Chippers’ ChatterChippers’ ChatterNewsletter of the Chesapeake Gem & Mineral Society

Baltimore, Maryland <chesapeakegemandmineral.org>

Volume 60, Number 8September, 2016

Elsewhere In This Issue

A Few Words from Barbara .......................................2Nibbles ‘N Noshes .....................................................2Member News ...........................................................3Auction News ............................................................3Mineral of the Month ................................................4Trip to Lizzadro Museum ...........................................4The Rodman Paul Award ...........................................5Natural vs. Enhanced, Part 2 .....................................6Tiger Eye ..................................................................10Quick Tips ................................................................11Upcoming Events .....................................................12

Program Notesfrom Keith Kaneda

As we kick off our fall season I’m pleased to welcome Tim Rose, the analytical laboratories manager in the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution. He developed a fascination for rocks, fossils and minerals as a kid. Many summer vacations were spent in the Black Hills of South Dakota where his mother grew up. The whole family would go out and poke around the old feldspar quarries in search of peg-matite goodies. While finishing field work in the Summer of 1989 for his master’s degree on the Philips Pluton in Maine, Tim joined up with new colleague Michael Wise and began investigating some of the numerous pegma-tites that Maine is famous for. Visits to see friends es-pecially folks at Poland Mining Camps and the mines, are now a summer ritual.

Tim’s talk at our September 9th meeting is entitled “Twenty Years of Study and Playing in the Pegmatites of Maine” and will realate many of his experiences with studying and mining many of the western quarries of Mt. Apatite. He will also discuss the analytical methods used in his studies as well as some of the more recent discover-ies in the area.

Do come and join us for our first fall meeting. Doors open at 7 and the meeting begins at 7:30. Bring your Show and Tell items and be ready to show off your latest summer creations.

The Howard County show sponsored by the Gem Cutters Guild is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, Sep-tember 25.

We will have our usual infor-mation table and will need help from you to help “person” the table on both days and talk to visitors about our club. Remem-ber that many of our members are also Gem Cutters Guild members and will therefore not be available to help.

I will have a sign up sheet at the September meeting, but feel free to call or email me with your preferred time.

Howard County Showby Lynne Emery

Page 2 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Members of the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical & Lapidary Societies

Affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.

The Chesapeake Gem & Mineral Society was established in order to al-low its members to gain knowledge and skills in various phases of the Earth Sci-ence field. Through field trips, exhibi-tions, and cooperation with other soci-eties, we endeavor to further not only our own knowledge, but also that of the general public. Meetings are held on the 2nd Fri-day of each month except July & August at the Westchester Community Cen-ter, 2414 Westchester Ave; Oella, MD.. Meetings begin at 7:30 P.m. and visitors are always welcome. Dues are $15 for individuals, $25 for family memberships.

Officers:President - Barb Kays

<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Vice President - John Buchleitner<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Recording Secretary - Carolyn Weinberger<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Corresponding Sec’y - Patty Lortie<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Treasurer - Steve Weinberger<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Past President - Richard Hoff<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Directors: 2016 2016-17 Jim Hooper Bob Farrar Richard Meszler Kathy Kaneda

Editor:Carolyn Weinberger

<chesapeakegem at gmail.com>

Deadline is the 15th of each month.

Non-commercial reprint permission granted to non-profit organizations

unless otherwise noted.

ChesapeakeGem & Mineral

SocietyA Few Words from Barbara

by Barbara Kays, PresidentA warm “hello” to everyone. It is time to pack up the beach toys, dust off the mineral specimens, and get ready to enjoy another year of learning, sharing, trading and fellowship with our gem and mineral club members. As usual our program committee has planned a year of programs covering a wide variety of topics. I hope you had a chance to try something new this summer and are eager to share your experiences with the club. The contest has a few more months for you to create the perfect news article or share the most recent finds or creations with us. I will have a current list of point standings ready for the September meeting.

Although our family, along with some others, was unable to attend the pic-nic, word has it that is was the usual success. The Johnssons always manage to arrange a warm welcome under their large trees . I think they even train their chickens to greet people! Another “Thank you” to Richard who once again did rock bingo and the “Ugly Rock” contest. I heard several people donated prizes for these activities.

As you are digging out your member badge, please collect any loose change to contribute to our support of the scholarship fund which we support. The collection jar will be passed around at the meeting. Steve Weinberger is our club’s representative and can explain in more detail how this money is used.Enjoy the beginning of fall.

