What is CZ (Cubic Zirconia)

What is CZ (Cubic Zirconia)

CZ is a diamond simulant. This means it is lab grown and it was meant to be a cheap alternative to diamonds. It is crystalline silicon carbide and even though it has been repored from several meteorites as tiny grains, it is now mass produced in labs. It is hard, optically flawless and colorless (unless pigment is added).  It is not the mineral zircon and shouldn’t be confused with it even though it is often called “cubic zirconium” erroneously.

It was commercially produced starting in 1976 and has been the main competitor to diamonds up till synthetic moissanite came onto the market.

Definitions of the Word Crystal

Definitions of the word crystal

Crystal; A crystal or crystalline solid is a material that has atoms, molecules, or ions arranged in an ordered structure that extends in 3 dimensions.  In mineralogy, a crystal is part of the definition of a mineral.  Every mineral has to have a crystal structure. There are organic crystals such as bone, teeth, insulin, and other compounds within living organisms.

Rock Crystal; the common variety of clear quartz.

Lead Crystal, Swarovki Crystal; A type of glass where the calcium is replaced with lead oxides.  The term crystal is used erroneously. 

Liquid Crystal; are crystals that act as a crystalline solid and a liquid at the same time.

The word crystal is also used to describe (adjective) other objects;

Crystal Clear is used to describe something that is very clear-transparent.

Crystal Mountain; there are several crystal mountains.  Some are famous for the crystals found there whether they are quartz, gypsum, feldspar, etc. And some are famous for their snow.

Crystal Watch Face; the glass watch face is often referred to as a crystal.

Utah Ozokerite

Utah Ozokerite

Ozokerite is a natural paraffin wax. It was mined in Utah by the pioneers who used it to make candles. Ozokerite deposits are believed to have originated in much the same way as mineral veins, the slow evaporation and oxidation of petroleum having resulted in the deposition of dissolved paraffin in the fissures and crevices previously occupied by the liquid. As found native, Ozokerite varies from a very soft wax to a black mass. 

Ozokerite has been used in candles, electric insulators, boot polish, in rubber to make it pliable, and to make some of the earliest know recording drums and records. It has also been used in paper tissues to make them soft. T

he Utah state legislature meetings were recorded on records (LP-type) that were made of this material. 

One of the most productive sites in the world was near the top of Soldier Summit on the Provo side. Remnants of the mine are still visible along the road. Ozokerite is not mined anymore, and probably will never be mined again. 

There is not any Ozokerite found around the mine, though there is still a lot underground. 

Fulgurite - The Thunderbolt Stone

The word Fulgurite comes from the Latin word fulgur meaning thunderbolt and are natural hollow glass tubes formed by lightning strikes. They are formed when lightning with a temperature of at least 1,800 °C (3,270 °F) instantaneously melts silica on a conductive surface and fuses grains together; the fulgurite’ tube is the cooled product.

Because it is amorphous, meaning it has no internal crystalline structure, fulgurite is classified as a mineraloid.

The entire process happens over a period of around one second, and leaves evidence of the lightning path and its dispersion over the surface in the form of what looks like a hardened, and usually hollow, plant roots.  

Fulgurites can also be produced when a high voltage electrical distribution network breaks and the lines fall onto a conductive surface with sand beneath.

Fulgurites are sometimes referred to as petrified lightning, which is a misnomer as nothing is being replaced or is organic.  The glass formed is called lechatelierite and may also be formed by meteorite impacts and volcanic explosions. 

Their color varies depending on the composition of the sand they formed in, ranging from black (from basaltic sand) or tan (from quartz sand) to green or a translucent white (from rhyolitic sand) and other varieties are known.  Fulgurites can form in solid rock but they are impossible to extract and often look like a round spot of a different color on the host rock. 

The interior is normally very smooth or lined with fine bubbles and the exterior is generally coated with rough sand particles and is porous or very textured. They are root-like in appearance and often show branching.

