irradiated Quarts from Arkansas: Danger?!

At a Mineral Fair in The Hague, Netherlands, I have bought two Smokey Quartz for 11€ and 13€. They appeared to me as being nice and special, since they are very dark, and I like Smokey. they really give an onther color in my Collection. Mindat picktures showed that they are very much alike with the irradiated ones from Arkansas shown, and indeed the Seller told that they are from Arkansas.

Now my Wife says that since they are Radio Active they must leave the house.....and I refuse so imagine what this does for the Hobby!

Are these Quartz Fake? Are they Irradiated, and does this mean that they are still Radio Active? Did they sell me bad stuff??

Thanx

Don't worry, the crystals are perfectly safe. A lot of Arkansas quartz is irradiated. The smokey color is produced by exposing the crystals to x-rays or gamma rays, which does not affect the atomic nucleus. The only way to make something radioactive is to expose it to neutrons in a reactor.

Yes, they have been artificially irradiated.
But they are not radioactive, don't worry.
Just as you don't emit UV rays after a sunbath

Thanks a lot! Does the irradiated color mean that they are now a fake?

cheers

Yes, since the smoky color was created by man (deliberately) and not nature, I, and most collectors, would consider them to be fakes, much like the bismuth and z"zincite" crystals that are grown artificially.
Jim

I wouldn't compare them to artificial bismuth and zincite, where the crystal itself is grown artificially. In the case of irradiated quartz, the crystals are natural, only the colour is artificially altered, so they're more like the awful artificially coloured agate slices from Brazil. But I agree with Jim that they are all equally undesirable from the point of view of serious mineral collectors. So either just keep them as works of art, not mineral specimens, or make your wife happy and banish them from the house as garden decorations.

I recall, that there are also 100% natural smoky quartz crystals, and black quartz - Morion. For example in my area - Poland, Strzegom and around.

I have natural smokey quartz fron Connecticut, collected by Mike Otto.
Not only are they naturally smokey, but you can see a few darker halo's where it was close to radioactive minerals while growing.

"Natural" smokey quartz is found in innumerable locations around the world.....it's just that in Arkansas it is EXTREMELY rare and not black.

Don S.

Thanx for the input, I'll have to accept that some fakes are now standing in my cubboard. I wonder how long I will tolerate them...fortunately 11€ and 13€ is not that much

...anyone, is the process of coloring by irradiation reversable by bleachig with light or temperature? the custers themselves are pretty!

regards

Sunlight will fade smokey quartz, not sure about irrdiated quartz.
Sounds like a great experiment. Keep one inside, and one in the garden in direct sunlight.
That way you have a test subject, and a control.

That's a great idea! but then again if the process would take years....Í think I'll need to look for a quick result. I allways wanted to by a black light, maybe that will do the trick since you mention Sunlight sprecifically and the UV is the big difference from an bulb light

i just saw a smokey quartz almost exactly like mine at the mindat advertised Kristalle&cristals site for over 100€ from USA, even the bright white parts are the same (a mineral unknown to me with six corners) and also the form and color shades etc!!! I would almost say its from the same cluster!!!
but the site states it is originating from an other state.

Makes me wonder....

they say indeed it is irradiated but I am highly surprised about locality and price! So I have a Fake that is "worth" 138€ and what costed 11€

Quote:

BL1303 $200 / £126 / €138QUARTZ var SMOKY QUARTZ
Deer Lodge Co., Montana, USA, North America


Available


6.5 x 6.6 x 4.5 cm (Small Cabinet)


ex. Martin Zinn Collection


Sharply crystallised, glass clear and highly lustrous prismatic crystals (to 5.5cm long) of irradiated Smoky Quartz contrasting well with tabular crystals of snow white to colourless Albite Feldspar. A pleasing arrangement in excellent condition, which stands and displays well



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2009 09:39PM by jervin goedhart.

I'll sell you an irridiated green"citrine" from romania.
I'm sure it would be a deal, but I can't look at it anymore.

I think I am beginning to feel the same way, I once was very happy with it but this new knowledge will always be there

maybe I should dig a hole in my garden to recycle it or please a Child. As I think of it, even when I am able to bleach it it would stil feel like a Fraud. Makes me sad.

I thought all smokey quartz is created by radiation, only with the natural examples it is from being exposed to "natural" sources of radiation in the ground. Am I wrong? If it's reproducing an otherwise natural condition, then treating quartz to make it smokey would be more like heat treating amethyst to make it orange, or the various radiation or heat treatments of jemstones to enhance the color? That's not as bad as an artificial die job like those agate slices.

Jervin,

You like the smokey quartz and they compliment your collection. You know exactly what these specimens are, and the price is actually reasonable (when you consider the cost of the irradiation).

Diamonds are not naturally found with a 'marquise' crystal habit, but this manmade modification does not decrease the value.

Most of the higher-priced cabinet specimens have been processed in order to appeal to the buyer. These never come out of the ground as we see them now. The matrix is trimmed and meticulously etched and then sawed to reveal the main crystals at the optimum angle. The whole specimen is processed through chemical baths or sand-blasting to remove as many defects as possible. For advertisement, the best angle and lighting is chosen to enhance the resulting photographic image. Museum specimens often require months of preparation to produce, often with new crystals glued in.

What is natural, and what is fake is a personal opinion, but we can all agree that honesty is important.

-Dean Allum

For instance...
[www.mindat.org]

Jervin,

It is obvious from your description that you bought natural rock crystal quartz that had been irradiated. What no one has mentioned is that there is natural smoky quartz from Arkansas. I have one in my collection, and it is one of the prizes of my Arkansas collection. It is a transparent crystal of a light smoky color, and very different from any irradiated quartz I have seen. My late friend Art Smith, a noted Arkansas collector, also has several in his collection. These are from the same belt of folded rocks in Montgomery, Garland and Saline Counties that produce the tons of clear quartz you see on the market.

In addition, there are natural smoky quartz crystals found around the edge of the Magnet Cove intrusion. At the Clark Runyan prospect the novaculite is fractured and the spaces full of short, dark, mostly opaque smoky quartz. The smoky color is not usually dominant in the whole crystal, and there are gray zones, leading to the common miners term "coon-tail quartz". At the Moses Hill brookite locality giant smoky quartz crystals were found in one part of the excavation, up to 12" x 3". However most of the quartz collected there was primarily grad opaque, with small areas of smoky color, the crystals tend to be distorted. They were formed from the heat of the intrusion and it's inherent radioactivity reacting with the siliceous novaculite.