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Fakes & Frauds"Magnetic Hematite" for sale in museums

18th Apr 2008 03:41 UTCHoward Heitner

Has anyone else seen these shiny metallic lumps that stick to each other to form chains? I have seen them in the gift shops of major museums (with mineral exhibits). This stuff is obviously synthetic. Natural hematite is not ferromagnetic. However there is no indication of this fact anywhere. Should not museums tell the truth, the whole truth, about what they are selling?

18th Apr 2008 06:33 UTCJustin Zzyzx Expert

Haha...yeah, another case of people who don't know minerals selling Chinese material as it is labeled. Of course, when these "Zipper Magnets" are sent to the gift shops they are labeled as Hematite. Well, to the chinese manufacturing industry, Hematite/Iron/Magnets, it all might as well all be the same thing. English is not the first language. Museums should certainly make every attempt to provide accurate information on the minerals sold there, but you know...it is a freakin gift shop. I think the curators have a bit more to do than to make sure the garnets are labeled with the right name and that zipper magnets are not sold as Hematite. I guess you could send out a press release. Get to work Howard! =) Those faxes don't send themselves!

18th Apr 2008 10:35 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

It's unfortunate that it seems that almost EVERY museum giftshop sells fraudulently-created "mineral" items that are so common they are ubiquitous in gift shops worldwide. In particular the four most common are:

* "Citrine" (baked Amethyst)

* "Agate" (artificially dyed)

* "Smoky Quartz" (irradiated clear quartz from Arkansas or China)

* "Bornite" (chemically treated Chalcopyrite lumps)

Museums that should know better, such as the Natural History Museum in London, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto are amongst the culprits. Can't someone from the departments there have a strong word with the buyers in the gift shop to say that either the stuff needs to be labeled to explain that it's not natural, or it needs to be withdrawn.

There are enough true natural materials available that these particular fake items don't really need to be stocked.

Jolyon

18th Apr 2008 11:39 UTCSpencer I. Mather

Hi Jolyon, I have just returned from the European continent where I visited several gem and mineral shows, at each one they were selling these magnets as "Magnetic Hematite"! When I pointed out to the dealers that these were not hematite, and that hematite is not magnetic the told me it was from a new find. I told them their mistake was labelling them as hematite, but they took no notice. This sort of trading makes me very angry indeed. Spencer.

18th Apr 2008 13:51 UTCPete Nancarrow

When I worked in the London Geological Museum (1970s/early 80s), one of my tasks for a while was to "view & vet" the incoming mineral specimen stock for the Museum shop (at the request of the shop manager). The main reason my input was requested was to check for correct labelling. I couldn't always say whether the localities of specimens such as crystals of pyrite or lumps of massive talc were correct of course, but at least I could prevent the worst of the rubbish & errors getting through. Most were correctly identified, quite genuine & untreated, if rather ordinary pieces of common minerals, and they were primarily for customers such as school parties or intended as "pretty souvenirs" for casual visitors, rather than serious collectors. Synthetic "chalcanthites" and alum crystals were regular rejects, and there were aso occasional examples such as spinels labelled as zircon and a quartz prism (with the termination knocked off) labelled "beryl". I was also able to advise that pieces such as powdery massive cinnabar or realgar were kept behind the counter, and not put out on the low shelves in the outer part of the shop, where the primary school vistors could handle them when they browsed - which was quite commonly during their lunch break, just before they settled down to eat their sandwiches!

To me it was important that young collectors just starting out were not misinformed about what they were spending their pocket money on, even if it was only a piece of massive pyrite or a rather chipped quartz crystal, and it only took a short while to scan over the trays of each delivery to spot and reject the obvious rubbish or wrongly labelled pieces. I would have thought that any major museum would consider this a valuable part of their educational function, and use of even a junior mineralogist's time, but perhaps if this is no longer happening, it is yet another symptom of cuts in science funding, and the "dumbing down" so prevalent in the world of media & education. At the time of the major changes in the Museum management in the 1980s, I remember remarking that it seemed to me that what I saw as the primary functions of a Museum - conservation, education and research, had been replaced by glossy trivial entertainment aimed at mass appeal; what I termed the "Disney" syndrome.

