Name: garnet Group Classification: Orthosilicate General Chemical Formula: X3Y2(SiO4)3 Both X and Y are substituted with different elements depending upon the type of garnet. Types of Garnets: pyralspites (the aluminum bearing garnets) and ugrandites (the calcium bearing garnets)
General Info: It's not very glamorous, but I was taught in mineralogy class to consider garnets as "garbage pail" minerals. This was merely to remind us that the garnet group consists of minerals with varied compositions of fairly ubiquitous elements. To simplify things for us, our professor explained that you could take a handful of whatever elements were lying around and if metamorphism was involved, a garnet could probably be made. It is important to note that garnets are only found within metamorphic rocks. Also remember, it is impossible to distinguish between the various types of red garnets in hand sample, they'd need to be identified in a lab. General Identifying Properties of All Garnets:
Commercial Uses: Used commonly as an abrasive, for grinding and polishing. Used within the timber industry. Occurrence: Ubiquitous. One of the most common minerals. PYRALSPITES
UGRANDITES:
Lore: Believed that this stone's magick is released when stone is cut and polished (Gem and Mineral Lore). Some fine garnets that displayed a brilliant red color, like rubies, were called "nophek," meaning "a glowing coal" in ancient Egypt, around the thirteenth century. Though some considered garnets as protection from wounds, Asiatic tribes used garnets as bullets with the intention of inflicting greater harm than typical lead bullets. In regard to engraved stones, garnet became a stone that preserved honor and health, as well as protection while travelling specifically if engraved with the image of a lion (The Curious Lore of Precious Stones).
Metaphysical Uses:
If you would Cherish friendship true, In Aquarius well you'll do To wear this gem of warmest hue - The garnet." (TCLoPS)
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About a week or so ago, I got to go on another trip upstate to the western middle anthracite field. Coal country. The soft bituminous coal that formed when Pennsylvania used to be swampland when it was located near the equator during the Late Mississippian was metamorphosed during the formation of the Appalachian Mountains into the hard anthracite coal that PA is so proud of. It's expensive and slightly cleaner, but there's no clean coal. The following pictures are evidence of that. Strip mine: You can see the iron precipitate around that water in the valley there in the first picture. That's indicative of acid mine drainage. Bad news. Many streams in Pennsylvania have fallen victim to it and can no longer hold life. Like this one... The streams could also end up looking white from excess aluminum or black from manganese. This stream is iron polluted. So with all this talk of mining, it's important to ask ourselves if we, as consumers, are aware of where our belongings come from. Everything's mined from somewhere in order to make all of our stuff. That's easy to forget. Even our collectible healing crystals are mined from somewhere. I have read that mining those has little impact on the environment, mainly because they are collected as by products from many big ticket minerals like the coal above. That makes sense to me, since on our trip we found a bunch of quartz and pyrite minerals amongst the piles of excess. But there's still a good chance that we own products that were produced with minerals that were mined in a way that harmed our planet and possibly other human beings. It's important to be aware that although you may not condone these practices, your money could still be supporting it. Check the rankings of the companies you buy from and see if they are using conflict-free minerals in your products.
Name: jasper Chemical Formula: SiO2 (quartz variety... type of chalcedony) Group Classification: tectosilicate General Info: Name comes from the Greek word for "spotted stone." Microcrystalline (crystals only visible through microscope) quartz with impurities. Commonly forms within cracks in igneous rocks. Identifying Properties:
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There are so many different types of jasper. In the future I may go further in depth with some of the different varieties I am familiar with. But for now, this is just a quick overview. I'd recommend looking up more info depending on which type you have. If there's a specific one you use and you want to know more, just ask and I'll cover it. Here's a general list of the different types of jasper you may come across: brecciated, dalmation, green, landscape, leopard, mookaite, ocean, picasso, picture, red, yellow, zebra.
I know it seems like every mineral I pick up or learn about becomes my newest favorite, but this one's definitely my OLDEST favorite. Peridot is the name for gem quality olivine. And my love for peridot goes way back. It's my birthstone and the first mineral I ever knew of! Name: olivine / peridot Chemical Formula: (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 Group Classification: orthosilicate General Info: Main mineral of peridotite rock, which makes up the bulk of our mantle. Found in ultra-mafic igneous rocks. Solid solution mineral... olivine actually represents a group or series of minerals that exist in ranges between MgSiO4 (the magnesium rich forsterite) to FeSiO4 (the iron rich fayalite) dependent upon temperature. Not resistant, easily weathered. Identifying Properties:
Crystallography: orthorhombic (all axes different length, but at 90 degrees to one another) Occurrence: US (Hawaii), Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Galapagos, Norway, Japan, Spain, Italy, Iceland. Common along divergent (opening) plate boundaries. Think oceanic volcanoes. Typical Uses: high temperature manufacturing, smelting, casting for cast iron pans Metaphysical Uses:
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