FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[VRigatti]

I recently posted a few pictures of ths Jonas piece from the front and back sides under my collection photos. The "front" has typically mounded lepidolite with multiple tourmalines. The back side is also lepidolite but is tabular with some crytals poking through and some laying parallel and slightly above the tabular face, like the long crystal with the offset in the photo. At first I thought that maybe the backside had been sawed to expose the crystals but since the crystals are only about half buried on the tabular face I didnt think that was likely, especially without any damage, and no saw marks. Could this be a pseudomorph of lepidolite after feldspar, or something along those lines?

Thanks friends

[ellencmoe]

I would be interested to learn how this specimen had been prepared to show the tourmaline crystals so beautifully. I have several large pieces of Stewart Lithia Mine lepidolite with pink tourmaline - but nothing as impressive as your specimen. If I knew how they got the tourmaline more exposed, I might try it on one of my pieces.

The bladed areas of the matrix almost liook like clevelandite.

Could the crystals be tiny quartz? Some of the newest pieces I have from the Oceanview Mine, Chief Mountain, Pala, San Diego County, CA, US have both tiny pink tourmaline and tiny smoky quartz crystals on lepidolite and/or clevelandite.

[VRigatti]

I dont think there is any quartz to speak of, but there is Clevelandite on the front side of the piece as is common from the Jonas mine.