FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[TomS]

I was wondering if someone could help me identify if any or all of these pieces are fake or have been treated. Thanks for any help.

[TomS]

item 2

[TomS]

item 3

[TomS]

item 4

[TomS]

item 5

[TomS]

and finally item 6. Thanks for any help!

[James Catmur]

Please note that you can post multiple photos in a single message.

https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=19493#19493

Looks like some /most are treated, so I guess that means they are fake (to me it is not either/or but both)

James

[TomS]

[kushmeja]

#4 looks like it may be natural, but the others looks like they have likely been treated with coloring and/or heat to change the color.

John

[Pete Richards]

I would say that
1 is possibly natural, with hematite as the color, but could be enhanced with artificial color as well
2 and 3 could be natural, but are quite possibly irradiated to produce the smoky color
4 is probably natural
5 is definitely dyed
6 is probably amethyst that has been artificially heated to produce "citrine"

[lluis]

I think more or less like James: treated, and then, depending as how they has been sold, simply fakes.
Till the last, that looks to me as a burnt amethyst (commonly sold as "citrine", which is not), I think that rest are maybe a natural ones subjected to man made hydrothermal growing, adding something in some cases to produce colours.
The green ones, look to me as the old Chinese ones....

With best wishes

Lluís

[Susan Robinson]

The vivid green crystal cluster looks like it was artificially grown.

[Mike Wood]

Like Pete says, I say no.1 is natural (haematite included and stained quartz).
2 and 3 look like irradiated quartz to me, but might be wrong..
4 looks natural quartz with green mineral inclusions; possible but doubtful that it's been enhanced by hydrothermal quartz 'growths', like Lluis said.
5 - upon close scrutiny it looks like zeolites to me! Heulandite, Stilbite and probable Laumontite. The green could be copper staining, or algae!
The Laumontite crystals - if that is what they are - look remarkably fresh and could have been sprayed with an aerosol sealant to stop them dehydrating... that also might explain the strong green algae colouring (trapped in sealant), if algae it be.
6 must be heat-treated amethyst - 'fake citrine'.

Nice big specimens though!
Maybe a close-up photo of a single crystal from 2 and 3, with light from behind it as well, would give us a better idea.

[Jamison Brizendine]

#4 is not entirely "natural"...sorry

It is actually broken quartz (I think from Madagascar?) which has been "re-healed" in autoclaves. I have also seen pictures of similar specimens which show the "rack marks" from being put in an autoclave.

[TomS]

Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts and info. I'm still kind of new to this and I am learning more and more new things each day so I welcome any info that I can get. The photos I posted where of all the items I suspected not to be natural in my collection. I believe the rest of my collection is all natural. The one item that's still really questioning to me is the 5th item because it looks very unnatural to me but it came from a fairly reputable seller that that has always been good in the past. Here are some more photos and some info from the auction from the 5th specimen. Anymore thoughts on this one would be appreciated.


FABULOUS GREEN GYPSUM VAR SELENITE SPECIMEN WITH EXTRA LARGE CRYSTALS

CRYSTALS IN GREAT CONDITION

ORIGIN: PERNATTY LAGOON, STUART SHELF, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA

SIZE: 128 MM X 91 MM X 90 MM (5" X 3.6" X 3.5")

WEIGHT: 250 GRAMS