Catapleiite

Another Mont St. Hilaire catapleiite.

Thanks to Arnaldo Brunetti's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Cordierite

Cordierite's one of the most obvious pleichroic minerals - one of its early names was dichroite. The closeup of this Madagascaran specimen shows the straw and violet colors at the ends of a 90° rotation. It's also called iolite and water sapphire in the jewelry trade.

Thanks to Alexander Falster's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Cordierite

Here's a thumbnail cleavage fragment of cordierite from Coroaci, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Thanks to Tony Nikischer at the Excalibur Mineral Company for the specimen!

Eudialyte

This massive eudialyte comes from Kipawa, Villedieu Township, Témiscamingue County, Québec, Canada. There's enough zirconium in eudialyte (9%) and enough eudialyte that it may be a future source of this strategically important metal. It's also one end of a two-member series with alluaivite and heads the eudialyte group: kentbrooksite, khomyakovite, manganokhomyakovite, and oneillite.

Thanks to Chris Wright at Wright's Rock Shop for the specimen and the image!

Eudialyte

A beautiful miniature of eudialyte, also from Kipawa.

Ferroaxinite

Small but nice ferroaxinite (a calcium iron aluminum hydroxyborosilicate) blades from the Jensen Quarry, Riverside, California. Since ferroaxinite is by far the most common of the axinite group, most collectors just call them axinite.

Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!

Ferroaxinite

An excellent specimen full of ferroaxinite blades from the Verchniy Mine, Primorski Krai, Dalnegorsk, Russia.

Ferroaxinite

I have two ferroaxinites from the Pampa Blanca Mine, near Pisco, Ica, Peru - I love the color and the intense trichroism.

Thanks to Anne & Charles Steuart's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!

Ferroaxinite

A single ferroaxinite crystal thumbnail from Riverside County, California.

Thanks to Doug Wahl's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Kainosite

This thumbnail has a nice sharp, pinkish, 3 mm. x 3 mm. crystal of kainosite-(Y) (a hydrated yttrium calcium cerium carbonate-silicate) from a roadcut during the cutting back to alleviate rock slides on Route 30, northwest of Long Lake, Hamilton County, New York.

Thanks to Val Collins' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Labuntsovite

Labuntsovite is in the same group as nenadkevichite - it's a complex titanosilicate with nine other metallic cations in its composition. This thumbnail from Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada has, in addition to the red labuntsovite (larger image, center panel), gray sodalite and micro pyrite cubes (larger image, bottom panel).

Thanks to Emilie & Ron Kendig's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Magnesio-axinite

My other axinites are ferroaxinites (the most common) - this one, because of its pale color, may be magnesio-axinite. It's from the Pampa Blanca Mine, Ica, Peru and has epidote scattered about.

Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!

Milarite

This pale lime green milarite (a member of the osumilite group) comes from Jaguaracu pegmatite, Jaguaracu, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Thanks to Richard Dale at Dale Minerals International for the specimen and the image!

Murmanite

A small cabinet specimen of submetallic purple plates of rare murmanite (a hydrated titanium niobium sodium four-ring silicate) in matrix from Mt. Rasvumtschorr, Chibiny, Kola Peninsula, Russia.

Thanks to Steve & Susan Bringe's (Summit Minerals) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Nenadkevichite

Nenadkevichite is a fairly rare cyclotitanosilicate with a small amount of niobium - this one, with small rhodochrosite crystals, comes from the famous Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. Like labuntsovite, its structure is a four-membered silicate ring.

Thanks to Tim Jokela, Jr. at Element 51 for the specimen!

Osumilite

Black pinacoidally-terminated hexagonal prisms of osumilite are scattered on the matrix of this miniature from Monte Arci, Marrubiu, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It forms a series with Osumilite-(Mg).

Thanks to Debra Zakarin's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Taramellite

Tiny brown crystals of taramellite (a complex barium iron titanium borosilicate) on matrix from Big Creek, Fresno County, California. It forms a complete series with titantaramellite; the iron and titanium switch predominance. This miniature is from the Jack Streeter Collection.

