Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?
Below are some preliminary notes I have made about Zektzerite. This entry and thread has been made as a place holder for information that you will hopefully contribute about Zektzerite. It should be in no way be thought of as a claim I have staked out to write about this mineral, and in fact is an invitation for someone to step forward and create the article about this mineral. If you are so inclined and have questions about the format that such an article should have, go the The welcome topic at the top of the Best Minerals forum and read what has been posted there. Also take a look at some of the more mature articles that have already been written like Rhodochrosite, Adamite, Millerite etc. You will need also to pick out other images of Ardealite that will go into the article.
Zektzerite
LiNa(Zr,Ti,Hf)Si
6O
15 Orthorhombic
Of the three localities listed on Mindat, the type locality at Washington Pass has produced by far the best specimens. Crystals up to 3.7 cm are known.
Zektzerite
USA
Washingon, Okanogan Co., Golden Horn Batholith, Washington Pass
We need some better pictures of Zektzerite to show here.
The specimens from this locality are frequently through not always pink in color. They are almost all take the form of short pseudohexagonal prisms and isolated on matrix. Some specimens have crystals of more than 3cm though most of the better specimens have smaller crystals. There were never all that many specimens produced and they were never cheap because to get them you had to hike around the Golden Horn Batholith, not the easiest of tasks, trying to find boulders with exposed miarolitic cavities that still had a crystal of two of Zektzerite in them. These cavities are not common, and only a few of those found had Zektzerite in them. Many cavities were also pretty well ravaged by weathering and when you found one more or less intact with Zektzerite in them, you still faced the daunting task of trying to remove the specimens intact. Because of the effort required to find a good specimen, sometimes several trips to the locality were required, those who had them never easily parted with them.
The story of how the mineral got its name is interesting. One of the guys who collected the original specimens was Jack Zektzer. When first found (79?) they were thought to be possibly apatites, but within a couple of weeks Jack Zektzer sent some to Pete Dunn at the Smithsonian. To everyone's surprise here was a megascopic new mineral and Lou Landers says at the time the IMA allowed the finder to suggest possible new names. Zektzer sugested Tolkienite (after the Lord of the Rings author), Snoopyite (after the Peanuts dog) and Zektzerite !!!
Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2009 04:25PM by Rob Woodside.