Barbara

Nibbles “n Noshesby Liz & Wendy Stanne

Our club picnic was wonderful this year! Many of our members were out of town and could not attend, but those who were there had a great time! We would like to thank the Johnsson family for their hospitality and all of the prep-arations they made for us. The predicted rain fell early and we were able to

enjoy the evening outside. It was a lovely evening and we are all so grateful to the Johnsson family for their hospitality.

In September we will be treated to refresments brought in by Keith and Kathy Kaneda, Patty Lortie, Dianne Odland and Jonathan Thompson.

Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016 Page 3

Meeting Minutesfrom Carolyn Weinberger, Recording Secretary

from Lynne Emery

Instead of our regular meeting July saw us cavorting under the trees at our annual picnic. Thans to the hospi-tality of the Johnsson’s and the “catering” of our mem-bers, a good time was had by all.

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. We spent time at the beach...and I can tell you, there were some re-ally hot days!

Several members had surgery in July and August and we are happy to report that they are recovering. A contin-ued get well to Becky Kays, Dave Fordyce, Arlene Gleason and Paul Senstad. We hope to see you all soon.

On the brighter side - Dawn and Johnny traveled to Israel where they participated on an archaeological dig and Cathy Purdum to Ireland and England. I’m sure other members were traveling around our country. We will be excited to hear some of the details. Maybe some of you can write an article for Chippers Chatter or even do a fu-ture program if you had hobby related adventures.

October Auction Newsby Bernie Emery

Our October meeting will once again feature an auc-tion. Start looking through your stash now and assemble those “good stuff” lots of cutting rough, fossils, books, minerals, jewelry, etc. to sell. Call in to reserve your spot on the auction table will be two weeks prior to the meeting. We’re making this change to give people more time before the announce-ment appears in Chippers Chatter.

And as always, please remember the club side!

The birthstone for September is the sapphire, a gem-stone variety of the mineral corundum. Typically blue, sappires can also naturally occur in yellow, purple, orange and green.

Happy birthday wishes go out this month to:Patricia Smith (3)Dave Fordyce (7)Linda Watts (10)

Michael Sturdevant (11)Barbara Buchleitner (12)

Barbara Senstadt (12)Joe Lastner (16)

Lynne Emery (20)Sam Fields (20)Jeff Cessna (22)

Lyle Peterson (22)

The AFMS Conventionby Carolyn Weinberger

Steve and I attended the AFMS convention and show out in Albany, Oregon this past July. Albany is a lovely smallish city with Victorian homes in the downtown area and lovely flow-ers everywhere you look. We had a terrific time!

The show and various meetings were held at the lo-cal convention center. In addition to the AFMS business meeting, we attended the Editors and Webmasters break-fast and Awards dinner where we picked up a couple of awards and saw Carolyn sworn in as AFMS 5th Regional Vice President for the coming year.

Chesapeake earned a 2nd place in the national edi-tor’s contest, in large part because of the various mem-ber contributions, and a 4th place (96 points) in the AFMS web site contest.

Page 4 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Mineral of the Monthby Jim Hooper

Our Trip to the Lizzadro Museumby Phyllis Dyer

On July 5th we left Annapolis and headed out to Elm-hurst, IL (outside Chicago) so Steve could visit the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art. I never knew this was a place he wanted to visit – but once the 2016 Agate Symposium was booked in the Dyer household this was added to our agenda. So on our way to Cedarburg, WI our first stop was to this beautiful uni-versity town and quaint museum

alongside a beautiful park.

There is a small fee every day except Friday – when it is free and parking is ample in the lot with more street parking. The museum shares with others “the eternal beauty of gemstones and promotes the study of earth science” alongside special exhibits. They have a perma-nent exhibit in the lower level so all can have the rock and mineral experience.

On the day we visited the upper level of the museum a large collection of Chinese jade from the 17th through 20th centuries and hard stone carvings from around the world were on exhibit. My favorite was the blue jadeite pagoda incense burner from the Qing Dynasty. I can’t recall ever seeing blue jadeite – I was ready to bring it home.

We spent about 2 ½ hours in the museum before head-ing to Wisconsin, but it was something that put a smile on Steve’s face and a check on the bucket list.

If you are in the area it is worth a side trip. As a matter of fact, a bus load of symposium people went to the mu-seum on Saturday to check it out.