Thanks to Jan Garland's (Fine Rocks) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Wadeite

A beautiful thumbnail of lavendar wadeite (a potassium zirconium three-ring silicate) crystals on matrix, collected in the 1990s from Lovozero, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Synthetic wadeite has been used as the solid electrolyte in a novel hydrogen sensor (US Patent #4,976,991) - this gas sensor [presumably] operates near room temperature with a "very short" response time, unlike traditional semiconductor hydrogen gas sensors which are operated at several hundred degrees C and have a "very long" response time.

Thanks to Jonathan Levinger's (Jonathan's Mineral Exchange) auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Walstromite

A miniature of pearly white crystals of walstromite (a barium calcium three-ring silicate) in matrix from the Rush Creek area, Fresno County, California. They're hard to see, but their pinkish-orange fluorescence (under both longwave and shortwave) helps them show up (larger image, lower left).

Thanks to Tony Nikischer's Excalibur Mineral Company auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Actinolite

A miniature of dark-green actinolite needles in talc from the Liberty Lake Mine, Sykesville, Maryland.

Thanks to Keith Robertson's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Actinolite

A thumbnail of dark blue actinolite (an iron calcium magnesium hydroxysilicate) bundled fibers in matrix from the Del Puerto Canyon, near Patterson, Stanislaus County, California. Actinolite is usually considered to be the midmember of the tremolite-ferroactinolite series.

Thanks to Tom Lettier and Ken Balthazor's (The California Crystal Connection) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Actinolite,
var. Byssolite on
Chlorite on Prehnite

A miniature of fuzzy, matted byssolite on chlorite on prehnite from the Fairfax Quarry, Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia. Neither the green chlorite nor the green prehnite shows up well - the larger picture (bottom) was taken under fluorescent lighting (only) to pick up the green prehnite.

Thanks to Wayne Bloechl's (GeoJoe's) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Actinolite,
var. Byssolite

A thumbnail of beautiful rust-colored byssolite fibers on matrix from the Keystone Trap Rock Quarry, Cornog, Penssylvania.

Thanks to Don Smoley's Minerals & Gems' table at the 2001 Carnegie Gem & Mineral Show for the specimen!

Aegirine

A thumbnail of aegirine (sodium iron metasilicate) from Mount Malosa, Zomba Malawi.

Aegirine

Small dark green aegirine needles cover a cluster of orthoclase crystals in the miniature also from Mount Malosa. I like to call this crabgrass aegirine!

Thanks to Tom & Vicki Loomis at Dakota Matrix Minerals for the specimen!

Aegirine

A lustrous black (the purple is a reflection) 5cm single aegirine crystal. The closeup shows the end view of this pyroxene from Mount Malosa.

Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen!

Aegirine

Another aegirine crystal - this miniature from Mali, Africa, has a doubly-terminated smoky quartz crystal bisecting it.

Thanks to G. Stacy's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Aegirine,
var. Acmite

Aegirine and acmite are generally synonymous, but I prefer to use acmite when referring to the sharply-terminated aegirines, as in this old (1935) miniature from Magnet Cove, Hot Spring County, Arkansas.

Thanks to Kim & Cindy Strange's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Aenigmatite

Aenigmatite (an iron sodium titanium silicate) almost shouldn't be an inosilicate - its chains branch left and right alternately at intervals. This miniature of lamellar aenigmatite comes from Mount Eveslogchorr, Khibiny Massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia.

Thanks to Tony Nikischer at the Excalibur Mineral Company for the specimen!

Anthophyllite

Anthophyllite's a rare magnesium asbestos - this miniature is from the old Pelham asbestos mine in Pelham, Massachusetts. It was collected by Eric Greene in 1987. Anthophyllite is dimorphous with cummingtonite and forms a series with ferro-anthophyllite, where iron replaces the magnesium.

Thanks to Eric Greene's (Treasure Mountain Mining) auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!