A History of Bixbyite Starting With Maynard Bixby

It is impossible to talk about bixbyite without looking into the past of Maynard Bixby.  Maynard was born June 28^th, 1853 in Pennsylvania where he worked as a clerk in his father’s dry goods store until he moved off to college.  He graduated from Lafayette College in Eastern Pennsylvania, along with his brother, in 1870.

Maynard and his brother and their father and his current wife all moved to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and worked either operating or for a bank.  Maynard studied law during this period but shortly decided to travel the U.S. looking for an adventure.  He discovered mining in Colorado and Arizona.  He eventually worked his way back to Chicago and then traveled to England in 1884 for a few months and then came back the U.S.  It has been speculated this was a mineral collecting trip.

By 1890 he was living in Salt Lake City and had married Katherine.  In Utah he explored a lot of the mining districts but is most famous for his work in the Thomas Range. 

Here he had claims for topaz and in his advertisements he states; "For several years I have collected the very finest of the Utah minerals and have concluded to offer them direct to collectors at the following low prices ..."

It is here that he discovered what is now bixbyite, named in his honor.

He also discovered the red beryl which was named bixbite in his honor.  It has been discredited as a separate mineral species and labeled a variety of beryl (red beryl).

Using his formal education and his field experience he wrote articles for “The Mineral Collector”.  This is only a partial list of articles he wrote;

A description of topaz crystals, their localities and occurrences in Utah (1894)

A collector in Colorado (1894)

Montana Sapphires (1896)

Idaho Opals (1894)

Notes on Collecting in Utah (1897)

Notable minerals in western mines (1894-1895)

Pseudomorphs from Utah (1896)

A trip to the Utah desert (1897)

A trip to the Old Jordan & Galena Mines, Bingham, Utah (1896)

In 1906 he published his first edition of “A catalog of Utah minerals and their localities”. 

By 1935 he and his wife and daughter had moved to San Diego, California where he died on February 18^th, 1935. 

 

Bixbyite forms as black shiny cubes (or modified cubes) associated with topaz, red beryl, pseudobrookite, hematite, fluorite, sanadine, and quartz.  It is rarely associated with holfertite at the holfertite pit.  The majority of bixbyite crystals are single crystals but twinning does occur commonly.

Thomas Range

Bixbyite is found in many places around the world but the most recognizable, the largest, the most distinct crystals come from one place; the Solar Wind Claim on the north end of the Thomas Range in Juab County, Utah.  Here crystals form from 1mm to over 30mm often associated with, and on, sherry colored topaz.  The Thomas range formed 33-35 mya when rhyolite erupted from the ground.  All the minerals found here tend to be concentrated in vertical fissures where hot gases were escaping from within the earth.  These gases deposited the minerals on the walls of these vertical fissures and within the sandy filling of the fissures.

Other Utah locations for bixbyite include the Wah Wah Mountains and a rhyolite flow in Marysvale.  Both locations produce bixbyite crystals to 4mm.

Bixbyite is found in a number of other localities around the world.  Most notably include;

Mexico has a couple of locations for bixbyite.  Here it occurs to 7mm crystals.

Germany also produces some 3mm crystals.

N'Chwaning Mines, Kuruman, Kalahari manganese fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa.  Specimens from here are small plates composed of clusters of crystals.

New Mexico.

What About Silicon

What About Silicon? 

Silicon is the second most common element in the earth's crust, with oxygen being number one.  This means man has figured out how to use it to our advantage.  We use it for abrasives, making glass, silicon chips for computers, in grease and caulking.

Oddly, it is not naturally found in or incorporated into our bodies, which is surprising given its abundance.  Because silicon is so closely related to carbon (the next element in the periodic table),science fiction writers have speculated relentlessly about life forms made of pure silicon from other planets.  Indianaa Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made hype of this.  I love the scene where he says the skull was carved from a single piece of silicon, against the grain. Indiana says ," ...even today we couldn't cut a piece of quartz like that without it exploding."  I think he means HE couldn't do it.  Even though some forms of quartz do show grain, I know we can polish it here at the rock shop without anything exploding.  Most agates (banded chalcedony) do have a grain to them.  But in the movie it was clear quartz that the skull was made of and large pieces of clear quartz crystals tend to not have a grain.  If you do any tumbling or polishing of rocks you know you can polish against the grain without any explosions!