However, ramble over and back to the OP: "Magnetic Hematite"

In the context of doubtful pieces from Museum shops etc, a piece I was once asked to check by a friend who knew of my Museum work, was one of several crystals she had been given by another friend as "magnetic haematite". As she was rather doubtful about them she had brought them to me for another opinion. The one I tested is a single flat crystal about 30mm long, apparently a rather pitted, distorted scalenohedron, with an almost adamantine lustre (similar to a good Elba haematite) and quite obviously weakly ferromagnetic. It will swing a compass needle, and althought an ordinary hand magnet will not actually lift it, it gets noticeably lighter in the hand when the magnet is brought close above it. It is attracted to the magnet when suspended by a piece of cotton, and it can be tipped from a position of unstable balance when the magnet is brought near it.

The first impression was that it must be a pseudomorph of magnetite after haematite, but as SG and hardness are not reliably distinct for magnetite and haematite, I ran a Debye-Scherrer XRD analysis on a small sample scraped from several edges with a diamond file. All the sources gave red powder, and the XRD pattern was definitely that of haematite, with no indication of magnetite or maghemite lines on the film.

Following my tests, she gave the crystal I tested to me. Without grinding up the whole crystal for analysis, there is no way to be certain that it does not contain any inclusions of magnetite which are responsible for the magnetism, but I cannot envisage an environment which would allow a single crystal of haematite to include a significant mass of unoxidised magnetite in its core, and as all its features except for its anomalous magnetism (crystal form, lustre, streak, and XRD pattren) are all consistent with haematite, it is now in my collection labelled as "Magnetic haematite". (The locality given by the collector was Arzannah Island, Abu Dhabi, where these crystals are apprently called "black diamonds" by the locals!)

Pete N.

18th Apr 2008 13:55 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

Pete,

I still have a large number of those 1 pound specimens in plastic boxes that I bought from the shop as a kid at that time. Where now could you buy a Legrandite in a box from a museum gift shop? Great times, and thank you for your efforts.

It probably, in no small way, contributed to me doing what I do now.

Jolyon

18th Apr 2008 17:35 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Wasn't this synthetic BaFe12O19 or some isotypic plumboferrite-type hard magnet?

18th Apr 2008 21:47 UTCKatherine Dunnell

Hello all

It is a fact of life in museums these days. At one point we (ROM) had a mineral shop that was vetted by the department, but those days are long gone. Most museum shops arent run by the museum they are housed in, but by a 3rd party company. We have no control what they buy, nor how they display and label the objects/specimens. We have tried to set our buyer up with reputable mineral dealers, but they still end up buying the low cost, big mark up junk that is mislabeled.

please see this link to find out more information ..

http://www.noteaccess.com/APPROACHES/Marketing.htm

very best

Katherine

Collections technician

ROM

18th Apr 2008 23:25 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Jolyon, you have a half kilo (i.e., a pound) of legrandite? Or do you mean the specimen cost one pound?

19th Apr 2008 00:02 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

My keyboard at work doesn't have a Â£ symbol!

Jolyon

19th Apr 2008 02:12 UTCHoward Heitner

I am gratified that so many people have responded to my initial posting. Museums are often the first place members of the "public" especially children are exposed to the world of minerals. I have sent the url of this discussion to Dr. Anthony R. Kampf, the webmaster for the Society of Mineral Museum Professionals, who in turn has sent it to the membership of the society. He has also checked the shop of the museum where he is curator and found no "magnetic hematite".

19th Apr 2008 02:19 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

A "magnetic hematite" bead I got at the Munich show turned out to be strontium ferrite - definitely completely artificial, no natural hematite used in its production at all.

19th Apr 2008 22:28 UTCDonald Vaughn

doesn't hematite become magnetic upon heating by changing oxidation state to magnetite but of course the properties would somewhat alter maybe through controled heating you could selectively convert minute amounts in a crystalyou mightnot notice. but in the case of these "zipper magnets" this is not likely

23rd Apr 2008 22:32 UTCAndrew Locock

Investigation shows the "magnetic hematite" available here to be a barium-strontium ferrite magnet: (Ba,Sr)Fe12O19 that has the magnetoplumbite structure. The average grain size of the ceramic is 5-10 microns, and the porosity is 10-15%. In addition, the magnetic field strength of this material is much larger than that of any magnetite specimen.

It is sold here with a rather misleading label/disclaimer:

"Magnetic hematite is formed from finely powdered iron oxide and heated until it granulates. During this process a strong magnetic field is applied to the material so that the molecular poles line up to form a permanent magnet. Then it is cut into smaller blocks and polished to create magnetic hematite."