“Quick, I’ve been poisoned, get me the Epidote!” That won’t help much. What they need is the Antidote, but that’s for another column on another day.

Epidote is widely distributed min-eral that I was first introduced to on a field trip to the LaFarge quarry in Havre de Grace several years ago. Epidote inhabited little pockets of pistachio green prismatic crystals in a very hard matrix. Many little pockets had corroded to dark brown stubby

things which wouldn’t hold your attention for very long. But some of the little crystals were interesting as upright prismatic hexagonals. I later came to find out that gem quality crystals of Epidote occur in Canada, France, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Austria, Pakistan and Colorado and California. One of the best known producers of quality stones is Untersulzbachtal, Austria.

The name Epidote also describes a mineral group of minerals within the Sorosilicates. Their name comes from the minerals where an oxygen atom is shared by tetrahedral structures or ‘sisters’. Soros comes from the Latin for sisters. The name Epidote itself comes from the Greek ‘epidosis’ meaning ‘increase’ because one side of the crystal is always longer than the other sides. Other minerals in the group in-clude Zoisite, Clinozoisite, Allanite, Piemontite and others. More definitively Epidote is a calcium aluminum iron silicate hydroxide. It might be best known for its pistachio-green color and typically found in a metamorphic matrix.

Chemically speaking Epidote is described as Ca2(Al2)(SIO4)(SI2O7)O(OH). The crystal system is monoclinic with short to long prismatic. It has a 6-7 hardness rating on the Mohs scale which makes it facetable and produces fine gemstones. The most often seen colors are the pistachio-green, a yellowish brown translucent and opaque dark brown. It is found at min-eral shows but often doesn’t command the same attention as more vibrantly colored minerals. Some Unakite is Epidote that has been tumbled and polished to make attractive jewel-ry. You may have some epidote in your collection that would help to identify the mineral to many members for the first time perhaps and if so, please bring it or them along to the next meeting. The Epidote Antidote might be an Anecdote of the mineral you like to dote over.

We’d love to know.

Epidote & QuartzChiaari, Liguria, ItalyPhoto: i-rocks, Wikipedia,

Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016 Page 5

The 2016 Rodman Paul Award was presented to the Hauck Family of Franklin, New Jersey during the July Min-ing History Association meeting.

The Hauck Family is worthy of mining history recogni-tion for their accomplishments in rescuing the Sterling Hill Zinc Mine in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and developing it into a world class mining museum. Richard (Dick) and Robert (Bob) Hauck, their respective spouses Elna and Patti (d. 2010), chil-dren, and extended family members were intimately involved in this decades-long commitment to establish and grow the Sterling Hill Mining Museum.

Mining at Sterling Hill dates back to the 1700s, being one of the two deposits forming the world-class Franklin Zinc-mining District. Rich zinc, iron, and manganese ores were recovered at various times during the 19th-Century, and with the Great Con-solidation of 1897 New Jersey Zinc was established and primed for a strong 20th-Century run. Sterling Hill played an important role in the early 1900s, and again after 1954 when the nearby Franklin Mine was shut down. Unfortunately from a mining perspective, the mine closed for economic reasons in 1986. At this point, most such defunct mining and industrial sites in the East are usually obliterated and lost.

Dick and Bob Hauck had long been interested in minerals, mining artifacts, and mining history. In 1988 when the Ster-ling Hill Mine went up for tax sale, the Hauck’s sold their suc-cessful nursery and flower business and purchased the 35-acre mine site tract at tax sale for $750,000 to keep it from being destroyed or developed. Doing whatever it took, sometimes facing incredible regulatory hurdles or tax barriers, they or-ganized an enduring non-profit educational foundation to open and sustain a museum. The museum opened to the public in 1990 with surface and underground tours show-casing the mine, its history and mining operations, and dis-playing rare fluorescent minerals for which the Franklin & Sterling Hill Zinc Mining District is most famous. Many min-erals and artifacts from the Haucks’ personal collections formed a nucleus for a growing museum collection, supple-mented by donations, purchases, and sales as the museum entity became successful and self-sustaining. These dis-plays have been seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors in magnificent underground settings, as well as in museum showcases located in historic mine buildings. An emphasis on earth science and education has helped solicit continu-ing corporate sponsorships and grants. Many school stu-dents and scout groups tour the mine (40,000 visitors

annually). Advanced research has also been conducted on site by university and government scientists. Additional underground tunnels were developed for tours to include historic stopes that were uncovered and more fluorescent zones. The mineral-collecting community is catered to reg-ularly with both day and night-time collecting events.

