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Tmix07-144 - Quartz xls pseudo after Laumontite , and Delessite - $ 450 SOLD Irai, Rio Uruguai, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil small cabinet, 7.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 cm
This unusual pseudo features a diverging, half moon spray of dark gray, laumontite crystals which has been totally replaced by quartz colored brown by inclusions of (i am told) delessite. The crystals average 3.0 cm in length. It is overall very elegant and interesting, and is complete on both sides and very 3-dimensional. I have seen some of these clusters of similar style labelled as pseudo after anhydrite but the color was different, and the robustness and weight slightly different, so I am inclined to believe this identification after laumontite to be valid.
TUC10-351 - Chamosite with Emerald - $ 400 SOLD Hupei Mine (Qinjiafang Mine), Pingjiang Co., Yueyang Prefecture, Hunan Province, China small cabinet, 7.7 x 6.1 x 4.4 cm
A highly unusual specimen featuring mediocre but colorful emerald, which serves as the background for superb, sharp crystals of chamosite, the iron analogue of clinochlore. The sharpest crystal here is a doubly-terminated , razor-sharp crystal measuring 1.7 cm across. I had not seen these before from this productive emerald locality and was suspicious when first shown this piece as an "axinite" which generally would not occur with emerald. The identity was confirmed by RAMAN and XRAY analysis in the lab of Dr Robert Downs at University of Arizona. I think this is a quite good example of the species, and one wonders how many such crystals have been thrown away as rubbish in the mad search for crumpled green emeralds! All Content and Design ©1996-2010 The ArkenstonePowered by http://mineralwebsites.comBy-species Galleries | ||||||||