Although useful for demonstrating and teaching magnetism, it is very unfortunate that it is being marketed using mineralogical terminology. It is simply a synthetic ferrite magnet,

24th Apr 2008 11:41 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

I've added a magnetic hematite page into the main database.

Thanks everyone, espeically to Andrew.

Jolyon

23rd May 2008 04:39 UTCChristine (Chris.) Johnson

I did something I very rarely do and that is to buy some new age junk.

I purchased a strong of Hematite beads simply because I liked the look of it.

I noticed the beads were magnetic, so had some serious doubts. After it broke, I ran one across a streak plate - the streak is an unattractive dark brown, not a trace of red. Ditto under the microscope. Left in damp, they rust a darkish brown, no sign of ocre or red ... and they do rust at the unpolished ends. Maybe gangue? Whatever it is, I suspect all the new age hematite is junk like this.

Another one to watch out for is necklaces etc etc made of Malachite. They look real and are more expensive then the rest of the junk. These streak clear, and do not fizz in acid. They look real enough, but are are coloured plastic.

The so called Moldavite has to be the worst when it comes to fake and prices being asked for it. Coloured glass for >NZ$60.

Chris. Johnson

NZ

7th Jun 2008 03:35 UTCJ. Michael Howard

A general comment about magnetism of not magnetite goethite/hematite/and other iron oxide/hydroxide compounds.

I came upon an unusual situation here in Arkansas several years ago. One of our geologists always carried a small but strong magnet with him to the field and everywhere he visited, he found in soils a magnetic fraction...almost always spherical beads appearing to be concretions from 0.5 to 2.5 mm in diameter. Scattered in soils across numerous localities in the state.

When confronted as to what they were and why they were there...at first I was at a loss except to say since they are in soils and appear to be concretions, they must be some iron oxide/hyroxide.

But then a couple of years later, a researcher sent me a book he had written on magnetism and lodestone...wow! did the light bulb brighten! Seems anywhere lightning hits the ground where there is soil, any iron compounds become locally magnetized or at least susceptible to being attracted to a magnet! And i began to take a look at lightning data and attempted to extrapolate that back 10,000 years for the ~ age of many soils....Wow! Hard to find a square foot that has not been struck!

I just mention this because the public is always bringing bits of magnetic soil etc in for me to identify. And I thought the commenters here might find that interesting as a source of conversion of normal magnetite into lodestone. Thanks

7th Jun 2008 13:33 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Just a maghemite component...?

17th May 2009 15:45 UTCC. Hawke

Are there any components in Hemalyke or artificial hematite that would render it unsuitable to wear for any length of time? The magnetic components of these stones are considered "healing" as they can stimulate blood flow where worn. Just curious!

17th May 2009 22:20 UTCsteven garza

Dear C.;

About the ONLY time it might be UNhealthy & def UNwise to wear such, is during an MRI; otherwise, they are harmless.

Your friend, Steve

18th May 2009 13:55 UTCVik Vanrusselt Expert

Damn, looks like i got fooled again! Oh well, another one for my cabinet of fakes...

18th May 2009 14:47 UTCRalph S Bottrill 🌟 Manager

The pisolitic iron oxides commonly found in soils over much of Australia are mostly maghemite, and are usually considered to be formed from bush fires dehydrating the normal limonite pisolites, although lightening strikes may be important also.

18th May 2009 15:25 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

It might be interesting to report someone in the UK selling this "magnetic hematite" to the Trading Standards office and see what happens.

Maybe a museum giftshop would be a good target to make a point.

Jolyon

18th May 2009 21:35 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager

Jolyon Ralph Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It might be interesting to report someone in the

> UK selling this "magnetic hematite" to the Trading

> Standards office and see what happens.

>

> Maybe a museum giftshop would be a good target to

> make a point.

>

> Jolyon

Or how about a dealer at the next Kempton or Haywards Heath show ? alert Tradding Standards of the dates ??

BTW Alt+0163 will generate the £ sign.

;)

19th May 2009 17:45 UTCRuss Nobbs

We've known for some time that all the so called Hemalike, hemalyke, hematine, magnetic hematite, hematite beads, etc on the market are a sintered iron oxide product form Taiwan and, more recently, from China. Thanks to this thread I've learned a litle more of the composition beyond merely "iron oxide."

