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Improving Mindat.orgApatite from the Smart Mine, Ontario?

19th Aug 2015 18:09 UTCReiner Mielke Expert

http://www.mindat.org/photo-690971.html this does not look like apatite to me. I think it might be hornblende.

19th Aug 2015 20:37 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Message sent.

15th Sep 2015 22:05 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

Thanks, and sorry, for some reason I didn't receive the email about this, and only stumbled on this message when I uploaded a new photo and saw a notice at the top of the page.


I will locate the specimen and try to confirm the ID. I think a long, prismatic hornblende crystal like that would be fairty unusual, so I'll be happy if that's what it really is. More later.

17th Sep 2015 00:57 UTCDavid K. Joyce Expert

We do not normally find amphibole crystals like this at Smart/Miller, usually pyroxene group crystals. Did you collect this?

David K Joyce

17th Sep 2015 20:59 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

Yes, unfortunately I am out of town for a bit so I can't show other views. I was pretty sure it was an apatite like all the other crystals within a few feet of it, but I liked it because it was small and sharp.

24th Sep 2015 01:25 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

07991090016087122071119.jpg
OK, thanks you guys for calling this out. Here are two more views. The view looking down on the termination shows that it has eight prism faces, which to me says pyroxene. Augite, maybe? I have not seen a long slender one like this from the area, but now I agree it's not apatite. .

09801660015674698899879.jpg

24th Sep 2015 01:33 UTCPhil M. Belley Expert

Could be clinopyroxene or amphibole ("hornblende"). Are there any broken parts where you could measure the cleavage angle? CPX is about 90 degrees, amphibole about 120/60. The second photo seems to show basal parting (close-up could help), which to me suggests CPX.


I wonder if hornblendes typically have (110) faces, or if they are a different angle? These faces certainly are common in diopside/augite.

24th Sep 2015 02:22 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

04995610016087122089628.jpg
There is some breakage on the bottom of the crystal, but if there's any cleavage it's pretty indistinct. It does look like some basal parting. I guessed augite only because of the color: black with a very slight greenish tinge, and because augite is on the list for Smart Mine. (By the way, assuming I figure out an ID, I also should probably move it up in the hierarchy to Miller Property because I understand from another thread here that all the recent digging is not Smart Mine).

24th Sep 2015 18:12 UTCPhil M. Belley Expert

Much of that end of the crystal looks like a poorly formed, but largely complete termination. You might have to look at the chipped areas with a microscope. I'd say augite is a reasonable identification given the distinct parting, which is also seen in the chipped areas on the last photo.

24th Sep 2015 18:16 UTCReiner Mielke Expert

How reliable is color for distinguishing augite from diopside?

24th Sep 2015 18:24 UTCPhil M. Belley Expert

Reiner, totally unreliable. See http://rruff.info/diopside/display=default/R070123


Did the original reference include probe data?

24th Sep 2015 21:06 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

Thanks again, I can see that it could be diopside. FYI, I've renamed it "Pyroxene Group" for now. (I suppose I could alternatively say Clinopyroxene Subgroup.) I'd appreciate it if this could be released to the public database. Of course, it won't be easy to find because "the species Pyroxene Group is not listed from this locality";-)
 
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