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Ch. 8: Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Iolite, ... Lapis Lazuli

Ch. 8: Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Iolite, ... Lapis Lazuli Page of 364 Ch. 8: Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Iolite, ... Lapis Lazuli Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
150
GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES IN THE
that arose as to its discovery. Hence for a time the demand exceeded the supply, which, from the desultory working of the mine, was limited. Thus a 2-1/2 carat stone was sold for $500, and a number of stones brought from $40 to over $100 a carat. The total sale of all the gems found, from the beginning of oper­ations in August, 1880, to the close of 1888, amounted to about $7,500, the yield in 1882, during which the preparatory work was done, being about $2,000. At the time of the discovery, this was supposed to be the first occurrence of transparent spodu-mene: but Pisani, in the Comptes Rendus for 1877, announced a transparent yellow spodumene that had been found at Minas Geraes, Brazil, where it exists in large quantities and has been extensively sold as chrysoberyl. The writer saw nearly a ton of broken crystals of this mineral atldar, Germany, in 1881, whither it had been sent for cutting. A stone from Brazil weighing 1 carat is in the United States National Museum, as also a series of crystals and cut stones from North Carolina. At Branchville, Conn., spodumene is found in crystals 4 or 5 feet long and afoot in diameter, almost entirely altered to other minerals. In spots, however, it is transparent enough to furnish small gems of an amethystine color. The alterations which have taken place have entirely changed it to what might almost be called a defunct gem; otherwise, this material would have afforded gems over an inch in thickness and several inches in length. The color be­fore the alteration was probably much richer pink.1 It is of min-eralogical value only.
Smaragdite is believed to be a variety of hornblende, and occurs plentifully at Cullakenee Mine, Clay County, N. C. In color it is bright emerald, grass-green, also grayish and greenish
SMARAGDITE
1 See On Spodumene and its Alterations, by Alexis A. Julien, Ann., N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol.I., p. 318, 1879.
Ch. 8: Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Iolite, ... Lapis Lazuli Page of 364 Ch. 8: Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Iolite, ... Lapis Lazuli
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