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Identity HelpAny ideas what this dark green crystal is?

24th Sep 2019 04:40 UTCDerek Lowe

09353160016028840652724.jpg
I found this crystal recently, just East of Wilberforce, Ontario, Canada - any ideas what it might be?  Sharp faces, definitely terminated, and very dark green in colour, but not sure what it is...

24th Sep 2019 05:17 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

A few more views of the crystal would help, but the most likely candidate is fluoro-richterite.

24th Sep 2019 10:58 UTCDerek Lowe

00266270016028840663018.jpg
Thanks for the input.  Here’s another pic.  I have found black fluoro-richterite, but I didn’t know it could also be found in such an impressive dark green colour...

24th Sep 2019 14:13 UTCDerek Lowe

09029840016028594636859.jpg
A better angle of the end...

24th Sep 2019 06:12 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Welcome to Mindat, Derek!

Some additional photos from different angles would be a big help here. It could very well be fluoro-richterite as Kevin mentioned.
 

24th Sep 2019 14:10 UTCDerek Lowe

09042910016028840664717.jpg
Another pic - hopefully this shows the angles and the colours better...

24th Sep 2019 14:10 UTCDerek Lowe

00395210016028840672718.jpg
One more pic of the crystal

24th Sep 2019 14:15 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

After seeing the second photo I think diopside is also a possibility.  That looks a lot greener than other fluoro-richterites that I've seen from that area.

24th Sep 2019 15:51 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

Based only on the photos I say perhaps not Diopside. Diopside from the area typically has more rounded edges on the faces.  Diopside from the area often features parting at right angles to the longer axis. This  is not uncommon in Pyroxene species like Diopside.  A photo of cleavage at least may help determine the Amphibole versus Pyroxene question.  I will take stab at Edenite as a possible candidate. More specific locality info and other diagnostic features would help narrow the field down a bit.

If this is Amphibole more sophisticated lab tested maybe required to determine the exact species

24th Sep 2019 16:24 UTCDerek Lowe

Thanks for the info.  I found this at the Grace Lake location, on Burleigh Road east of Wilberforce, if that helps narrow it down. 

No matter what it turns out to be, the dark green, clear colour and the faces of the crystal make it one of the best samples I have found so far...

24th Sep 2019 16:47 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

Welcome to mindat, Derek.   Nice crystals!

I think your specimen would be a good candidate for determining a specific gravity.  The result probably would be a little bit low from the white material around the base, but there is not a lot of it.   Also, if you could determine a hardness with a very small scratch on the bottom of the piece, it would help.

Don

24th Sep 2019 17:24 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

The locality info rules out Edenite most likely.  When they improved that road cut many years ago some very nice Diopside crystals where found with sharper faces of this colour (but not in a in a long time).  So that potentially brings Diopside back into the fold. If you have any pieces similar to this one that might depict cleavage that wold be helpful. As mentioned in my other post if you are in the greater Toronto area you could bring it into a ROM clinic. 

25th Sep 2019 23:12 UTCMatt Courville

From my experience there at Grace Lake, and the comparison photos on mindat, I'd lean towards a very, very nice Diopside.  As Andrew has pointed out the diopside usually has more rounded edges.  The amphiboles are Tremolites from here.  If you feel like your in a private message-sharing mood I'd love to know just where at the site this beauty came from! lol  good find!!

26th Sep 2019 01:14 UTCDerek Lowe

Truth be told, I don't even think I was in the 'correct' area at Grace Lake - I have seen Michael Gordon's youtube video of his trip to the site and where I was looked nothing like the area that he filmed.  I think I was closer to Wilberforce, and he was further north on Burleigh Road, but I am not sure.  In any case, I just climbed the hill and looked through some of the debris others had dug out, and I found the crystal within my first 10 minutes at the site.

17th Oct 2019 00:52 UTCDerek Lowe

Well, I went to the ROM clinic and the verdict is:

A very nice, (more rare) very dark green diopside :)

17th Oct 2019 01:32 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

Very Nice!
 
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