Silicon easily bonds with oxygen to form a tetrahedral molecule called silicate.  This silicate by itself is called quartz.  When the silicate molecule bonds with sodium or potassium it forms feldspar minerals.  When it bonds with iron/manganese it can form garnets.  When it bonds with beryllium it forms aquamarine/red beryl/emeralds/goshenite.  The list goes on and on to as there are hundreds of silicate minerals.  See Mindat.org for a complete list.

Health Benefits of Minerals

Health Benefits of Minerals People purchase things all the time to help improve their health.  We have composed a list showing ways collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils are healthy for you. 1.  They are fat free.  2.  Most, but not all, are low sodium. 3.  All rocks, minerals, and fossils are free of ALL trans-fats including hydrogenated oils (some may only be per serving). 4.  If you collect minerals, all you have to do is move your collection around in your house. By reorganizing your displays you can get a little cardio-workout.  If you move faster, then you can get a good cardio-workout.  If you have heavy specimens, then you can call it weight training. 5.  When purchasing a specimen for you collection, if you pay with cash, your wallet will appear thinner making your butt look better.  If you purchase expensive specimens this way, you can appear to loose a lot of weight making you look a lot slimmer.  If you carry a large purse on your shoulder and you pay with cash,  your hips will look slimmer.  This is another reason why credit cards are bad-they make us look fat. 6.  Some minerals can be ground into a fine powder and used as makeup.  Avoid the toxic and radioactive ones for this. 7.  If you carry a rock in your pocket or purse you can use it for self defense.  The bigger the specimen, the better the defense and the more expensive the specimen, the better the chance of getting acquitted.  ( If you purchased the expensive specimen from the rock shop, see benefit #5 above). Want to join the conversation about Health Benefits of Rocks and Minerals? Click on over to our Facebook Page and post your favorite benefits as well as seen everyone else's!

Turquoise and The Colorback Mine

One of the most recognizable gemstones to anyone in the world is the blue stone turquoise.  There is not another like it.  It has become the symbolic color and gemstone of the American southwest.  Its history starts in ancient Egypt where it was mined on the Sinai Peninsula.  Later Prussian turquoise was mined as a solid sky blue and Tibet turquoise is wondrous blue-green and is so sacred it is considered a national treasure.  More recently, the Native Americans of the southwest have mined it in many shades of blues and greens. 

In the 1950’s to the 1970’s turquoise was highly prized and sought after by consumers.  It was to the point that a poor prospector could find a new deposit and be wealthy beyond dream within months.  By the mid-1970’s turquoise was loosing favor with consumers and the demand dwindled to a small trickle we see today.  There is still some demand for high quality gem material with jewelers and mineral collectors but not enough to cause the huge price spike from the 1970’s.

In recent years the demand has increased.  Much quality turquoise, like at the Colorback Mine, sell for as much as a $1000 per pound or more.  That’s nearly $70 per ounce or $1.80 per carat.  Carat per carat this price doesn’t seem like much when comparing prices to a diamond.  That shouldn’t diminish the value of turquoise as its beauty far exceeds the beauty of a clear diamond. 

Colorback Mine I and II:

The Colorback mine I or in the old days Turquoise Boy mine is one half mile north of the famous Badger mine (another famous turquoise mine) and 3.5 miles North-Northwest of Tenabo (a mining district & ghost town known for its gold) just south of Crescent Valley, Nevada.

Turquoise is associated with an opalized sill that dips intruding black chert. The chert adjacent to the sill is brecciated and that is where the turquoise was formed.

