Massive pod of very rare Brannerite REE
I was in Petaca, NM this week and used my yDog to locate a pod of these crystals where they had developed in the pegmatite millions of years ago. I was methodically following up on every weak signal at the surface until I found one that seemed localized rather than a random hit from dispersed radiation. Once I started digging the signal got stronger and I knew there was something good there and I just hoped that it was not encased in solid rock. I dug for perhaps 2 hours before pulling out the first few crystals. Eventually the hole was 2 feet deep, and I was standing in it. After about 4 hours of exhausting work I had pulled out 53 crystals. I managed to piece 23 of them together into 6 larger specimens. The largest is 4 inches tall. The XRF shows Ti, Fe, Pb, and of course U.