FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Stone Mania]

Hi everyone,

I've always been led to believe citrine does not occur naturally as a geode.

I believed all citrine geodes were heated amethyst.

I have just read an article about citrine that apparently was part of a scientific paper in which the author said natural citrine geodes do occur.

Can you tell me whether this is correct?

I was writing about how geodes form when I came across the article.

Many thanks.

Laurence

[James Catmur]

We used to find natural citrine in Spain, as single crystals. The ones I have seen in geodes tend to be treated amethyst

[James Catmur]

What can complicate such a discussion is the 'geode' in many languages is a false friend with the English word for 'pocket'. For example, the Spanish word 'geoda' normally means 'pocket' in English, it sometimes means 'geode'. I think the same occurs with Portuguese.

[Stone Mania]

I have always been led to believe citrine doesn't occur as a geode which is why it confused me when I read they do occur in this way.

[James Catmur]

They certainly do occur in 'pockets', which could be where this came from. Pockets- to >geodas- to >geodes?

[lluis]

Hi, James, list

I beg to differ with what you said. Agreed, I am catalan native speaker and castillian has been taught to me, but I think that I speak a very, very, very good castillian.
And maybe I am completely wrong, but remembering my classes in baccalaureate, a "geoda" is just what is said "geode" in english. A pocket would be in mineralogy, a "bolsada" (in tailoring, bolsillo... :-) )

And as is said, the only citrine I am aware are not in geodes....

With best wishes

Lluís

[James Catmur]

Lluis

I am talking about every day Spanish, when out collecting in Spain if we opened a pocket in a mine we always called it 'una geoda' and never 'una bolsada'. I opened one of the best pockets ever found of Gypsum in Fuentes del Ebro and it was 'una geoda' when we refer back to it

An example from the Spanish side of FMF

https://www.foro-minerales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1477

James

[alfredo]

"Geodas" in spanish can be big or small. I'd translate the big ones as "cavity" in english, and the small ones as "vug". Only rarely would the meaning coincide with the english cognate "geode". But usage may differ regionally, in both english and spanish. Languages are fluid and evolving.

[James Catmur]

Alfredo

I agree, but I have used 'pocket' too

James

[Firmo Espinar]

Hi Laurence.


Here you can see a rockhounding trip in Australia where they find many smoky quartzes sited in geodes.
It´s smoky but I guess there will also be citrine quartz in somewhere.

Excursión a Mooralla, Southern Grampians Shire, Victoria, Australia



And here you have a fake citrine quartz geode:

how to remove build up from citrine geode


Regards.

[Bergur_E_Sigurdarson]

On the variations of language... as has been mentioned with Spanish... here in Colombia (and surely Firmo can verify) ...the most common reference isn't to a "geoda"... but rather "veta" ...which obviously just means "vein" in english.... but as that is what miners follow until they get an opening or just some emeralds, it's the "go-to" word for a mineral occurence.

...so... while I can't really tell about if citrine would occur in what is scientifically called a "geode"... I would agree with other posters that in general language, something would be called colloquially a "geode" ...even if it isn't scientifically
... just like everyone calls a tomato a vegetable, even tho it's scientifically a fruit (and let's not mention what is a "nut" :-P )

[Jordi Fabre]

There are several places with Quartz (variety citrine) found in 'geodes', the mentioned Villasbuenas locality in Spain: https://www.foro-minerales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134526#134526 , also Charcas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico or Olkhovka, Tyumen Oblast Russia, and several others.