Arfvedsonite

Bladed arfvedsonite (a sodium ferrosoferric hydroxysilicate) intergrown with microcline from Mount Malosa, Zomba, Malawi, South Africa. This thumbnail is from the C. S. Queit collection. It forms a series with Magnesio-arfvedsonite, where magnesium replaces the ferrous iron.

Thanks to David H. Garske's (MINERALS and MORE) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Arfvedsonite

This miniatute of black arfvedsonite cblades and gray quartz in albite comes from Hurricane Mountain in Conway, New Hampshire.

Thanks to Lee Rogers' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Augite

A classic small single crystal of augite - one of the pyroxene subfamily. I've had a bunch of these since I was a kid.

Babingtonite

A miniature of black babingtonite (a calcium iron manganese hydroxysilicate) on quartz from Montecatini Quarry Baveno, Lake Maggiore, Piedmont, Italy. It forms a series with manganbabingtonite, where manganese predominates over iron.

Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!

Babingtonite

Black wedge-shape babingtonite crystals in a pale green prehnite matrix from the classic locality of the Lane & Sons Traprock Quarries, Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. Babingtonite is the Massachusetts state mineral.

Thanks to Veronica Matthew's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Thanks also to Eric Greene for the locale correction!

Babingtonite,
var. Barkevite

Most babingtonite crystals are somewhat equant - the more acicular habit is called barkevite. It only occurs in four places; Sweden, the Swiss Alps, the area of the Lucky "S" Gold Mine on Queen Mountain in Plumas County, California, and one known exposed dike in the Camptonite intrusive formations in the Suislaw National Forest near Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, where this miniature of black barkevite, gray augite, and microcrystalline quartz is from. Note: This is not to be confused with barkevikite, the colloquial name for ferro-edenite.

Thanks to Leland Goodwin for the specimen!

Barroisite

Barroisite's a double-chain magnesium aluminum calcium sodium iron silicate and forms at least partial series with Aluminobarroisite, Aluminoferrobarroisite, Ferribarroisite, Ferri-ferrobarroisite, Ferrobarroisite, and Ferroferribarroisite. This miniature of platy barroisite crystals on matrix is from Monte Beigua, Presso Albisola, Savona Province, Liguria, Italy.

Thanks to Helmut Braith's auction on eBay for the specimen and image!

Bavenite

A massive fibrous thumbnail of bavenite (a calcium beryllium hydroxyaluminosilicate) from the granite quarry at Striegau, Lower Silesia, Poland.

Thanks to David H. Garske's (MINERALS and MORE) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Bavenite

Bavenite also occurs in bladed colorless crystals, as in this (miniature) second of only two specimens found during a 1999 field trip to the Middle General Electric Quarry, Buckfield, Oxford County, Maine.

Thanks to Van King's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Bustamite

A beautiful translucent miniature of massive bustamite (calcium manganese metasilicate) from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. Bustamite's one of the many manganese silicates (a triple chain); it also has a bit (8%) of calcium and it forms an incomplete series with ferrobustamite.

Thanks to SoCal Nevada's auction on eBay for the specimen and images!

Crossite

Crossite's a fairly rare mineral (an iron magnesium sodium aluminum hydroxysilicate) - this miniature from Hallberg, Salzburg, Austria has two habits; most of the vein is massive, but there are a few clusters of acicular crystals (top right). Some references consider crossite to be a riebeckite-glaucophane intermediate.

Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!

Crossite

A thumbnail of crisscrossing crossite fibers in matrix from Skaggs Springs, Sonoma County, California.

Thanks to Tom Lettier and Ken Balthazor's (The California Crystal Connection) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Diopside

Pale peach-colored diopside sprays from Fort Point, San Francisco, California.

Thanks to Tom Lettier and Ken Balthazor's (The California Crystal Connection) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Diopside

Dark green phlogopite mica decorates the top of this sage green diopside cluster from Dog Lake, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada.

Thanks to Tom Klinepeter's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Diopside

Gemmy green diopside crystals on matrix comprise this miniature from Arondu, Basha Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan.

Thanks to Graeber & Himes' table at the 2001 Carnegie Gem & Mineral Show for the specimen!

