It’s actually one of the forms of asbestos, although it lacks the danger of chrysotile asbestos. These areas are known to have higher quality crystals, but the majority of the material in the state is industrial in quality. If you want to acquire a sample of New York’s diopside the following areas are your best options: It’s even being investigated as a way to help out with nuclear waste disposal. In various forms, it’s been used as a way to strengthen glass and glass-ceramic materials. Diopside was primarily used as a precursor to the chrysotile fibers known as asbestos, but this requires heavy alteration and diopside doesn’t contain it when it’s removed from the ground.ĭiopside has some serious potential in technology that is being investigated. Much of the material doesn’t even emerge as fully formed crystals, instead being part of the granular structure of other stones. Instead, it’s often found intermixed with malfic (low silica) stones in small quantities. This mineral is a bit soft, at 5.5, which restricts gemstone use to pendants and earrings to avoid damage to the stone.
These are chrome diopside, a personal favorite, and black star diopside. It’s most often white, but there are two varieties used as gemstones. Diopsideĭiopside is a mineral that contains magnesium and calcium, creating monoclinic crystals. There is also a strong concentration in the southeast of the state along the Hudson River. Blue specimens, often massive, can also be found in a few locations.Ĭalcite can be found at many locations in the state, most of them concentrated east of Lake Ontario and along the border with Canada. Those found in this state tend to be of the “honey” variety, which is deep amber to light yellow color. On many occasions, it will also have impurities that grant color to the crystal. Quite often, however, it’s seen in a massive form of interconnected crystalline growth.
Calcite forms more quickly than most minerals, and its growth can be measured in stalactites in some caves.Ĭalcite, as a pure mineral, appears as a white prismatic crystal. The shells of many mollusks are made of calcite, with a few being the polymorph aragonite. Calcium carbonate makes up many things in nature and it’s one of the few minerals that also has a biological origin on occasion. CalciteĬalcite is just one form of the mineral calcium carbonate. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Barton Garnet Mine, which is also the world’s oldest functioning industrial garnet mine. There are several paid dig sites available for those looking for garnet, as well as mine tours available. Coloration in the state is usually of the red variety, but purple, green, and yellow stones also show up on occasion. Almandine is the most common garnet and much of the material ends up being used as an abrasive for industrial applications. The garnets found in New York are of the almandine and pyrope families. These blue garnets are almost priceless, commanding prices that rival or exceed the classic precious gemstones like sapphire and emerald. There are even blue varieties that show up in vanishingly small quantities across the planet. These range from the yellow-to-orange spessartite garnets to the more exotic bright green tsavorites. The garnet family includes many different stones. While much garnet is heavily included, gem-grade material can be found and faceted to create beautiful stones with a deep hue.
These gemstones are usually known to be red in color, and those coming from New York fit the bill there. The gem of New York state is the humble garnet. They’re primarily found on paid digs, which are readily available for those interested. These “diamonds” are found in very few places in the world, and those formed in the dolomite outcroppings near Herikmer are widely considered the best. Their formation in dolomite was exceptionally slow, which is why the crystals are so exceptionally well formed. Herkimer Diamonds are one of the most famous quartz varieties, known for their clarity and well-formed pyramids. These are simple quartz crystals that are terminated on both ends, an extreme rarity compared to the more common single-terminated crystals that are found across the world. There are many famous varieties of quartz, but when it comes to clear quartz there’s one real prize: Herkimer Diamonds. The form is well known enough that most crystals in media are just quartz drawn with different colors. It’s a macrocrystallized form of silica, creating hexagonal crystals of varying lengths with pyramidal termination. We all know quartz, for many of us it was the first stone to catch our interest.
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