Grok what you love – Chem of crystals

*Close up of specimen. Check out those sexy little striations and the white markings. In a streak test, CaCO3 shows white markings. Image 2.3*

Green calcites, rough stones and chemistry, oh my! I’ve been thinking of picking up the practice of tumbling stones again. I’ve no clue how I drifted away from it (although surgery and chronic pain would do it – then a global pandemic).

*Sweet blue specimen of CaF2: Fluorite Image. 4.0*

The sad tumbler sits and beckons for someone to dust her off, finish the first task and then go to town with new tumbling ventures. Of course I can anthropomorphize a rock tumbler. Why not? It’s entertaining! Poor sad tumblers need love too!

Along with tumbling, I am noodling with other ideas regarding the scientific aspects of crystals, minerals, stones and rocks. I decided that this was a great time to get nerdy with it.

Gratitute in green:

*Simple aesthetics in this shy green toned calcite pendant. Ima*ge 1.0

I snagged some calcites and fluorites recently with the intention of tumbling them. That shifted to an intention for creating some freestyle wrapped rough pieces. There’s a beauty in roughness… stones and in humanity.

After listening to a fellow hobbiest and cottage industry owner, I’m taking a closer look at the beauty of rough crystalline, mineral and other structures. While doing this, I am taken back to the joy of scientific learning and exploration. Most importantly, my crystal chemistry experiment, lab, research paper and more. *If I locate my photos and personally compiled data, I will share.*

*Sexy teal hued fluorite* *specimen. This lively love shimmies and shows off some delineated areas. Can you see the hint of the octahedral formation within and along her edges. Image 5.0*

Calcites are a simple carbonate. I love the formations, the colors and the “energy” which is further on the esoteric side of crystals. Scientifically there are different factual characteristics. I will be maintaining more of the physicalist scientific properties here.

Properties:

Chem composition: CaCO3

Mohs Hardness: 3

Specific Gravity: 2.7

Crystal System: Hexagonal

Cleavage: a “perfect” rhombohedral in 3 directions. They have curved crystal faces. These frequently have twinning

Luster: Vitreous

•The powdered form of CaCO3 is said to effervesce weakly in dilute HCl. Note: this was a nifty experiment in either CHM 151 or 152.

•Calcites (like any crystal) have their own unit structutes on an atomic level. The chemical properties of the different crystal species are fascinating.

Colors: white, but also colorless, gray, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, orange

*Tones of calcite (L to R): Orange, honey and green calcite. Notice that these too have a vitreous luster. Image 3.0*

Calcite has many uses! It’s prolific in nature, therefore we have found uses within industries, in building, with neutralizing acid (thank you tums), as a soil conditioner and heated for the production of lime. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all uses for CaCO3. There are multiple chemical aspects, however calcites have other uses.

Specimens are used for classrooms for teaching, held in collections and kept by geologists. They’re also used by reiki practicioners for alternative healing.

*I want to include some of my personal drawings from a CHM 152 class but will need to wait. I’m hoping to add more to this article as I find pieces from my studies.*

Bibliography:

1). King, Hobart M. PhD, RPG. “Calcite.” Geology.com/minerals/calcite. Accessed 3/10/21

2). Strickland, J. “Calcite Types.” Personal Photography used for all examples. 10/3/2021

(Updated 3/24/21) Crystalline structures became an interest during my college Chemistry 152 class. When tasked with growing my own crystal for a major research project, I went for the copper sulphate pendahydrate variety due to the superb ability to grow them “gemmy.” Math and Science had been a default for me to work in life’s difficult times. When life doesn’t make sense, Calculus provides an answerable question. The scientific method allows for a set out strategy and positive results matching a hypothesis.

Opals are fundamentally unlike most other gems. They are made of hardened silica gel and contain water. This means that they are characterized as cryptocrystalline. Rather than “minerals,” they are classified as “mineraloids.” They don’t perform well if you allow them to be exposed to heat. This has a tendency to cause brittleness and lead to breakage.

There are multiple varieties, from your “common opal” without sheen to the “ethiopian” water opal. The former variety is known as “color” opal. The color tends to be flatter in some varieties. When cut and faceted, they do show interesting depth. Your water opals (Ethiopian) are known by their beautiful color play. Depending on how light enters, you may see yellow, green, red and blue depending on viewing angles.

Common opals can be found in similar environs to the precious variants. They are more likely to occur in veins near volcanic activity. Sedimentary rocks and arid climates are another aspect of opal locations. This makes sense given the aforementioned variants. I have worked with both color and water opals. Each variety holds its own sense of magic.

For common opals, one is more likely to locate them in smaller deposits. Mechanized mining is not necessary for uncovering them. A small group can usually work them out in a short period of time, especially compared to other gems (mindat.org). These small seams are found in regions all over the world.

Peru offers pastel colors – pink, blue and green. Oregon is purported to share them in shades of blue, pink and yellow. Given Oregon’s location within a volcanic range and due to ashfall, their petrified wood has a tendency to be “opalized.”

Western Australia makes an opaline form called mookaite. Its specific gravity is like that of an opal. You can find this on the GIA report on the subject (geology.com).

Kenya produces common opal in different shades of olive green. It tends to be cut for cabochons.

Virgin Valley, Nevada is a source of opals that glow and flouresce in a wild green color. Most of these specimens were found to contain uranium during the 50s. This is according to a USGS survey done (3).

Mexico produces morado (grapish purple) opals. Most of the fire opals mined in Mexico could be considered “common” as color play is of lesser quality by in large. The best color play I have seen personally has been within the Ethiopian and Australian varieties. I have some experience with Mexican Cantera opals. They do have their own charm.

One thing to be on the lookout for are “galaxy” opals. Within different selling venues, these are offered without a great deal of transparency (based upon an assumption of the uninformed consumer). This can be an aggravating issue as they look entirely different in a side by side comparison.

“Galaxy Opal” is a term used to describe an opal with color play of unknown origin. The issue with them is that they’re sold “within maxtrix.” To the unfamiliar, this means “stuck inside a rock mixture of unknown origin.” There are “grayish” ones could be concrete given the look. This is based upon my present knowledge, some industry experience (two years), personal research, college classes that taught about crystalline structures, and a little attention to “jargon.”

To summarize, the varieties aren’t equivalent. Be careful about your suppliers. Are they transparent? Do they work ethically (and have information and photographs to back this up?). I dislike the jaded tone here, but I have had negative experiences. I would rather others not share that experience!

My advice:

Advocate for yourself. Research and use the best sources, if using the internet. Wikipedia not your solution. Why? Sometimes people enjoy adding nonsense to these pages for fun. There may be nerds that go back and correct these, but this isn’t where you find peer reviewed scientific articles or professional journals. Mining, geology, the USGS website and Pubchem are decent sources. I used the latter when taking my CHM 152 class, among others. Having an obsession with Chemistry and Mathematics are a plus here. Having an English 112 and Ethics class under your belt are also helpful. Both were wonderful resources on finding “evidence based support” for grounded, non-biased information. I feel grateful for the opportinity to experience those classes. They let me practice finding sources and how to frame a sound argument.

You can do the same. Learning for the sake of knowledge can be an interesting pastime. Learning is an activity one can enjoy over a life time. What makes you nerd?!

**Photos coming soon**

Bibliographic Sources:

1) Mindat.org

2)https://geology.com/gemstones/opal/common-opal.shtml

3) USGS Survey