Diopside

A miniature of pale green diopside on matrix from Eden Mills, Lamoille County, Vermont. There's also a little bit of amber vesuvianite (larger image, bottom) present.

Thanks to Frank Boone & Joseph Miller's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Diopside

A bright green 64mm single crystal of diopside (possibly chrome diopside) from an unknown location.

Diopside, var. Chrome Diopside

A beautiful 17mm chrome diopside (the chromium-containing variety) crystal from Afghanistan.

Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the images!

Diopside, var. Chrome Diopside

A large cabinet specimen of chrome diopside crystals in a calcite matrix from Brazil.

Diopside,
var. Violane

Diopside colored lavender by manganese is called violane (or violan) - this one's from historic Fort Point, San Francisco, California and is mixed in with the more normal green variety.

Thanks to Tom Lettier and Ken Balthazor's (The California Crystal Connection) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Edenite

A handsome small cabinet specimen of gray and bluish-gray edenite sprays from Mont Ibity, Antsirabe, Madagascar

Thanks to Tom Klinepeter's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Elpidite

Most elpidite (a hydrated sodium zirconium silicate) specimens come from Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. They're generally accompanied by many other minerals (as here) that are very hard to identify. I have two of them (larger image) and they're fascinating to look at under a magnifier!

Thanks to Brian McManus at the Pebble Peddler for the earlier specimen, (top row, larger picture) and Todd & Tammy Roen's auction on eBay for the newer specimen (bottom row, larger picture)!

Enstatite

This is small piece of enstatite (magnesium metasilicate) that's clear enough to be facetable - it's from Morogoro, Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania, Africa. Enstatite's dimorphous with clinoenstatite and forms a series with ferrosilite, where iron replaces some of the magnesium.

Thanks to Mark Stevens' auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Ferroactinolite

This cluster of ferroactinolite comes from Furtshagl, Zillertal, Tirol, Austria. It's the iron-rich end member of a series with tremolite, the magnesium-rich end member.

Thanks to Tom & Vicki Loomis at Dakota Matrix Minerals for the specimen and the image!

Ferroactinolite

A bright green miniature of parallel ferroactinolite fibers from an unknown location.

Thanks to Craig Hinegardner's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Fluorrichterite

Fluorrichterite (or fluororichterite) is a rare calcium sodium magnesium silicate from near Wilberforce (Bancroft for this one), Ontario, Canada. As can be seen by the cross-sectional view, (larger image, third panel it's a member of the amphibole group. It's also the fluorine analog of richterite.

Thanks to Walter Mroch's (The Gem and Mineral Exploration Company) auction for the specimen and the image!

Grunerite,
var. Amosite

Here's an excellent miniature of grunerite (a double-chain iron hydroxysilicate) sprays on hematite from the Michigamme Mine in Marquette County, Michigan. This gray-green fibrous variety is often called "amosite", especially in the asbestos literature, and is one of the nastier asbestoses. Grunerite forms a series with cummingtonite, where magnesium replaces the iron and is dimorphic with ferro-anthophyllite .

Thanks to Joe Vasichko's Rockmanjoe Minerals auction on eBay for the specimen!

Hedenbergite

Actually, the only hedenbergite (calcium iron metasilicate) here is included in the quartz crystals, giving them that dark green coloration. The quartz shares the small cabinet matrix with black blades of hematite. Hedenbergite forms two series, one with diopside and one with johannsenite. This small cabinet piece comes from Mega Horio, Serifos Island, Greece.

Thanks to Dan Wienrich at Dan & Jill Weinrich for the specimen!

Hedenbergite

Another specimen of hedenbergite - this miniature, with epidote after augite, comes from Tungsten Hills, Bishop, Inyo County, California.

Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!

Holmquistite

Holmquistite's one of a series of double-chain lithium-bearing (magnesium aluminum) amphiboles and is dimorphous with clinoholmquistite and forms a series with ferroholmquistite where iron replaces the magnesium. This dark purplish-gray shimmery miniature (with small light blue translucent holmquistite, larger picture, right) is from the Foote Mine, Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Thanks to Ron Sloto's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Howlite

Howlite could be included with my gemstones because it's often dyed blue and used as imitation turquoise. It's named after Henry How, a Nova Scotian mineralogist - this piece, however, comes from California. Howlite used to be classified as a borate, now it's here as a (calcium) borosilicate.

