Chrysocolla, Turquoise, Shattuckite, Variscite, Which?
Aug 5, 2013 19:16:14 GMT -5
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Post by helens on Aug 5, 2013 19:16:14 GMT -5
I just got a 'box' (was really a BIG heavy bag) of rocks from VegasJames of stuff he hounded. Whoa! Maybe this will start an interesting discussion of which is which, why it matters, and how do you tell them apart.
James generously sent me a BUNCH of the beautiful blue-green stuff, 4 larger chunks of Tiffany stone, and 1 nice Nevada Wonderstone (which looks like Hickoryite).
He had mentioned that they were chrysocolla and turquoise. But looking at them, I couldn't tell which was which. Then I compared to them to other copper-based minerals I had (specifically shattuckite)... and are now even more confused.
Here is the hoard he sent. These are right out of the bag, powdered, and the bag had a lot of 'dust', chips, and bits knocked off:
I collected the bits and dust and smaller chunks into a container, but this shows how much damage the rocks took- they are delicate for rocks:
When I wet them individually... my jaw hit the ground. The colors on these are nuts!!
The most colorful piece - now this looks EXACTLY like shattuckite I got from Michael Hoover:
After handling them wet, they 'ran'... almost like paint minerals. This surprised me, I wouldn't have expected rocks to be water soluable:
The below are the most different ones (different matrix, colors, or patterns) individually... James, which are turquoise:)? And thank you!!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6 (turquoise??)
#7
#8 (it's a natural FROG shape:))
#9 - turquoise??
#10- quartz w/ a very light lime green and pale blue turquoisy color... what is this??
#11 - almost orbital- white quartz, turquoise blue, then a pale green outside with a brown matrix
#12- looks almost like a plasma agate with bright blue specks
#13 - specimeny small nodules of blue and blue-green stuff
#14 - center of this looks exactly like Mike Hoover's Shattuckite - which is pretty dense and 'gemmy', not as loose as the chrysocolla nodules
The above are all the 'variety' differences, James sent more of some of them:).
Tiffany stone chunks, he seems to have found some REALLY purple ones!!
Dry:
This is like a powdery purple, and below it is a more 'gemmy' purple:
Really nifty big chunk with lots of white:
And the most colorful, and cab sized- the purple is so dark it's almost black, and the pattern is gorgeous:
And finally, one big hunk of Vegas Wonderstone (which I forgot to get a pix of wet!!):
Thanks again James!! WOW!!!
James generously sent me a BUNCH of the beautiful blue-green stuff, 4 larger chunks of Tiffany stone, and 1 nice Nevada Wonderstone (which looks like Hickoryite).
He had mentioned that they were chrysocolla and turquoise. But looking at them, I couldn't tell which was which. Then I compared to them to other copper-based minerals I had (specifically shattuckite)... and are now even more confused.
Here is the hoard he sent. These are right out of the bag, powdered, and the bag had a lot of 'dust', chips, and bits knocked off:
I collected the bits and dust and smaller chunks into a container, but this shows how much damage the rocks took- they are delicate for rocks:
When I wet them individually... my jaw hit the ground. The colors on these are nuts!!
The most colorful piece - now this looks EXACTLY like shattuckite I got from Michael Hoover:
After handling them wet, they 'ran'... almost like paint minerals. This surprised me, I wouldn't have expected rocks to be water soluable:
The below are the most different ones (different matrix, colors, or patterns) individually... James, which are turquoise:)? And thank you!!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6 (turquoise??)
#7
#8 (it's a natural FROG shape:))
#9 - turquoise??
#10- quartz w/ a very light lime green and pale blue turquoisy color... what is this??
#11 - almost orbital- white quartz, turquoise blue, then a pale green outside with a brown matrix
#12- looks almost like a plasma agate with bright blue specks
#13 - specimeny small nodules of blue and blue-green stuff
#14 - center of this looks exactly like Mike Hoover's Shattuckite - which is pretty dense and 'gemmy', not as loose as the chrysocolla nodules
The above are all the 'variety' differences, James sent more of some of them:).
Tiffany stone chunks, he seems to have found some REALLY purple ones!!
Dry:
This is like a powdery purple, and below it is a more 'gemmy' purple:
Really nifty big chunk with lots of white:
And the most colorful, and cab sized- the purple is so dark it's almost black, and the pattern is gorgeous:
And finally, one big hunk of Vegas Wonderstone (which I forgot to get a pix of wet!!):
Thanks again James!! WOW!!!