The Haucks hosted our 2005 MHA Mining History Confer-ence Sunday Tour, including feeding our group. We not only received an extended tour of Sterling Hill (including behind the scenes plant and head-frame visits), but also special ac-cess for an informative walk all about the historic Franklin Mine and Trotter Shaft & Dump premises adjacent to the Franklin Fluorescent Mineral Museum, which we also toured. The Haucks have served on the Mineral Museum Board as well, and fostered cooperative relations between the two mu-seums. They got Sterling Hill placed on both the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places in 1991 and turned it into the best mining museum on the East Coast.

In 2015, after 25+ years of active service, leading and mentoring an army of volunteers, the Haucks retired from ac-tive roles at Sterling Hill. They have only been able to attend a few of our MHA Conferences due to the high-demand for museum tours each June, but they are known to a number of MHA members as engaging, knowledgeable, and generous. For their commitment and achievements in mine site preservation, eduction, and mining history, the Hauck Family is a worthy recipient of the Rodman Paul Award.

The Mining History Association’s Johnny Johnsson presents the 2016 Rodman Paul Award for outstanding contributions to mining history to the Hauck Family. Pictured from left to right: Johnny Johnsson, Dick & Elna Hauck, Bob & Elizabeth Hauck.

The 2016 Rodman Paul Award by Johnny Johnsson

Page 6 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

lomelane (New Mexico, Arizona), blue hemimorphite (Chi-na), chrysocolla with drusy quartz (drusy gem silica from Arizona). The background matrix, in which the crystals are embedded, varies from hard agate to softer- and more fragile- rhyolite, sandstone or limestone. Almost all non-quartz drusy gems are of natural color.

Pink Panther, HSH, pink drusy cobalto-calcite, Photo by M.J. Colella; Drusy gem silica, HSH

Drusy quartz commonly lines the inside surfaces of agate geodes, which usually form in a ball-shape with a very plain-looking outer skin surface. But when they are cracked or sliced open they reveal a multitude of min-eralization, quartz crystals along with calcite or celes-tite, various crystal shapes and sizes, and a range of col-ors. Drusy quartz from geodes comes in natural colors of white, brown, rust, tan or even orange, and black.

In the first part of this article, we discussed the term “simulant” and “enhanced” according to the ‘Enhance-ment Codes’ set by the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guides for the jewelry industry. The term “simulants” refers to natural or enhanced materials that simulate another natu-ral gemstone. They vary from the imitation stones, which are mostly man-made materials (usually glass or plastic) imitating a natural gemstone.

We also compared some natural gem materials against their simulants, and discussed how important disclosure is, besides honesty, for the customer to know how to take care of the finished stones. Lapidaries, designers and metalsmiths need to be aware of the hardness, durability and longevity of these stones, as well as the final jewelry client or collector who should know how to clean and take care of these stones.

I also want to remind everyone, that according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guides for the jewelry in-dustry, with the exception of normal fashioning (cutting and polishing) it is the seller’s responsibility at all levels of commerce to clearly disclose to the buyer at the time of the sale whether the stone is natural or not. If you are using enhanced gem materials fashioned into cabochons, beads, carvings, eggs or spheres, or if you are treating your stones with oils, resins or Opticon® fracture filler, it is your responsibility to share that information with your buyer.

Drusy gems, natural vs. enhanced The term “drusy” (also called druse, druzy, or drusies) describes very fine mineralization, clusters of tiny crystals that present a shimmering effect, sometimes described as the sparkling of sugar or snow. Drusy crystals may cover (or encrust) rock surfaces, veins or vugs. Drusy gemstones first appeared on the market about 20 years ago, first cut as sim-ple rounds, ovals and freeforms, later as fantasy cuts leaves, stars, crosses, snowflakes or cloud shapes. The meteoritic rise of drusy gemstones among designers is owed to a very attrac-tive and appealing feature to jewelry customers: the combi-nation of a natural mineral surface and a wearable gem.

