Back From The Bush - New Iolite Discovery

I had to post at pic of one of the first stones from our Iolite Discovery in East Africa. This one weighs in at 138 CT and will finish an eye-clean stone. I personally find the blue the most sapphire-like I have yet seen in Iolite. I would welcome any feedback on the colour and size of the stone. These pieces are just the tip of the iceberg from this deposit.

Sorry...here is a pic

Wow!
Paul, that stone is a beaut! Congratulations on your find!

Corie Mattar

Where in East Africa is the iolite from - what country?

Hello,

Paul I would like to see a photo without the specimen being backlit if you can. Also would you have a more accurate location ?

Regards Cheryl.

E x c i t i n g!
Good Luck digging!
J T

do you have any for trade?

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

I would also be interested in acquiring a sample if you are interested. I agree that the deep blue is very nice. It looks quite a bit like tanzanite. What size is the stone in the picture?

Mikey...check back
First the lead in says 138 cts and then the pic is titled 138ct
so my guess is

138 cts which is about 27.6 grams which is approx an ounce

but the colour is killer and the stone might give a 40% YIELD

Sorry. I have no idea how I could have missed that. I guess I was too eager to see the picture.

Thanks for the input guys. Anyone have an ball-park idea of commercial value of cut stone from this material? I'm more familiar with my sapphire, ruby, tourmaline and garnet market valuation.

Thanks,

Paul

Paul, The value of the stone would of course depend on how transparent and clean the rough is and the color of the stone. The color of your stone looks good, but it is difficult without careful to estimate how big the stones it would cut and their clarity and color. I would imagine that in another direction the stone would look a pale yellow in color. How many carats of clean stones would the piece cut and what size would the stones be?
Rock

You're spot on Rock, it is straw yellow also. I estimate an eye-clean 30-35CT rectangle could be cut from face of the stone and another eye-clean 12-15 CT cushion.

Regards,

Paul

Paul, if you can get two clean stones that large out of the rough, I would be surprised, although you might. From the picture it was hard tell how much of the rough would cut clean stones, but usually, even if the material is all really clean, you often don't get more than about 20% cut weight out of your rough, and that piece didn't look all clean. Also with iolite, you have to cut it all with the dark blue direction coming up through the table, or the color of the stone will be terrible. Often having to orient the stones for best color also cuts down on the size of the stone you can recover. Also iolites often tend to be rather sleepy stones and it is a little difficult to tell what you have got till after you cut them. But if you can get an eye clean stone of good color in the 30 carat range, I would imagine it would sell for $300 per carat? Big clean iolites of good color are quite rare. It might sell for a lot more. I used to get a little cutting rough iolite from the GECO mine up in Canada. I met a miner who used to work there and he told me they used to get masses of gemmy corderite once in a while as big as small trashcans. Said he helped the mine manager build a fireplace in his home from the stuff.
Rock

That would be one spectacular fireplace! Thanks very much for your advice Rock. It is greatly appreciated. Let me know via message if you would like some smaller cutters to play with.

Bahati Njema!

Paul

I want to know where that fire place is! that house on the market could be a profit maker. I'd trade an iolite fireplace for regular firebrick or even a free standing wood stove. after all it could liberate potentially gemmy cordierite from that mine. I have seen very few =)

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

Your comment intrigued me, Rock
Do you still possess any of that Ontario Iolite?

Hi.I'm very interested in iolite and I almost dream of having a good piece of the material from the Geco mine.If someone can help me finding some,please let me know!I would also like to find another stone from Ontario:sky blue-grey-white marble(often called''Tweed marble'').If anyone knows a location where this rock occurs,or if someone has samples of this stone,contact me.I'm interested in buying or trading;I have many interesting rough stones,such as nephrite jade from the Jeffrey mine,in Asbestos,Quebec.I can also find peristerite,labradorite,rose quartz,etc..all from the Grenville geological province of the Canadian Shield.

There are quarries around the town of Tweed on rte 7. I have no idea on the status of these but around there and kaladar there are places. Where there is rock there might be a roadcut of your marble. what is special about it? I have not heard of the variety

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

I have seen the blue Tweed marble and it is quite attractive as a material, but I too am most interested in acquiring some nice Geco Iolites, having heard about them from someone in California, which to is ironic, somehow, since I cut my eye teeth in collecting in Ontario and had never even heard of this mine before this month.

Ray, I kept only one piece of rough from the mine, and it would cut some nice stones I think, but I could not bring myself to cut it because it showed the color change so nicely. I was not kidding about that fire place though. If someone has the time and energy, go to Manitouwadege, Ontario and you just might be able to locate the house with the fireplace of iolite. It is not that big a place as I recall. I got all my stuff from a sample man who worked at the mine, but at the time he was fighting off cancer, and he probably is no longer with us.
Rock

Ray,I would like to know where you have seen the blue Tweed marble;are you able to tell me who to contact to buy or trade this material?I would appreciate any information on this.FRED

Fred
When you get to be old and farty or is that an old fart, whichever, your memory dredges up things but they don't always coincide with referrants. In this case, I believe that I saw it in three places...one was at the Bancroft Gemboree on a field trip, and the other , I believe, was in the museum collection at Queens University. I vaguely remembered, although this may be innacurate, that I once saw some at the Royal Ontario Museum as well.

Check out Anne Sabina's reference books on the area, as I also believe that she made a referral to the location.
Last but not least, check in with the Geological Survey of Canada and in particular with their curator in Ottawa, either they or the National Museum should have some reference material that could help you.

Geological Survey of Canada Miscellaneous Report 41 by Sabina. should be one of the references to look for. It covers the tweed-kaladar areas and the roadcuts along rte 7 and the area. if you wish i could perhaps scan some pages of quarry info and roadcuts and email the to you. email me at neuzforyou@hotmail.com if interested

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."