The Colorback II mine has more Chalcosiderite and Variscite rather than turquoise as the major constituent. The Chalcosiderite has a beautiful black spider web pattern with white, blue, green, yellow, or orange hues. 

The variscite is a beautiful light green to “icy” green with black spider webbing or matrix throughout the stones.

Much of the material from this mine is a mix of turquoise, variscite, and chalcosidierite.  An easy and fairly reliable way to determine what you have is by color.  If your stone is more blue it is predominately turquoise.  If it is more of a strong green it is predominately variscite and if it is pale green or whitish then it is predominately chalcosidierite.  However, on the gem market it is usually ALL sold as turquoise.

Mixing of minerals like this is not uncommon.  Much of the turquoise from around the world is a mix of turquoise and other minerals. 

All About Serpentine

Serpentine is not a mineral, it is a group of 20 minerals that are all related chemically and structurally, all being silicate minerals.  Serpentine minerals have gotten a bad rap lately by politicians because they form fibrous minerals referred to as asbestos.  Asbestos is a house-hold word with a bad connotation.   The word asbestos describes minerals that can be pulled apart in parallel, lengthwise, flexible fibers. Asbestos minerals have had been used in industrial applications for a number of different things. 

Despite being a very important economic mineral, it has become the target of some California politicians who have characterized it as toxic.  They were trying to get serpentine removed from the records as California’s State Rock.  This is being done out of fear more than education.  Of the 20 or so asbestos minerals, only a few produce a fiber that are actually dangerous to humans.

California politicians have made a crucial error in their rational.  Serpentine doesn’t always contain asbestos minerals and many of the ones it does are not harmful.  Even when serpentine does contain harmful fibers, the amount of danger it poses is dependent on many factors include how it is released from the host rock, bioavailability,  length of the fibers, whether the host is a smoker, and the degree of exposure.  With all the factors, it is not hard to realize serpentine is a safe rock to have around.  Nor is serpentine is not toxic as they claimed. Once more of the politicians were educated, the bill was left to die with little fan fare. 

Beryllium

One of the most important industrial metals in the world is mined right here in Utah.  It’s mined from the largest deposit of its kind on earth right here in our own back yard.Beryllium: one of the most strategic metals is mined at the Brush-Wellman Mine west of Topaz Mountain near Delta. The reason this metal is so important is because of its physical properties.  It is twice as light as aluminum, has an incredibly high melting point at 1287°C, it is not affected by air or water even when it is red hot, and it is many times stronger that other metals, even engineered metals such as titanium and steel alloys.It is used in a wide range of tools including chisels.  It is used in high-end clock and watch movements.  It is used for making bearings that will resist extreme heat.  It is also very corrosion resistant when alloyed with copper. Because of its high strength and light weight it is used to hold the guidance systems in many missiles and rockets.NASA is working on a 30 inch telescope mirror made from gem-grade optical beryllium. This special material is mined from the largest deposit of beryllium ore in the world and it’s just west of Spor Mountain which is west of Topaz Mountain.  The deposit is mined in several large open pits.  

The ore is in the form of a clay mineral called bertrandite, a beryllium oxide.  It is often stained purple by fluorite.  Manganese, opal, and quartz all soak into the clay making it hard.  Some is hard enough to cut and polish and with the fluorite and manganese this material is stunning and known as Tiffany Stone.Beryllium is also found in the beryl family of gems.  Emeralds, aquamarine, red beryl, morganite and the rest of the beryl family contain enough beryllium to make them valuable as an ore.  Fortunately, most of these gemstones are not mined as ore.  Massive beryl is mined in some places like Russia for beryllium. The Brush-Wellman mine produces about 60% of the world’s beryllium.  Stop in the store and see some of our display of beryllium including a processed rod, copper/beryllium hammer, hard drive reader arm, and ore.Warning: Beryllium is very toxic.  Do not ingest any material or breathe in the dust from grinding and polishing.

