Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

╳Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

Groups

Recent Images in Discussions

Identity HelpEmerald or Glass?

31st Jan 2012 22:52 UTCStanley Craig

This is my first post in this forum, so please bear with me.

I was a contractor for 20 and I did some work for an older gentleman. He had traveled all over the world and always brought back rocks. I found one very interesting and he gave it to me. It was almost white and was a fairly soft material that kept falling a apart. I took it home and set it in a flower bed. Well a few years later I noticed something green in the middle when the white substance had weathered away. I just thought it to be a chunk of glass. But what was the white material? It had a consistency of thick toothpaste or something.

The green glass was about a small baseball size. I cut it on my rock saw and found a lot of air bubbles in it. Well I got to thinking that it maybe an emerald. Since it did come from South or Central America. I watched the show about the Bahia emerald and it got me thinking about my green glass. Several years ago I had a vibrating polisher with carpet and I guess tin oxide in it. I had placed this green glass in that and all I came up with is tin oxide stuck to it, just like all the other rocks that I tried to polish. So I went out and found the green glass and tried to take off some of the tin oxide by using a grinder with 120 aluminum oxide grit on it. I got some of it off and then took pictures. It did polish some of the green glass this way. I wouldn't think it would do that if it was glass. So I ended up here and I also emailed a guy named Jeff, one place said "ask Jeff', so I did.

Does anybody have any idea of what I have. The piece pictured weighs 75 grams. Thanks for any info.

31st Jan 2012 23:19 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

It's glass. Natural emeralds do not contain bubbles of that size.

31st Jan 2012 23:27 UTCJosé Zendrera 🌟 Manager

glass or kryptonite...

seriously now, Stan, try to scratch it with a quartz. If you can, is glass.

31st Jan 2012 23:31 UTCCraig Mercer

Lol Jose.

Yes, it's a perfect example of how not to make African Moldavite ;-)

All jokes aside though, it's definitely glass.

1st Feb 2012 00:53 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

First off; welcome to Mindat, Stanley, and thanks for registering!!

And yes, your specimen is green glass....

1st Feb 2012 01:21 UTCStanley Craig

I figured it was but I had to try. I wonder what the white material was that was around it. Strange. Thanks for the replies

22nd Feb 2012 19:47 UTCDiann Temple

Found a few very small emeralds @ Emerald City on our trip to NC last year. Cost $10.00 to search.

I did all the 'finding'. :)

27th Feb 2012 02:44 UTCCraig Mercer

Nice finds Diann :-)

Mindat.org is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 26, 2024 04:18:34

Go to top of page