FWIW, most of the beads on the market are molded rather than cut with bead mill or lapidary equipment. On close examination you can see the indentation around the holes that indicates a molded bead.

Once in a while we will get strands of hematite chips that appear (by the streak test) to be actual hematite. The surprisingly real chips usually come from suppliers in India.

29th Oct 2010 05:19 UTCTheresa Grose

Your terrific! I was so serious researching this stuff to inform someone else who plans to sell it to ease peoples arthritis pain. I felt like I was digging a hole to China (maybe to buy the real thing ha!). One scientist after another with countless names and this and that. I still could not get a simple answer. Why is some magnetic and some not? Where does it get the heat from in the earth or the lab? How can I help this lady market this stuff? You hit the nail right on. I think my jewelry making days are over. Well, at least I will get to go out and eat some fried chicken this month with the money I won't spend on these fake rocks!

Thank you, The retired BeadCatcher

29th Oct 2010 09:55 UTCRock Currier Expert

For years Brazil supplied container loads of real lapidary grade hematite from some of the iron mines near Belo Horizonte to China which they would make into countless strands of beads. Then the source of this hematite stopped being available, not because the mines stopped producing but because the iron mines decided it was not worth them selling hematite in quantities of less than 100 rail car train loads. That was when the lapidary factories started switching over to "Hematine" which now is what is now apparently being marketed in some places as magnetic hematite. I am told by a Chinese friend who owns an interest in a factory that makes the magnetic "rattle snake eggs" and "sticky stones" that they mold and heat the stuff and run it through a strong magnetic field. He tells me that the raw material is a ferrite material that is sold as a byproduct from certain steel mills to which Barium or Calcium is added so that it can be made strongly magnetic.

29th Oct 2010 14:06 UTCjacques jedwab

I have observed that "hematite" collected from dumps in Itabira area (Caue Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil) is ferromagnetic. I x-rayed, without reaching a definitive solution, mainly because traces of maghemite are very difficult to detect in overwhelming hematite (imho). By the way, these dumps are good starting material for concentrating ouro preto, atheneite, gold,...thanks to this "forbidden" ferromagnetism of hematite.

J.J.

29th Oct 2010 19:34 UTCStuart Mills Manager

We analysed a lot of magnetic hematite and it all turned out to be magnetoplumbite!

29th Oct 2010 22:58 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Some of the synthetic "magnetic hematite" at mineral shows turns out to be strontium or barium ferrites.

16th Jul 2011 16:52 UTCVito J. Catrambone Jr

I worked for Amerada Hess, The Parent Company that Developed and was the Partner with the UAE in the development of the Offshore Oil Field and the Processing, Storage And Loading Facilities on Arzannah Island In 1979 To 1980.

I was the Senior Lead Operator for both the Offshore Production Platform and the Onshore Stabilization Process Facilities.

The "Arzanna Island" what we called "Black Diamonds" were all over the Island. The Island had a history of Volcanic Origin, During the formation of the Island is when the Black Diamonds were formed as I understood it. At what date in time they were formed I can't exactly remember from one of our geologists that were on our staff.

If you require any further information, feel free to e-mail me.

I worked all around the world until 2000 when I took Medical Disability due to Multiple Sclerosis.

Before my MS got to the state I am at now I used to Cut gemstones as a hobby with a Custom Designed All Stainless steel Faceter Machine.

Best Regards, Joe Catrambone

16th Jul 2011 22:09 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

The biterminated scalenohedral (and other shapes too) hematite crystals from Arzaneh island most probably have the same origin as those found on Hormuz island and other Persian Gulf islands, i.e. in salt diapirs, where they might be accompanied by euhedral dolomites, danburites and other such typically salt dome species. See the relevant Mindat locality pages. Nice crystals! I have a special fondness for the insoluble minerals in salt domes.

17th Jul 2011 09:20 UTCRock Currier Expert

I can't seem to locate Arzannah Island on Google maps. Is it known by another name?

17th Jul 2011 11:53 UTCAlexandr E. Zadov

In nature, a very rare real magnetic hematite.

18th Jul 2011 04:21 UTCJim Bean 🌟

Rock, seems like google maps missed this one. Just try the first couple hits in Google search.

18th Jul 2011 12:43 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

The hematite hemisphere composed of thin tabular crystals from Dahisar quarry in Bombay are remarkably highly magnetic for natural hematite. Powder XRD shows just hematite lines, but perhaps a little maghemite is present too?