Hypersthene

Hypersthene's the middle member of the enstatite-ferrosilite series and is also dimorphous with clinohypersthene. This shimmery dark green miniature is from Mill Creek Canyon, San Bernardino County, California.

Hypersthene

This small cabinet specimen of very rare hypersthene crystals in quartzite is from Summit Rock, Klamath County, Oregon. Hypersthene is often considered ferroan enstatite. It's deaccessioned from the Virginia Tech collection.

Thanks to Keith & Patricia Wood's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Inesite

An open cluster of inesite needles with hubeite from the Da Ye Mine (Dayan), Hubei, China.

Thanks to Miao Yang's eauction on eBay for the specimen!

Inesite with
Orlymanite

A small cabinet plate of inesite with brown botryoidal orlymanite (a hydrated manganese calcium hydroxy(phyllo)silicate), for which this is the type locality, from the Kalahari Manganese field, Wessel Mine, Kuruman, Northern Cape, Republic of South Africa.

Thanks to Debbie Woolf at Steiner's Rockshop's auction on eBay for the specimen and images!

Johannsenite

A lawn of johannsenite (a calcium manganese silicate) studded with quartz and axinite from the Iron Cap Mine, Graham County, Arizona. I have a flat of thumbnails from there. It forms a series with diopside and hedenbergite.

Thanks to Brian McManus at the Pebble Peddler for the specimens!

Kaersutite

A small cabinet specimen of glossy black kaersutite (a complex magnesium titanium hydroxyaluminosilicate) crystal cleavages on matrix from approximately 10 miles east of Hoover Dam, Rt. 93 Road Cut, Mohave County, Arizona. It forms a series with Ferrokaersutite where iron replaces the magnesium.

Thanks to David H. Garske's (MINERALS and MORE) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Kupletskite

Kupletskite is a rare and complex (manganese, iron, potassium, titanium, niobium, sodium) single-chain hydroxysilicate that occurs as golden-brown blades and fibers on matrix - this miniature is from Junguni Hill, Zombe, Balaka, Malawi. It forms series with both astrophyllite, Cesium-kupletskite, where cesium replaces some of the potassium, and Niobokupletskite, where the niobium content is greater than the titanium.

Thanks to Steve & Susan Bringe's (Summit Minerals) auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Lorenzenite

There are a bunch of brown lorenzenite (a rare sodium titanium silicate) crystals in matrix along with dozens of black hornblende needles from the Kola Pennisula in Russia.

Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!

Magnesioriebeckite

A nice miniature of gray-blue magnesioriebeckite (an iron magnesium sodium double-chain hydroxysilicate) in matrix from the Gingel Brothers Quarry somewhere near the maryland border in Pennsylvania. It forms a complete series with riebeckite, where ferrous iron replaces the magnesium. The larger image (bottom) shows the silky luster.

Thanks to Vince Olsovsky's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Namansilite and
Noélbensonite

These are two very rare manganese silicates - it's hard to see the difference in colors here, but the reddish-brown noélbensonite (larger image, bottom) is often an alteration product of the reddish-violet namansilite (larger image, center). The pectolite part of the white matrix glow bright orange under LUV. This thumbnail's from the Cerchiara (manganese) Mine, Liguria, Italy.

Thanks to Brian McManus at the Pebble Peddler for the specimen!

Narsarsukite

Another narsarsukite from the Poudrette Quarry in Mont Saint-Hilaire - this one's yellow.

Thanks to Tim Jokela, Jr. at Element 51 for the specimen!

Okenite

This okenite is from Junah, Maharastra, India and is accompanied by two white and one pale green gyrolites.

Thanks to the Carnegie Natural History Museum Store for the specimen!