All About Bixbyites

Bixbyite is Manganese Oxide and forms black cubes or modified cubes.  The Maynard Claim is the type locality for bixbyite (where it was first discovered ).  Until recently most crystals were 5-12mm with the largest on record a whopping 15/16ths.  This large bixbyite was the pride of the species and is housed in the Smithsonian Institute.  About 3 years ago a mineral dealer made a discovery a few miles away from the Maynard Claim where he was finding bixbyite crystals over an inch.  One was 1.5 inches!  These crystals immediately became a hit with major collectors with some of the larger examples rumored to sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
At this new location on the north end of the Thomas Range, bixbyite is found with topaz, pseudobrookite, red beryl, and garnet.  Often the bixbyite has a topaz crystal growing right through it.  The topaz from this location starts out like the brown topaz from the south end of the range (Topaz Mountain), but when left in the sun it doesn’t fade to a clear crystal.  It turns pink, a very dusty/rosy pink.
Now the claim is gone now because the bixbyite and topaz have been mined to exhaustion.  This location is destined to become one of the legendary “classic” locations in the chronicles of the mineral world!

Pyrite - A Popular Choice

Pyrite is one of the most collected minerals in the mineral kingdom.  It's brassy yellow color combined with its striking luster is hard to resist. Pyrite epitomizes what collecting minerals is all about. Its appeal captures the novice as much as the most advanced collector. Pyrite is very abundant, even in good quality specimens.  This tends to keep the prices relatively low even for quality specimens. Pyrite has something else going for it besides its high luster and affordability...

 it comes in many forms. The purest form of pyrite is a cube.  These cubes, as single crystals with no visible attachment, can reach up to 8 inches.  But, pyrite comes in other shapes such as octahedrons, pyritohedrons, dodecahedrons, even wires and balls and about 200 other weird shapes.  A person could collect nothing but pyrite and have a hard time showing them all off. Pyrite forms in many geologic environments.  Most notable in the west is in association with copper, lead, silver, and gold mines. We just got in 10 killer pyrite specimens.  They are cubes of pyrite in talc matrix from Navajun, Spain.  These are a must see!

Agates Part #1

Agate is micro- to crypto-crystalline quartz.  The mineral name for agate is chalcedony (pronounced cal said kney).  It can form through volcanic or sedimentary processes.  Quartz is made up of silica and it tends to be hard and brittle so it tends to be glassy.  It is also very abundant in nature and forms and endless variety of colors, patterns, and textures.       These properties make it a perfect lapidary material. Jasper is a term used to distinguish the opaque agate and agate that's darker in colors such as browns, reds, mustard, black, and dark green.  Jasper is also used to describe agate that is coarse grained.Terms like jasp-agate are used to describe agates that have both the properties of agate and jasper.  This term is considered obsolete by most and is not used much anymore.  Utah has an abundance of agates and jaspers.  Most of the Utah agate and jasper has it formations based in sedimentary rocks but there is also agate associated with volcanic activity such as Wendover agate. The formation of agate is extremely complex and not well understood by scientists.  The variations and combinations are almost endless which makes it difficult to decipher how it forms. Notwithstanding, agate is common around the world and one of the most collected minerals there is.  Because of the commonality it is often taken for granted and by many standards it is undervalued.The complexity of the bands and the other patterns and formations within the agate are dazzling and at the same time incomprehensible.

What Color Are Garnets?

Most of the time when someone mentions garnets you think of a deep red-wine color.  But this is just one of the many colors a garnet can be.

There are 7 different varieties of garnet and a range of colors that is most impressive.

Each variety of garnet has the same physical properties such as hardness, crystal shape (cubic), etc.  The real difference is in the chemical makeup.  All the different varieties of garnet are Aluminum Silicates.  Mg, Fe,Mn, Ca, Cr, and water can all be attached to the front of the formula to change the type of garnet ( and the color ) it forms.  

For example...

Pyrope is red-wine colored by Mg.

Almandine is brown caused by Fe. 

