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Post by helens on Jan 16, 2012 2:48:42 GMT -5
Hi, can someone tell me what they think this slab is please? I was told mica shist kayanite, but it looks more like photos of mica shist tourmaline to me. I am going to be cabbing some soon, will see if the mica comes through. It's very hard to photograph... in person it looks like shiny pewter superfine wires bundled together. Pretty amazing looking:). Attachments:
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 16, 2012 10:46:01 GMT -5
If it is the hairy looking stuff I would say kyanite. Tourmaline has long straight lines.
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Post by helens on Jan 16, 2012 18:36:24 GMT -5
Thanks John:). It's the hairy stuff, so must be Kayanite. Well, more feathery than hairy. It actually looks like someone cut some wings off of blackbirds and pasted them randomly on the rock. The detail up close is astonishing. I am going to try to cab it at the local mineral and gem society. Hope it looks nice:). Helen
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Post by frane on Jan 19, 2012 16:52:21 GMT -5
That sure looks neat. It really looks soft though so it may give you a bit of trouble. Looking forward to seeing your cabs! Fran
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 693
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Post by docharber on Jan 21, 2012 22:34:11 GMT -5
Pegmatites from the Ray mine in North Carolina contain muscovite books in feldspar along with some aquamarine, and in places a bit of kyanite and other fledspathoids. Schorl is sometimes found in thin needles between the mica laminae so I wouldn't rule tourmaline out. Cut in the right plane, mica could have this sort of appearance too. Kyanite is sometimes gray but usually is klighter in color. If it's flaky when cut, I'd bet mica and if it's splintery, kyanite. Could still be tourmaline, though. Do you know where it came from?
Mark H.
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