be the dumping ground for gravel that was trucked in 1924 to put in a road. This gravel is completely free from diamonds as it is not from the diamond field, however they found a remarkable 32 diamonds! Mr. Blake then offered the hole to another family when they were leaving and while the family moved quite a bit of material, no more diamonds were forthcoming.

Mr. Blake. The diggers at the “Crater of Diamonds State Park” would like you to know that you are persona non grata.

With this information MOST, IF NOT ALL of the Diamonds sold by Mr. Blake are not from Arkansas and should be labeled as coming from the Panna Mine in India.

It is amazing that someone could think they would get away with trying to scam these finds, especially since there are dozens of people who stare, poke and prod at the numbers of the finds on the Crater’s website. 32 diamonds is an impossible number of diamonds to be found by two adults and two children during 5 days at the park.

Additionaly, As recently as January 2008, Eric has sent emails trying to “match” certain stones. And while there is nothing wrong with that in itself, in this context, it is more than a little suspicious.

I leave you with this parting thought… What is the Travel Channel’s most promoted collecting location on their “Best Places to find Cash and Treasures” series? Yep, you guessed it! Crater of Diamonds State Park! Could this be the beginning of the inevitable backlash associated with promoting this “get rich quick” mentality to mineral collecting? I guess only time will tell.

Fake Minerals and Scams are all around us. If you catch wind of something fishy, send to us here at Justin@the-vug.com

Thanks again to Hal Guyot (GeoSleuth@gmail.com) for all your hard work on this story!

Special Extra Thanks goes out to the HONEST INDIAN DEALER, Malay Hirani of Soni Tools (www.sonitools.com) for being willing to help stop fraud!

UPDATE!: Just google Eric Blake’s name on Google and you will find AP News report after AP News report about his 3.92 carat stone find in October of 2007. Not only did he scam the public, the state park, but he also scamed the media. What a guy!

UPDATE!: As soon as Eric heard about this website, he removed the photos that match up above and got rid of his “Dealer Lot” section, well, those diamonds matched up perfectly!

UPDATE!: There is a ton of additional extra evidence and it has all been turned into the authorities. We do not know if anyone will ever see that this out to justice, but you can be sure that far and wide, people know what to look out for and a scammer has been chased out!

And here is a picture found on Google of Eric Blake holding his “famous find”.