Spessartine is brown to lime green caused by Mn.

Grossular is red-brown to raspberry pink caused by Ca.

Andradite is brownto brown-red caused by Ca-Fe mixed. 

Uvaroviteis a bright green caused by Ca-Cr mix.

Hydrogrossular is unimpressive brown caused by Ca and water.

There are other types of garnets that are sub-species of the species listed above.

Demantoid ( brilliant green with the luster of adiamond ),

Melanite (black), and Topazolite(yellow to yellow-brown) are all forms of andradite. 

Rhodolite is a very rose-red form of pyrope. 

Hessonite(cinnamon colored), Tsavorite (emerald-green colored), andLeuco (clear) are all forms of grossular.

One other interesting habit garnets have is that sometimes the different types will mix together.  So the outside of the crystal is almandine and the inside is spessartine.  This is called "solid solution".  It has to do with the chemistry of the environment when they are forming.

"What are garnets good for?" you ask.  Well they don't have any special purpose.  Most are used for abrasives as they are very hard and tough.   They are also used for gemstones.  Many of the clean stones are cut into gemstones that now sell for hundreds of dollars per carat.  My favorite use is as crystals in my collection.

"Where can you go find a garnet?" you ask. Garnets are not rare on this planet.  In fact, they are abundant.  There are many places in Utah to collect garnets. 

The Alta stock up big cottonwood canyon has a nice deposit of almandine that are not gem quality but show really nice structure.  Gold Hill mine and the surrounding area has lots of garnets. The Thomas Range (Topaz Mountain area) has garnets pseudomorphed to hematite and often have bixbyites attached to them. There is a really nice deposit of pale green grossular garnets in Wah Wah pass just off the road. The mineral mountains near Milford has some beautiful red spessartine garnets that look like pyrope and are found with smokey quartz. One of my favorites is in Ely, Nevada.  You can collect at Garnet Hill and find some very nice ones in the rhyolite.  It is easy collecting and fun for the family.

You can learn more about garnets in "Gemstones of the World" by Walter Schumann. $24.95. 

Corundum: A Mineral of Many Faces

Corundum is composed of aluminum and oxygen.  It is a very simple compound but has many different appearances.  Pure corundum is colorless.  More often than not other elements replace the aluminum or get trapped in the crystal lattice and cause different colors.  When chrome replaces some of the aluminum it turns the crystal red.  The more replacement the redder it gets to a certain extent, after that it becomes a different mineral.  Deep red corundum is called a ruby.  The richer the red and the clearer the crystal the more valuable it becomes.  The name ruby comes from the Latin word "ruber" in reference to the red color.  In biblical times it was called carbuncle.  Which was a word used to describe any red gemstone since they didn't have the analytical skills to differentiate between minerals.  Ruby and red spinel were often confused and many of the ancient stones that were called ruby or carbuncle were actually spinel as it was a more common mineral.

Iron & titanium can also replace aluminum in varying amounts in the structure, causing the crystals to turn shades of blue, yellows, pinks, golds, and a myriad of other colors.  These are known as sapphires.  Orange-pink (no trace of brown) sapphires are called padpadradscha, named after the lotus flower in Sanskrit.

Today it is a safe bet to assume all rubies and sapphires have been treated with at least one method to enhance the color and/or clarity. 

Where corundum forms on earth is dictated by the geology.  Corundum forms in iron and manganese rich siliceous environments that are low in silica and rich in alumina.  This is why we don't find corundum in the west U.S..  We have mostly silica sand and granites rich in silica.

The name corundum is a Sanskrit word meaning "hard stone".  Centuries ago they realized it was harder than anything but a diamond.

Mineral Classes - Systematic Mineralogy

Minerals are divided up into different classifications by their chemical formulas.  These mineral classes are referred to as “systematic mineralogy”. 

The numbers in the chemical formulas are all subscript. 

Many mineral collectors base their collections of the mineral classes similarly to a library using the dewy-decimal system for cataloging books.

