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Ken
Joined: 14 Jul 2011
Posts: 54
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 Posted: Apr 02, 2022 22:41 Post subject: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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I've come across several small crystals, these were found inside of pyrite that I was crushing to use in acid testing. They are less than one mm in size and less than half a mm in height. I have no ideal as to what they are made of, I would guess maybe quartz. Is it common to find crystals such as this inside of pyrite?
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James Catmur
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Joined: 14 Sep 2006
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Location: Cambridge
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| Posted: Apr 03, 2022 04:15 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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| Minerals grow from a source fluid. As the fluid precipitates whatever elements that are in it will precipitate when the conditions are right, thus you very often find minerals within other minerals. We normally see those when the outer mineral is transparent but by crushing them pyrite you have in essence made it transparent!
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Sante Celiberti
Joined: 04 Oct 2019
Posts: 699
Location: Tuscany
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| Posted: Apr 03, 2022 05:28 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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| Ken wrote: | | I've come across several small crystals, these were found inside of pyrite that I was crushing to use in acid testing. They are less than one mm in size and less than half a mm in height. I have no ideal as to what they are made of, I would guess maybe quartz. Is it common to find crystals such as this inside of pyrite? |
I would say not so common as in the opposite case (Pyrite in Quartz). Having crushed dozens of Pyrite specimens, I never observed such inclusions.
Btw, if your crossed crystals had been centimetric, instead of sub-millimeter, they would have been a wonderful addition to any Quartz collection. :-)
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Bob Morgan
Joined: 18 Jan 2018
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Location: Savannah, Georgia
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| Posted: Apr 03, 2022 12:51 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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Where was the pyrite from? If from the Huanzala Mine in Peru, there was a major dissolution of the pyrite deposit followed by redeposition resulting in a variety of crystal sizes and other combinations of crystallization.
I think it is more likely that the small crystals are calcite, which does develop in such crosses as you have photographed.
In terms of temperature of crystallization quartz is probably most likely - but that is only an impression of mine.
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Sante Celiberti
Joined: 04 Oct 2019
Posts: 699
Location: Tuscany
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| Posted: Apr 03, 2022 14:00 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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A drop of vinegar would solve the problem.
But I doubt that Mr. Ken has kept those crystals for such a long time.
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Ken
Joined: 14 Jul 2011
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Apr 03, 2022 23:36 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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| Sante Celiberti wrote: | A drop of vinegar would solve the problem.
But I doubt that Mr. Ken has kept those crystals for such a long time. |
I was crushing the pyrite to do some acid testing and I have seen them from time to time sitting in the acid solution, acid don't seem to affect them at all. I do still have a few of them. I found this pyrite somewhere during my travels in the U.S. Navy, not sure where I really picked it up. I've had several scans done on this stone and a Raman analysis says it's pyrite from Peru.
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James Catmur
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| Posted: Apr 04, 2022 03:35 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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| Ken wrote: | | I was crushing the pyrite to do some acid testing and I have seen them from time to time sitting in the acid solution, acid don't seem to affect them at all. I do still have a few of them. I found this pyrite somewhere during my travels in the U.S. Navy, not sure where I really picked it up. I've had several scans done on this stone and a Raman analysis says it's pyrite from Peru. |
That suggests quartz, to me
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Ken
Joined: 14 Jul 2011
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Apr 04, 2022 23:29 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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| Just curious, what crystal shape would that little cross be classified as, would that be what's called a twin?
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alfredo
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Ken
Joined: 14 Jul 2011
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Apr 05, 2022 22:25 Post subject: Re: Why would crystals be inside of pyrite |
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Cool, thanks very much for the info.
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