FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Von_von]

The only place where this agate in Bulgaria can be found is in the vicinity of the village of Nanovitsa, Momchilgrad. The magnification is 300. Enjoy watching.

[Vinoterapia]

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sagenite is "a mineral consisting of an acicular rutile that occurs in reticulated forms and is often embedded in quartz or other minerals".

This is indeed what I would expect a sagenite to be. Your sample did not show either the shape or the composition.

[James Catmur]

Have a read of https://www.mindat.org/min-8578.html

Looks like calling it 'Sagenite Agate' is a marketing ploy - very common with minerals - hence 'Sagenite (of Kunz)'

[Von_von]

Yes, practically no rutile is found in agates. This name is widespread in the literature, as a synonym for a network of needles with various minerals. You can look at this type of agate from AGATES II by Johann Zenz.

[James Catmur]

Thus a marketing name, if you and others like to use it then that is fine. It is good that Sagenite is not a recognized mineral

[Roger Warin]

Hello,
Sagenite is only a crystal habit of rutile, not even a variety.
That said, this habit is pretty and it does not appear on your specimens.

[Randall]

OK, I have waited and watched. Some questions have been raised but no real answer.

Sagenite agate or just sagenite is not a mineral. So, Merriam-Webster is wrong on that point. It is not a mineral habit or variety of a mineral either. It is also not a marketing name.

It is a descriptive adjective. It can be used with acicular rutile crystals in rutilated quartz in some cases or fibrous inclusions of any mineral enclosed in an agate that has a sagenite form. Other descriptive words in common use are reticulated, botryoidal, acicular, druse, fibrous, reniform, and on and on and on.

So, A beautiful sagenite agate is presented to share with the beautiful people on the mineral forum. It has a mineral enclosed in the agate. Does anyone have a thought on what the mineral in the agate could be?

[Linus]

I have seen this style of agate from several locations, notably brazil and mexico. the "rutile" like features are actually strings of micro-bubbles.

[Vinoterapia]

English is not my original language, thus I might be wrong. However, the Merriam-Webster dictionary does not say that the sagenite is a mineral species, it says that it "is a mineral consisting of an acicular rutile", where the mineral is the rutile.

If you look at pictures of sagenite (in rutile) you would see that the individual needles intersect each other at a 60-degree angle, just as in twinned rutile.

Why someone decided to call those inclusions in agate sagenite just beats me.

[Von_von]

Thank you, friends. It was a good discussion. I am sending you this - "Some more data on sagenite agates from The Nanovitsa area, The Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria" from Svetlana Entcheva, Petko Petrov and Dimitar Stoyanov

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gIgY6z7KYwPf0Q4qkIlTvmBFI5BreHU5/view?usp=sharing
(link normalized by FMF)