Precious Gem stones production in 1908 Page 35



	812	MINERAL RESOURCES.

	BRAZIL. According to A. S. Atkinson^a aquamarines have been mined at a number of localities in Brazil. Some remarkable gems are obtained, and a few years ago one weighing nearly 6 pounds was found near Arassuahy. Records report a 15-pound green aquamarine found in 1814. The best gems come from the island of Alegre and are prized for their rich colors and brilliant luster. CALAMINE. MEXICO. A very beautiful variety of calamine, suitable for gem purposes, has been brought to light by Charles II. Beers, of the Ysabelita Mining Company, of San Pedro, Chihuahua, Mexico. Mr. Beers first noticed this material in the possession of a Yaqui Indian, who placed it before his shrine beside the cross and candle. The Indian informed him it was a guard against sickness, accidents, etc., and a sign of success. Mr. Beers obtained all the material possible from the Indian, amounting to about 400 pounds in the rough, and learned that it probably came from the Sabinal district near the Adventure mine, or perhaps in the Santo Domingo region in-the Sierra Madre Mountains. The Indian was later killed in a mine, so that at present the locality from which the material was obtained is not definitely known. The calamine occurs in masses of gray, green, and blue colors, the blue prevailing. The Indian's name for the blue calamine was " buena fortuna." Specimens of the blue calamine, one a cabochon-cut gem kindly furnished by Mr. Beers, consist of translucent material, with a curved banded structure and fibrous or radial crystallization across the banding. The banding is evidently due to calamine deposited from solutions in mammillary layers of translucent blue and white colors. The crystallization has been from a center outward in radial lines, and gives a fibrous or silky appearance. Mr. Beers calls attention to the resemblance of a section of this material to the rising sun and believes this to be the cause of attraction for the Yaqui Indians. The gem cut from this calamine is very pretty. CALIFORNITE. CALIFORNIA. Collier and Smith, of San Diego, CaL, report that about 2 tons of rough californite was obtained at their mine on the South Fork of Indian Creek, 10-1/2 miles from Happy Camp, Siskiyou County, Cal. None of this material was disposed of during 1908. The good grades of californite or jade—as it is sometimes called—are sold for about S50 a pound. a Mining for gems in Brazil: Eng. and Min. Jour., June 19, 1909.