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PRECIOUS STONES.
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By Douglas B. Sterrett.
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INTRODUCTION.
Interest
in the mining in the United States of the more valuable of the precious
stones, as the diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire, was keen during
1907. The announcement of the discovery and the statement of the
incidents associated with the discovery of diamonds in Arkansas were
made during the year by Messrs. Kunz and Washington. Development work
on this diamond deposit was carried on and is still in progress. The
ruby deposits of Cowee Valley, Macon County, N. C, were still further
tested, and promising ruby in matrix specimens was reported as found.
Prospecting for emerald at the emerald hiddenite mine in Alexander
County, N. C, resulted in the discovery of promising gems, and it is
expected that the locality will be developed on a larger scale in the
near future. The output of sapphire in Montana, of both the rich blue
and the varicolored gems, was very large. The blue sapphire is found in
the matrix in a dike; the varicolored sapphire is found in placer
deposits. At one locality the latter variety was mined with a dredge
along with gold.
Several
new localities and varieties of gems have been reported during the
year. Among the new discoveries are deposits of topaz near Streeter,
Mason County, Tex., and of beryl, tourmaline, garnet, and rose-quartz
in Colorado. Among the new varieties of gems are benitoite, blue
chrysoprase, serpentine cat's-eye, blue and green gold quartz, and
smithsonite. Benitoite is a sapphire-blue colored stone found in San
Benito County, Cal. Blue chrysoprase is copper-stained chalcedony, and
has been found at Globe, Ariz. Serpentine cat's-eye has been found in
Tulare County, Cal. It is gray to green serpentine with a silky luster,
and gives a marked cat's-eye effect when cut "en cabochon." A new
variety of gold quartz consists of native gold liberally sprinkled
through copper-stained vein quartz. The new smithsonite is a
translucent, apple-green variety found in large quantities in the
Kelly mine, New Mexico. The color is similar to that of chrysoprase,
though the gem is much softer.
Old
gems appearing under new names are amatrice (utahlite matrix) and
azurmalachite. Amatrice is the green, blue-green, and bluish variscite
or utahlite cut with its associated matrix. The latter varies from
white to gray, yellow, red, purplish, and brown in color, and the
various combinations obtained in cut gems are quite pleasing.
Azurmalachite is the name applied by Dr. G. F. Kunz to the copper
carbonate gems from the copper mines of Arizona, and, as the name
indicates, is a combination of azurite and malachite.
795
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