14th Feb 2013 16:31 UTCLaura

I made a crystal quartz, amethyst, and hemalyke necklace about 15 years ago. I still have it today but have changed the beading materials so I do not loose the stones. The stones are cold with the metallic look but black as well. How can I tell if they are real? I purchased them as a teenager cause I love all kinds of gemstones, and would like to purchase more chips in order to sell them in jewelry pieces.

16th Feb 2013 06:46 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Laura, if they were "hemalyke" then by definition they wouldn't be natural hematite.

28th Feb 2013 00:34 UTCRolf Luetcke Expert

Talking a bit more about Michael Howards comments concerning the lightning strikes. Near Dragoon Arizona is a marble quarry and on one particular seam of marble were cubes of Limonite/Goethite pseudomorphs after Pyrite. I had collected a bag full of these loose crystals and found to my surprise that a tiny percentage were strongly magnetic, maybe 1 or 2 %. I did a bit of thinking and remembered the heating and orientation creating magnetism in lab samples. The same idea came to my mind and I can only assume that the small marble seam with the enclosed cubes had been hit by lightning a number of times. As the crystals erroded out and washed down the hill, the ones that were naturally magnetized became scattered.

I was very happy to read Michaels comments since they seems to fit well with the pseudos I had found.

28th Feb 2013 04:02 UTCBill Cordua 🌟 Manager

I find trying to correct mislabeling gets me nowhere, even with my credentials as a PhD in geology and 40 years teaching mineralogy-petrology. When I try, the people in charge of the gift shops usually either chalk me up as a trouble-maker and tell me some lies about how their supplier knows better or else smile condescendingly and act like they are humoring me until I leave. One consequence is that when I do rock and mineral sessions in public schools, lots of children bring me up their special rocks, and many of them are either fabricated or artificially enhanced. It's hard to explain to them "how they form" without letting on they've been fooled into thinking something is natural when it isn't. It's not nice to dupe children.

28th Feb 2013 10:07 UTCTimothy Greenland

Bill,

I'm awfully afraid that the question is not "Is it nice?"but "Is it profitable?". This sort of outright lying by those who really MUST know better makes me wild...

I shall now try to cool off again...

Cheers

Tim

28th Feb 2013 11:18 UTCRock Currier Expert

How old does a child need to be before we are permitted to deny the existence of Santa Claus or the Tooth Ferry? Don't complain to the management of the gift shop, complain to the legal office about how you are worried that misbranding will cause the FTC to come down on the shop/museum/school. They will straighten out the manager of the shop immediately I would imagine.

28th Feb 2013 14:18 UTCJason Evans

Rock Currier, What do you mean deny the existence of Santa Claus? I know he is real cos i went to his grotto in the shopping centre, and saw him. but he wouldn't let me sit on his knee:-(

Jolyon, Is all Bornite/Peacock ore chemically treated Chalcopyrite? is there a way to tell if it is natural or treated?

Christine Johnson, please elaborate on "so called Moldavite" to me that seems to imply that all moldavite is fake, if you take the time to find a reputable source you can get genuine moldavite. yes it is just a naturally occurring green glass, found only in a small area on Earth and formed from the impact of a meteorite. I think it is worth every penny but thats just my opinion.

I remember some years ago in the Natural history museum in London they had some small but nice ruby crystals (or purplish red sapphire) or corundum if you prefer, They were mislabelled, I cannot remember what they were calling them, but they were selling for 50p, I wish back then I had the idea to buy the lot, i think I could have made a substantial profit! In that case I am glad that museum shops make the occasional mistake!

28th Feb 2013 14:43 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

There may be a common assumption that museum gift shops are reputable places to buy natural history specimens because the knowledgeable curators housed in the same building would surely have vetted anything offered for sale! Unfortunately that would be nonsense. The gift shop in many (most?) museums is just renting the space there; the curators have neither the responsibility nor the time to check the stuff on sale, and the shop owner wouldn't appreciate it anyway; and the gift shop employees are just underpaid sales staff with little or no academic background. Let the tourists buy their souvenirs there; serious collectors would be better off at a real mineral show, or on the internet.

28th Feb 2013 17:22 UTCHarold (Hal) Prior Expert

Many years ago I frequently sold wholesale to several university museums. They nearly always put the items out with exactly whatever info I gave them and multiplied the cost by a factor of 5-10 times. I gave up selling to them as it took too many hoops to jump thru and usually about 6 months to receive payment.