Pargasite

Lime-green pargasite, a sodium calcium magnesium aluminum hydroxyaluminosilicate, (and probable dark green ferropargasite, where iron replaces the magnesium) comprise this small cabinet chunk from Timmins, Ontario, Canada.

Thanks to Ken & Liz Massie's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Pargasite
&
Sanidine

Tiny black pargasite (larger image, bottom left) and colorless sanidine (larger image, bottom center) crystals in matrix from Mount Vesuvius, Italy, There's also a few unidentified transparent brown crystals present (larger image, bottom right).

Thanks to Dieter Obrecht's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Pectolite

Very nice white pectolite (sodium calcium hydroxysilicate) - the orange fluorescence under LUV tells me it's from Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. It forms a series with serandite.

Potassic-fluororichterite

A gemmy thumbnail light-yellow potassic-fluororichterite crystal from Kiran, Kokcha Valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan. It's hard to believe that these two are the same mineral - though I'm told that slight compositional differences may account for the vastly different appearence.

Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!

Pyroxmangite

Pyroxmangite's one of the many manganese silicates (manganese metasilicate) - this massive chunk is from the Sunnyside Mine, Eureka Mining District, Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado and has a few small quartz crystals on the back. It forms a series with pyroxferroite where iron replaces the manganese (and for which the type locality is Mare Tranquillitas, The Moon!).

Thanks to Henry Truebe's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Pyroxmangite

Another bright thumbnail of pyroxmangite from Morro da Mina - the closeup shows one of the gemmier portions.

Thanks to the Carnegie Natural History Museum Store for the specimen!

Rhodonite

A pretty pink intergrown cluster of bladed rhodonite (another manganese silicate) from the Chiurucu Mine, Dos de Mayo Province, Huanuco Department, Perú. The closeup shows a bunch of clear, slender, doubly-terminated quartz crystals.

Thanks to Alan & Marsha Day at Mineral Exploration Services for the specimen!

Rhodonite

A massive chunk of raspberry rhodonite with a few crystal surfaces showing.

Rhodonite

Rhodonite embedded in galena with a spessartine on top from the Broken Hill Mine, New South Wales, Australia.

Thanks to Mike Shell for the specimen!

Rhodonite

Massive rhodonite, especially if it has veins of manganese oxides, is often slabbed and polished for jewelry - this one's from an old mine (now a shopping mall parking lot) in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Thanks to Donna Lee Hanlon's (Donna's Treasures) auction on eBay for the specimen!

Richterite

This sawn and sanded slab is primarily blue richterite (richtorite in the jewelry trade) - the midpoint (a sodium calcium magnesium hydroxysilicate) of the ferrorichterite and a hypothetical magnesiorichterite series. It's also the hydroxyl analog of flurorichterite.

Thanks to Craig Hinegardner's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Santaclaraite

Santaclaraite's a hydrated manganese calcium hydroxysilicate - this miniature of pink santaclaraite in matrix comes from Mount Hamilton, near the type localities in Santa Clara County, California.

Thanks to Joseph & Catherine Morris' PhelansFinds auction on eBay for the specimen!

Sapphirine

Small dark blue crystals of sapphirine, a magnesium aluminum aluminosilicate named because of its resemblance to sapphire, from Androy, Madagascar.

Thanks to Dave Hayward at Lucky Strike Minerals for the specimen and the image!

Serendibite

A miniature of dark-blue serendibite (some altering to a brownish serpentine) and golden phlogopite in white (Grenville) marble from a now-closed watershed near Johnsburg Village, Johnsburg Township, Warren County, New York.

Thanks to Val Collins' auction on eBay for the specimen!

Spodumene,
var. Hiddenite

This pale green spodumene (hiddenite) is from Kunar Tal, Nuristan, Afghanistan. I'm not sure that this should be called "hiddenite" - the green tint is more likely due to iron rather than chromium.

Thanks to Greg Holland at the Stone Haven Mineral Shoppe for the specimen!

Spodumene,
var. Kunzite

Kunzite's the pink to lavender variety of spodumene - this one's from Gilgit, Afghanistan.

