Stal on Ebay

[underground]

good work chaps - we need to keep an eye out for this kind of stuff. Its the crystal mob that Im more worried about. Has anyone mailed them.

I simply asked the origin of the stal, and got the following:

Hi there,

I've asked my supplier for the origin of this and I am waiting for them to
get back to me, thanks, Ruth

 

[pothole pils]

I just did a search on e-bay for just Stalactite wihch returned 44 results. Just skimming through these, some however are not actually stals.

What are peoples opinions on selling the kind of polished rocks that one finds in the tacky gift shops all over the place for ridiculous prices, is this not as just as bad as selling stals or is there some fundamental difference?


I'll be emailing the people selling the actual stals as before. As for getting in touch with e-bay themselves, it's not easy, unsurprisingly they get thousands of emails a day and as I can't see that stals come under any of the banned items catagories, I can't see how much they can do. Plus you can't just send them a general email you have to select catagories for your message, into which this query doesn't really fit.

 

[pothole pils]

Reply to one of my messages just came back:

I fully understand you concern. The thing is we only sell these kinds of
items that come from active mines. These specimens come are taken from mines
before the mine is blasted to harvest the ore in the mine. So actually we
are preserving these specimens. If they were not harvested out of the mine
before blasting they would just go to the rock crusher with all the rest of
the material. Please believe me when I say I fully agree with your position
and we would never never sell something that was harvested in a living cave.

I hope this addresses your concerns.

What do people think of this? To me this seems acceptable, however does selling this kind of product make it more likely that people will take stals from caves thinking that it is ok to make a quick buck?

 

[Huw Groucutt]

They shouldnt be mining if formations are being destroyed!

Of course it wil encourage people to take them from other places.

 

[bubba]

In an ideal world that would be the case, but unfortunately the economic benefits of mining will always take precedence over the wishes of conservationists, especially where the thing to be conserved is well out of the public gaze.

We are maybe doing more harm by bringing attention to this issue in this way as people will realise that there is a market for cave formations, albeit a small one. It doesn't take much for somebody who's interested in a quick buck to quickly wreck a load of formations without thinking twice about it.

 

[Huw Groucutt]

yea i was being partly sarcastic. Perhaps they should just give stuff to schools, museums that kinda stuff, not try and make more profit on them

 

[Cartwright26]

Just reading this old thread so thought id have a search andits still happening which is annoying to say the least, i know this is in germany but i wonder how often uk caves get ruined for this cause.
http://bit.ly/1ldqdFZ

 

[pwhole]

Jeez - someone's actually willing to buy that? Hilarious.

 

[JasonC]

Reading this on the eBay entry is somewhat reassuring:
"I acquired this incredible specimen from a German dealer I met out in Tucson this year. From childhood I've always found stalactites irresistable, so I was delighted to find such an unusually fine example for sale. And, it was collected legally from private property - a one-time find that only produced a handfull fo stalactites."

Although this is less so.....
"People interested in metaphysics and crystal healing tell us that calcite is a world teacher for all of humanity, facilitating awareness and of the creative forces of nature. Calcite is an energy amplifier, bringing forth a spectrum of energy that clears and activates all the chakras."

... which of course explains why we all feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after a few hours' close contact with calcite 

 

[cap n chris]

LOL JasonC.... reminds me of yonks back when I visited Glastonbury with a no-nonsense friend... we popped into a crystal healing shoppe and the beardyfreak approached when he saw us looking quizzically at some polished rose quartz, chiming in "It's great for healing, it's got a powerful vibe.... you can probably feel it if you hold a piece in your palm", to which said chum retorted "No. Can't feel a thing from it. I reckon you're talking bollocks mate".

 

[Roger W]

. Calcite is an energy amplifier, bringing forth a spectrum of energy that clears and activates all the chakras.[/i]"

Dunno about the chakras, but has anyone noticed their Oldham powering up to Scurion-like brightness in the vicinity of a bit of calcite?

 

[AR]

Although this is less so.....
"People interested in metaphysics and crystal healing tell us that calcite is a world teacher for all of humanity, facilitating awareness and of the creative forces of nature. Calcite is an energy amplifier, bringing forth a spectrum of energy that clears and activates all the chakras."

... which of course explains why we all feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after a few hours' close contact with calcite 

I think you have to use it as a suppository to get the quoted effect....

 

[RobinGriffiths]

Condition listed as 'New'. As in newly broken off presumably.

 

[shotlighter]

Reading this on the eBay entry is somewhat reassuring:
"I acquired this incredible specimen from a German dealer I met out in Tucson this year. From childhood I've always found stalactites irresistable, so I was delighted to find such an unusually fine example for sale. And, it was collected legally from private property - a one-time find that only produced a handfull fo stalactites."

Although this is less so.....
"People interested in metaphysics and crystal healing tell us that calcite is a world teacher for all of humanity, facilitating awareness and of the creative forces of nature. Calcite is an energy amplifier, bringing forth a spectrum of energy that clears and activates all the chakras."

Hmm reminds of a time when me & me mate were about to go down a hole in the Peak District.
A bearded new age type enquired if we got our energy from the rocks, as he apparently got his from the air.
Me mate (a collier) replied "F*** off yer daft twat"

 

[hoehlenforscher]

I used to live near Bad Urach and there we once found and entered a fantastically well decorated cave which had been exposed through quarrying. We approached the quarry owner and was informed that they had been "mining" along similar passage for some time. They gave us a few months grace to map, photograph and catalogue the cave before it too was quarried out (despite attemps to preserve it. I think a lot of stal was removed from that cave in the knowledge that it was doomed anyway since once quarrying resumed it became very easy to enter (previously was a difficult abseil down a loose rift, but quarrying ripped the wall out).

 

[Cartwright26]

Thats a shame some pretty formations, the drippy hippys would of been off there tits next to that much calcite!!!

 

[bograt]

I think you have to use it as a suppository to get the quoted effect....

Surely that would make it difficult for these folks to talk?  :-\