1st Mar 2013 11:17 UTCRock Currier Expert

Bornite is a mineral that often has a surface iridescence. The stuff that is mostly sold as peacock ore is chalcopyrite that has been acid treated. These are chunks of chalcopyrite ore and not crystals. You can scratch the surface of the grains in this material and beneath the colorful surface you will see the brassy color of the chalcopyrite rather than the black metallic look of real bornite. Sometimes chalcopyrite crystals are found naturally that have this "rainbow" like color and I know of no way off telling if it is natural or added by the miners, dealers or collectors to make it look pretty. Moldavite is in reality fairly common and I have not heard of any man made material. Every year there are probably at least 50 kgs of it for sale at the Tucson show. Other transparent natural glasses that can be mistaken for it are the Libyan desert glass and the much rarer macusanite glass from Peru.

1st Mar 2013 11:50 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

"... rather than the black metallic look of real bornite"

It's not black, but "copper-red to pinchbeck-brown, quickly tarnishing to an iridescent purplish surface" (Mindat page, see also http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/bornite.pdf).

1st Mar 2013 12:08 UTCRock Currier Expert

Well, it kind of looks black to me.

30th Apr 2013 19:10 UTCAmanda Hawkins

Rock, Natural Chalcopyrite crystals do sometimes show colourful pinks and green etc, I have some old specimens from Cornwall :-)

12th Jun 2013 16:59 UTCPhoenix

In answer to your question "how old does a child need to be to deny the existence of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy", the answer is 85, unless you of course want them to grow up to be pragmatic, cynical, unimaginative and basically a big bore. Scientifically, your eyes see less than a 10th of what is actually there, and your brain makes up a lot of what you see from imagination and memory, so believing only in what the eyes see is stubborn and slightly foolish. So just because you haven't seen Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy and your parents used to pretend to be them, doesn't mean they don't exist, it just means you can't prove it. There is a lot of things we can't prove and can't see that we still believe in. Heck, 1,700 years ago people thought the earth was flat and if you went too far you'd fall off the edge, but people still believed in a book a bunch of old men put together from a bunch of scrolls and oral traditions, and people still believe in it today (though I wish more of them would actually read the damn thing before they open their mouths), and we can't exactly prove any of that happened either, or that it didn't happen. So when kids ask if Santa Claus exists, tell them yes he does, people are going to try to tell you he doesn't, don't buy that crap. He's the living embodiment of karma, he knows when you've been good and bad, and it will come down through your crown chakra and you'll feel it in the morning. If you've ever been drunk and made an ass of yourself you know that Santa stuff is real.

Phoenix

5th Dec 2014 01:34 UTCJoe Catrambone Jr.

My, Gosh,

I Just Saw This. Here It Is 2014, I Am In Hospice Now, But Stumbled On My Old Post.

Arzanah Island Is About 5 Miles From Das Island, In The Persian Gulf. It's Only A Few Miles In Diameter And Small, If You Need I Will Give The Coordinates For It.

Here Is The Google Maps Website For The island.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.7858166,52.5585619,5569m/data=!3m1!1e3

If You Have Google Earth, Just Enter:

"Arzanah Island - United Arab Emirates"

Into The Search-Box And It Will Bring It Right-Up.

Best Regards, Vito J.(Joe) Catrambone Jr.

5th Dec 2014 12:36 UTCOwen Melfyn Lewis

Andrew Locock Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> "Magnetic hematite is formed from finely powdered

> iron oxide and heated until it granulates....."

This process is used to form a hematite simulant which is sold by the US manufacturer as 'Hematine' This material is commonly used to make attractive highly polished beads and retailed as hematite - else the happy-clappy crew would not buy it). It is extraordinarily tough in comparison with beads of a natural structure. My two-handed maximum grip on 10 in adjustable pliers will not crack open a 6mm bead. I have yet to resort to a club hammer as I'd like to find the pieces to examine them.

5th Dec 2020 12:06 UTCSandra Cooper

I have found this thread so interesting and informative, thanks to all who contributed. It's now December 2020! I am fascinated by hematite and find it disconcerting how much out there is fake. I was curious about the island Joe Catrambone Jr. mentioned and in my search sadly read his obituary, he passed in 2016.

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