FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Luiz Menezes]

Hello Tobias:

I think that your garnet from "Brazil" is likely a rhodolite (a variety of pyrope) from a mine in Tocantins state. I read the comment made by Granate (Nov.18, 2009) about a material he saw with Leonilde Piovesan that might have came from Juazeiro, Bahia; it may be possible that garnets were found there but it is not a famous locality, whilst that mine in Tocantins has produced a large quantity of garnets for many years.

Rhodolites have a purplish-red color; if your specimen is just red or brownish-red it is not a rhodolite. I have checked "rhodolite" on Mindat and this important locality is not mentioned; the owner of the mine is Osório Neto, as his business is named Colorgemas (Belo Horizonte and Hong Kong), I could not talk to him to get more details about it, as soon as I get it I will inform you and I will also post a photo and a note on Mindat.

Luiz

[Carles Millan]

[Tobi]

Yes, Carles, but it's a pity that these crystals occur not very large and not in really fine quality there. But at least they have a strange form ;-)

Luiz, thank you for your information. But i finally decided to take the large garnet crystal out of the displayed collection. I don't like to have specimens without locality on display, and i will not present a specimen which could be from Idaho OR "somewhere from Brazil". I had several infos about various localities, and each time my garnet fitted them theoretically, due to the similarity to the reference specimens. But nevertheless i would appreciate to be informed about useful news. I don't have much hope of finally finding the locality without doubts, but any hint is welcome, thank you in anticipation! Even to know that it is really from Brazil (without further information) would be great, for it was displayed at the museum with a label that said "Brazil".

Here's another specimen from Namibia: Sceptre amethyst on matrix from Brandberg, Erongo region. The longest crystals measure 25 mm, overall size of the specimen is 80 x 50 x 40 mm.

[jamesb]

I like it !

[Andreas Gerstenberg]

Nice Alme calcite! Did only know the reddish almost opaque scalenohedrons there...

[Tobi]

James, thank you. I'm glad you like it.

Andreas, thanks also. You know much more than i about little-known German localities, so i must confess that i don't know how these opaque scalenohedrons look ...

[Tobi]

Here's the "smaller brother" of the sceptered amethyst from Brandberg/Namibia, that i posted some days ago. This tiny one measures 40 x 35 x 20 mm.

[Tobi]

Inspired by the wonderful quartz pictures of José Miguel, here's a picture of a specimen from Jinkouhe/Sichuan/China, using back light. The three main crystals have lenghts of 70-80 mm.

[Carles Millan]

[Tobi]

Another specimen from China: Water-clear crystals of quartz on hematite, from Jinlong/Guangdong Province. The longest crystals have a lenght of 70 mm, overall size of the specimen is 100 x 90 x 55 mm.

[Carles Millan]

[Tobi]

I'm glad you like it, Carles, i really appreciate your opinion very much!

But you can't say that this one is "better" than yours ( https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/files/8570m_quartz_173.jpg ), for i don't think they are that easy to compare. My new specimen may be a good sample for water-clear quartz from Jinlong Hill without any coating, while your specimen is a very good example for the typical hematite-coated crystals from that locality. I would say: Two good examples for two different forms of quartz appearance from Jinlong Hill.

[José Miguel]

Hi Tobias. The quartz from Jinkouhe/Hunan/China looks very well, with its slender and clear crystals!!

[Tobi]

Hi José, i'm glad you like the quartz specimen. I will try to make some further pictures from other angles in the next days. But first, a correction: I made a mistake in the locality description of the specimen and you copied it unwittingly - Jinkouhe is not located in Hunan province, but in Sichuan province! Sorry for the mistake, maybe one of the admins can correct it.

Cheers!

[Carles Millan]