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Peter Megaw
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Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 963
Location: Tucson, Arizona
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Posted: Jan 06, 2011 16:46 Post subject: Re: Red or pink Grossular Garnet, Mexico |
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Denis...you mention vesuvianite only in passing. I have seen at least two distinct styles (pictured below)...the older style being large blocky cloudy yellow-green crystals, with dominant prism faces...sometimes approaching pseudo-cubic as in the picture...sometimes with a well developed dipyramid. I have seen these up to about 10 cm long. These often have multiple sub-faces giving them a scaly appearance. Rarely these are studded with small yellow garnets and sometimes the yellow garnets are studded with small vesuvianites. Are these Alicante? The other style...more recent I think...has smaller crystals (4 cm is max I've seen) with both well-developed prism and dipyramids, smoother sides and a browner gemmier coloration...often very lustrous. There are 2 pictures of these...one I think I got from you. Can you park a better locality than Sierra Las Cruces on these?
I also have one sample with copper oxide coatings...this seems rare to me, and when I have explored in the area that entire skarn looks very dry as far as metallic mineralization is concerned. There is a similar skarn in northern Chihuahua...east of Villa Ahumada...where there are highly elevated REEs in a zinc-rich fluorite-cemented breccia about 1 km in diameter...any hints of high REEs at Cruces? Has anyone looked?
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Psuedocubic vesuvianite of the "old" style...5 cm on an edge |
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"new" style vesuvianite with good luster and smmoth faces. 3 cm long |
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another example of the "new" style with lustrous almost gemmy zones |
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GneissWare
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 1287
Location: California
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Posted: Jan 06, 2011 17:01 Post subject: Re: Red or pink Grossular Garnet, Mexico |
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Peter,
There are many colors and habits of vesuvianite present in the huge skarn. Like the garnets, which display a variety of colors depending on which outcrop they are found, the vesuvianites are similar, except there are more outcrops lacking vesuvianite than having it present. I have large blocky yellow vesuvianites associated with grey garnets collected on outcrops crossing the road leading into the ranch. I have deep green vesuviantite found with hot pink and lavender garnets, and of course the yellowish ones asscociated with the pink garnets Dennis currently working.
The blocky ones you first mention are found in several outcrops as I recall without looking at the topo map where I recorded the locales for various colors when I collected there over a 3 year period in the early 1990s.
Bob
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4900
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Jan 06, 2011 17:50 Post subject: Re: Red or pink Grossular Garnet, Mexico |
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Peter Megaw wrote: |
"new" style vesuvianite with good luster and smoth faces. 3 cm long
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I believe is not "new" style Peter, Folch's collection have many of them found on the seventies. Not more details about the precise locality in the Folch's record, sorry.
An example below.
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Vesuvianite Lago de Jaco, Sierra de la Cruz, Coahuila, Mexico Mined about 1970 Specimen size: 2.6 × 1.5 × 1.7 cm. Former Folch Collection Photo: Reference Specimens |
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Dennis Beals
Joined: 06 Jan 2011
Posts: 13
Location: Denver
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Posted: Jan 06, 2011 19:25 Post subject: Re: Red or pink Grossular Garnet, Mexico |
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Peter
The first picture of vesuvianite you posted shows what is currently coming out with somewhat better crystals occasionally coming out. They tend to be rather fractured and fall apart. Good combos are rare.
I believe that the second photo of the "new" style is one that came from me. It came from Keith Williams and had one of the Lake Jaco, Morelos mashup labels. None of these were seen when Benny Fenn worked there.
In talking with one of the vaqueros from the ejido Alicante they don't get many good vesuvianites now where they working.
Dennis
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Elise
Joined: 22 Dec 2009
Posts: 243
Location: New York State
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Posted: Feb 07, 2011 01:17 Post subject: Re: Red or pink Grossular Garnet, Mexico |
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Jason wrote: | It's very rare to haver any garnets flour... |
I guess I am cross-posting here - these are my garnets from Dennis. They definately fluoresce beautifully ! (from the Tucson 2011 thread https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=15760&highlight=#15760 )
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Garnet var. Grossular, Sierra de Cruces (Lake Jaco), Hercules, Coahuila, Mexico. Largest 6.10 cm high. Photo: Jeff Scovil, 2011 (notice black core on split) |
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