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Gem Star Mine (Gem Lepidolite mine; Labaugh mine; Loughbaugh mine), Tourmaline Queen Mountain (Pala Mtn; Queen Mtn), Pala, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA
Detailed Mineral List:
| Albite | ||
| Formula: | NaAlSi3O8 | |
| Colour: | Apple-green | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| 'Clay' | ||
| Colour: | Pale-pink to light-gray | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Helvite | ||
| Formula: | Mn2+4(Be3Si3O12)S | |
| Habit: | Tetrahedra | |
| Colour: | Honey-colored | |
| Description: | An exceedingly rare constituent of the pegmatite in the Gem Star mine. It forms small honey-colored tetrahedral crystals that are less than 1 millimeter in diameter. They occur on the surfaces of cleavelandite and spodumene crystals, and in general are typical of the pocket-bearing parts of the dike. | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 31, 38; Murdoch, Joseph & Robert W. Webb (1966), Minerals of California, Centennial Volume (1866-1966): California Division Mines & Geology Bulletin 189: 215; Pemberton, H. Earl (1983), Minerals of California; Van Nostrand Reinholt Press: 368. | |
| Lepidolite | ||
| Colour: | Pink to lavender | |
| Reference: | Merrill, F. J. H. 1914. Geology and Mineral Resources of San Diego and Imperial Counties: Gems, Lithia Minerals. California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, Cal. California State Printing Office, December. Chapter 1, p. 67. | |
| Muscovite | ||
| Formula: | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 | |
| Description: | Fine to medium grained plumose muscovite forms with albite-quartz-perthite footwall unit of the pegmatite that contains local concentrations of schorl. | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| 'Perthite' | ||
| Description: | Perthite forms giant euhedral crystals associated with massive quartz. | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Quartz | ||
| Formula: | SiO2 | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Quartz var: Smoky Quartz | ||
| Formula: | SiO2 | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Schorl | ||
| Formula: | Na(Fe2+3)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH) | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Spodumene | ||
| Formula: | LiAlSi2O6 | |
| Colour: | Colorless | |
| Description: | Fragments of clear, colorless spodumene associated with gem-quality tourmaline. | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| Swinefordite | ![]() | |
| Formula: | Li(Al,Li,Mg)4((Si,Al)4O10)2(OH,F)4 · nH2O | |
| Reference: | Harvard Museum of Natural History specimen no. 108086 | |
| Photo: © 2007 Peter Cristofono. Swinefordite from Gem Star Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA | ||
| 'Tourmaline' | ||
| Formula: | A(D3)G6(T6O18)(BO3)3Y3Z | |
| Reference: | Merrill, F. J. H. 1914. Geology and Mineral Resources of San Diego and Imperial Counties: Gems, Lithia Minerals. California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, Cal. California State Printing Office, December. Chapter 1, p. 67. | |
| 'Tourmaline var: Rubellite' | ||
| Colour: | Pink | |
| Description: | Many clear fragments of small crystals are present in the dumps, and some clear, gem-quality crystals as much as 4 inches in diameter and 15 inches long were recovered. | |
| Reference: | Jahns, Richard Henry & Lauren A. Wright (1951), Gem and lithium bearing pegmatites of the Pala district, San Diego County, California: California Division Mines Special Report 7-A: 57-59. | |
| 'Tourmaline var: Verdelite' | ||
| Reference: | Merrill, F. J. H. 1914. Geology and Mineral Resources of San Diego and Imperial Counties: Gems, Lithia Minerals. California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, Cal. California State Printing Office, December. Chapter 1, p. 67. | |
14 entries listed. 8 valid minerals.
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