Thanks to Tom & Vicki Loomis at Dakota Matrix Minerals for the specimen!

Spodumene,
var. Kunzite

A miniature of the 2001 find of blue kunzite from Nuristan, Afghanistan. Like most blue kunzite, it'll probably turn lavender if left exposed to light and warm temperatures.

Thanks to S & F Gem's auction on eBay for the specimen and image!

Spodumene,
var. Kunzite

A rare matrix miniature of kunzite - almost all spodumenes readily separate from their matrix. This one's from Pakistan.

Thanks to T. Laurano's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Spodumene,
var. Triphane

Spodumene (lithium aluminum silicate) can occur in many pastel colors - this yellow variety is also cvalled "triphane". I've had this for so long I don't recall where it's from.

Stokesite

Stokesite's one of the rare tin minerals (28% tin) - it's a calcium tin silicate named after Sir George G. Stokes, the famous British physicist and mathematician. This typical thumbnail of stokesite crystals on albite is from the Urucum Mine in Galilea, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Thanks to Don Smoley's Minerals & Gems table at the 2003 Carnegie Gem & Mineral Show for the specimen!

Tirodite

Some references consider tirodite to be manganocummingtonite, a double-chain magnesium manganese hydroxysilicate. Most tirodite has a small amount of iron replacing the magnesium - if the iron content is more than 50%, the mineral becomes dannemorite. So, it's reasonable to consider tirodite as the midmember of a hypothetical manganocummingtonite - dannemorite series. This beautifully-fluorescing (red-orange tirodite and orange tremolite) miniature of transparent pink tirodite crystals in a tremolite matrix is from Talcville, St. Lawrence County, New York.

Thanks to Val Collin's auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!

Tobermorite

Rare beige tobermorite (a calcium triple-chain hydroxysilicate) and blue calcite in matrix from the Crestmore Quarry in Riverside County, California. Tobermorite's dimorphic with clinotobermorite.

Thanks to Gary Lozonne at Lozonne's Minerals for the specimen and the image!

Tremolite, var.
Chrome-Tremolite

This is a preform of the chromium-enhanced variety of tremolite - it's from one of the very few locales in the world, Balmat, St Lawrence County, New York and was mined in the 1950s.

Thanks to Mark Stevens' auction on eBay for the specimen!

Tremolite, var.
Hexagonite

Another (smaller) piece of hexagonite - this one's from the International Talc Company mine in Balmat, New York.

Tremolite, var.
Hexagonite

A thumbnail of hexagonite from Balmat, New York - this thumbnail has a gemmy crystal protruding from the massive matrix.

Thanks to Bill Kohout's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Wollastonite

Pale bluish-green parallel wollastonite (single-chain calcium metasilicate) blades with probable brown almandine and green diopside from the Minerals Unlimited Mine in Lewis, Essex County, New York. I don't know what causes the blue-green tint - none of my field guides mention this color. As is often the case, the actual color is somewhere in between Steve's photo and mine. It also glows a bright lime-green under longwave UV.

Thanks to Steve Cantiello's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Wollastonite, var.
Parawollastonite

Parawollastonite is the common name for wollastonite-2M, the very rare monoclinic polymorph of wollastonite. This miniature is from the Crestmore Quarry, Riverside County, California. Ex: Larner R. Peak and David M. Shannon Collections.

Thanks to Kim & Cindy Strange's auction on eBay for the specimen!

Wollastonite, var.
Wollastonite-3A-4A-5A

A nice minaiture of three rare triclinic polymorphs of wollastonite (3A, 4A, and 5A) from the type locality of Kushiro, Hiroshima Prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan. I don't know what the black mineral or the iridescent schiller is (larger image, center).

Thanks to Thomas Bee's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!

Xonotlite

A thumbnail of white xonotlite (a calcium triple-chain hydroxy(ino)silicate) from the Acheron River, Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Synthetic ceramics with a xonotlite structure (e.g., PROMALIGHT®-310) make extremely low thermal-conductivity microporous machinable insulators.

Thanks to Toby PAge's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!