The classes are;

Native Elements: which are minerals made of only one element.  Minerals like diamond, sulfur, gold, silver, copper & graphite. 

Sulfides: Are minerals that have sulfur in their composition.  This class of minerals is made up of many of the important metal ores like Chalcocite/Bornite/Covellite which are copper minerals.  Cinnabar is mercury ore.  Orpiment & realgar are arsenic ores.  Molybdenite is molybdenum ore. There are many more.

Oxides: Are minerals that have oxygen in their composition.  (not part of water).  This class includes hematite as iron ore, corundum (rubies/sapphires), uraninite as uranium ore. Bauxite as aluminum ore.

Halides: are minerals that have Cl, Br, F, or I at the end of the formula.  The word halide sounds like halite, which is salt.  This is because halides are salt minerals and this class includes halite (table salt) & sylvite (alum) and fluorite.

Carbonates: Is a large group of minerals that contain (CO3)2 , also known as carbonate.  Minerals in this class include calcite, aragonite, rhodochrosite, smithsonite, and azurite & malachite.

Nitrates: Are minerals that have (NO3) in their formula and include nitratite & niter.

Borates:Are minerals that contain “BO3” in their formula and include borax and ulexite.

Phosphates: Are minerals that contain (AsO4) at the end of the formula.  Apatite, turquoise, variscite, wavellite, autunite, and vanadinite all belong to this class.

Sulfates: Are minerals that contain (SO4) in their formula.  And include minerals like barite, gypsum, celestine, anglesite, and crocoite.

Tungstates: Are minerals that contain W (tungsten) at the end of the formula.  It includes minerals like wolframite, scheelite, & wulfenite.

Silicates: This class is composed of 25% of the mineral kingdom and 80 of the most common 200 minerals are in this group.  It is defined as having the (SiO2) molecule at the end of the formula.  Some of the more common silicates include; garnets, quartz, topaz, kyanite, staurolite, the beryl family (aquamarine, emeralds, goshenite, heliodore, red beryl, morganite), tourmalines, jade, kunzite, mica, talc, the feldspar family (albite, labradorite, etc), sodalite, and the zeolite family (stilbite, heulandite, scolecite).

All About Variscite

Variscite is one of the most sought after minerals in the entire mineral collecting world. Utah has produced collectable specimens from 4 different localities. The most sought after variscite in the world came in the form of nodules from the Little Green Monster Mine, Clay Canyon, Fairfield, Utah Co. Utah. Nodules to 3 feet in diameter were once mined, crushed, and processed for the phosphate ore. Today Clay Canyon variscite is the most valuable variscite in the world. High quality slabs a half inch thick and 8 inches in diameter sell for many thousands of dollars. Part of the appeal of Clay Canyon variscite is the other rare phosphate minerals that are associated with the variscite. Millisite, wardite, and crandallite are not only rare but add to the aesthetics.

Lucin variscite is probably the second most recognized variscite in the world. It comes from a hill near the railroad town of Lucin, Box Elder County, Utah. This deposit is owned by Union Pacific Railroad and is currently not being work. Many field collectors have high graded this mine for decades. Even though many old stashes are just waiting to come to light out there, it is still highly prized by mineral collectors, jewelers, carvers and sphere makers. With no such little material reaching the market the price has risen steeply recently.
Box Elder County also hosts another deposit of variscite, known as variquoise, because it so closely resembles turquoise. It comes from the Utah-Idaho border near Snowville. It is prized for it’s dark spider-web matrix and darker green to blue color.
The fourth location is in Tooele County at Ametrice Hill. Here the variscite is pale green, similar to Lucin variscite. It formed in a gray chert and unfortunately the gray color tends to carry into the variscite. Of the four locations in Utah this is the least known and least valuable. Unfortunately, all these locations are now closed and the prospect for new material coming from them any time soon is very unlikely.

See Our Online Selection of Variscite For Sale Here!