FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Tobi]

A larger specimen of emerald-green conichalcite with calcite from Gold Hill, Utah/USA, overall size 120 x 90 x 70 mm.

[Tobi]

This one may look quite boring or even ugly at first sight, but it is somehow interesting because it is a very large single garnet crystal. It comes from an older collection and the label only said "Brazil" als location, does anyone know the exact location where such garnets come from???

It was described as a mixed-crystal of almandine and pyrop, overall size 70 x 65 x 60 mm.

Dec. 30, 2009 addition: The specimen seems to be from Cat Spur Creek, Emerald Creek area, Shoshone Co., Idaho, USA, according to information available at https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=8820#8820

[Tobi]

Apatite in salmon calcite matrix from the Yates Mine in Quebec, Canada. Double-terminated crystal of 35 mm in length, overall size of the specimen is 90 x 75 x 45 mm.

[Tobi]

A very similar combination of apatite (a little more bluish and less greenish than the Canadian one) in calcite from Sludyanka near Lake Baikal, Russia. The crystal measures 42 x 24 x 23 mm, overall size of the specimen is 60 x 55 x 55 mm.

[Tobi]

This is a large specimen of quartz crystals up to 50 mm, reddish coated by hematite (?) and sitting on hematite roses. Comes from the iron mine of Jinlong in Chinese province Guangdong. The overall size of the specimen is 210 x 140 x 100 mm. There are still a lot of broken crystals at one side and it will take me some time of trimming to take as much as possible of them away ...

[Tobi]

Some new small specimens from Namibia. They were a gift from very kind friends :-)

[Granate]

If my information is OK the garnet is from Joazeiro (Bahía) Brasil

[Tobi]

Thank you, Garnet. But what is the source for that information? Anyone here who can verify that?

Picture: Fluorite from Berbes, Asturias, Spain. Specimen measures 100 x 85 x 50 mm, the largest crystal is 11 mm.

[Tobi]

Botryoidal hemimorphite from the 79 Mine in Arizona, USA. Measures 50 x 40 x 30 mm.

[Granate]

In 2000 was in Brazil looking minerals. visit to Leonilde Piovesan an important seller of minerals, taught me a lot of enormous garnets that had just received from Joazeiro (Bahía). I was lucky to able to choose the most I liked and are equal to the samples in the photo.

[Carles Millan]

[Granate]

I am sorry but i do not have more information. I remember that the garnets came in a large drum and was also Joazeiro(Bay) I also remember that the seller told me that it was a new mine. A couple of years later, in another trip, i wanted purchase more but he told me that what had been finished.

[Carles Millan]

If you google the string

"Joazeiro garnet" (without quotes)

you will see over 300 references to articles that contain both words.

[Tobi]

Thanks for your efforts, but i don't think that we will finally find a certain info about the exact locality where that large garnet crystal is from. While we are talking about the State of Bahia, i found a very similar garnet mixed crystal of almandine and pyrop on a German site - and this one was found in Tocatins, the neighbour state of Bahia:

https://www.mineralienatlas.de/VIEWmaxFULL.php?param=1204455384

I don't think that garnets like that come from many localities, so i suppose that Tocatins could also be the origin of my crystal. It could also be from Bahia, as Granate says. But we won't know for sure. However, the crystal is at the Marburg Museum at the moment, labeled with "Almandin, Brasilien" (Almandine, Brazil). It's a pity to know only the country (especially when it is as large as Brazil) and to have no further information about the locality, but i don't mind too much. I saw mineral specimens at different museums and good collections which also had no more information but the country. That's quite disappointing, but concerning my garnet i'm not able to help it :-/

[Tobi]

Selenite from Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia. Height 60 mm.