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Techniques for CollectorsRemoving Lichens
22nd Jan 2012 15:39 UTCJohn Collins
I got this (what could be nice) sample of quartz crystals imbedded with realgar (Peru) the other day and was dismayed to find to see these deposits on parts of it. I'd like to clean them off..
Has anyone had experience cleaning lichens off minerals. Would bleach do it? Ultrasound?
22nd Jan 2012 15:57 UTCWoody Thompson Expert
Bleach usually works good for removing organics such as lichens, moss, etc. I don't know whether it would have any effect on realgar, so maybe you could try it on a small part of the specimen first.
22nd Jan 2012 16:10 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager
22nd Jan 2012 16:49 UTCGeorge Eric Stanley Curtis
Whatever you use it on, it is wise to try a small section first.
Eric
22nd Jan 2012 16:55 UTCJohn Collins
John
22nd Jan 2012 17:02 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager
22nd Jan 2012 17:52 UTCJohn Collins
My rock would look like:
http://www.mindat.org/photo-319192.html
if it were clean of surface stuff.
John
22nd Jan 2012 18:12 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert
In my experience yellow-green, amorphous material associated with realgar, especially on Palermo Mine material, is in fact, orpiment.
22nd Jan 2012 19:45 UTCJohn Collins
I just looked at the surface deposit on the small crystals with my microscope and it appears to be a secondary growth of clear microcrystals (probably quartz). Imbedded in this are black crystal clusters of a semimetallic appearance. All very interesting!
The yellow deposits are also certainly crystalline and so are most likely orpiment.
I had wondered whether my specimen had been sitting out on the exposed ground for some time before being collected.
I'm starting to like the idea of secondary growth more and more. But the appearance is different in this regard from the mindat photo of much the same mineral deposition.
John
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Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: March 28, 2024 09:21:21