Maybe one of you old hands can help me with a very strange find. I live in the Southwest and wander about in the wilderness as I like the quiet mostly. I have been looking in creeks between what I believe to be a old silver mine and a small lake about a mile away. As my post suggest, I found Quartz, just one good chunk. While the rocks have small amounts of stuff that could be quartz, I have never found a actual piece of quartz. Just glitters in the rocks. I dont have a picture to post. But can if need be. My question is the importance of quartz in a hardrock area that doesnt appear to have any quartz? I dont believe it was carried in by someone. Any ideas as I believe I may be working a fault at the base of a mountain.