Drusy gems come in a wide variety of minerals, such as quartz (Brazil), pink cobalto-calcite (Congo), green uva-rovite garnet (Russia), blue chalcedony (Turkey), rainbow pyrite (Russia), azurite (Arizona), vanadinite (Marocco), liebethenite (Congo), malachite (Arizona, Congo), psi-

Natural vs. Enhanced – Lapidary Gem Materials, Part 2by Helen Serras-Herman

Natural drusy gemstones; Drusy quartz dyed (Keith Horst cabs) Photos HSH

continued on page 7

Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016 Page 7

Geodes are rarely completely filled out with mineraliza-tion. The majority of geodes are hollow inside, allowing min-eral formations to create amazing scenes. For the mineral collector, the more complex and varied the projecting miner-alization is inside the geodes, the more pleasing and desirable the specimen is. But, for the ones cut into drusy gemstones the more uniform the drusy quartz surfaces are, the more they are preferred and chosen for cutting. The even distribu-tion of druse against the matrix background is also an impor-tant criterion for all types of drusy gemstones.

Drusy quartz surfaces, just like agates, are commonly dyed in a multitude of bright colors. During the last decade, technology has been developed to coat drusy quartzes with titanium or precious metals (gold, silver, platinum). This metal coating is permanent, and is often produced in spectacular iridescent colors that Mother Nature would envy. Thus, now drusy gemstones are labeled and divided into “natural dru-sies” or “coated drusies”. The cabs are often cut with a highly polished outer layer, leaving the druse area in the middle.

Titanium drusies are coated by two methods: Physi-cal Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Chemical Vapor Deposi-tion (CVD), as described by Schiller Gems (http://www.in-diamart.com/schillergems/about-us.html). The technology used by Schiller Gems is capable of effectively and evenly coat any colors, shapes, sizes and styles up to 200x200 mm surface area of drusy stones. They offer a huge variety of coated drusy quartzes in assorted colors, bi-colored sur-faces, shaped as crosses or 5-ray stars.

Bill Herer from Rare Earth Mining Company (http://ra-reearthminingco.com/ ), Greg Genovese from Heart of the Stones Studio (http://www.heartofstonestudio.com/), Keith Horst (A & K Gems and Minerals) and Mark Lasater from The Clam Shell (http://www.theclamshell.net) are among the pioneers of cutting and selling drusy gemstones.

To know whether drusies are coated or not is very impor-tant for their care. Even though the treatments are permanent, the coating can be scratched off or chipped off if the stone is dropped, and stones should not be buff-polished or re-pol-ished. Cleaning drusies in an ultra-sonic machine works great for the natural stones, but not for coated ones. It is best to fol-low the precautions and care advice given by the sellers.

Over the years I have enjoying cutting many drusy gemstones, and have applied on the drusy surfaces my sig-

nature engraved lines, with the best visual results in rainbow pyrite, cobalto-calcite and green uvarovite garnet.

When neon blue chrysocolla penetrates clear quartz or chalcedony, it is the rarest, most desirable and most valuable form of all quartzes, known in the trade as gem silica. Even more sought-after are the fine drusy or botry-oidal gem silica formations. The most valuable gem silica comes from the Arizona copper mines- the famous Inspira-tion and Ray mines, near Globe.

Smithsonite is a zinc carbonate ZnCO3, often confused with hemimorphite. It is typically found in botryoidal masses, which are often cut as attractive freeform cabs, in a variety of colors, with more predominant colors be-ing grayish-blue, pink and yellow. Its hardness is only 4.5 on the Mohs scale, compared to the quartz or chalcedony gem silica which is 6.5-7.

Gem silica, smithsonite and hemimorphite are nor-mally not color-enhanced, but may be enhanced with Op-ticon® fracture sealer, which should always be disclosed to the customer. All three gems have a similar look and may be confused or misidentified by casual identification. Don’t assume anything; simply ask the seller.

Black drusy gems, natural vs. enhanced Black drusy gemstones come in a variety of minerals: Nat-ural black drusy quartz is found inside agate geodes, as well as inside rare agatized coral tubes from Florida. Another black drusy material is psilomelane, a rich black metallic mineral, covered with quartz crystals. Both types include clear drusy quartz crystals which reflect the black background and look like black drusy. Psilomelane usually displays a “gun-metal” shimmer of very fine black and white alternating layers, and along with the black drusy it creates a dramatic textured look. Psilomelane is beautiful to look at, but terribly dirty to cut, as the black color stains everything. Black psilomelane from Arizona also forms with white botryoidal quartz, making it a stunning black-and-white combination.

White drusy quartz on agate from Brazil is often dyed black, and is the most common form of black drusy gems, also referred to as black onyx drusy.

Natural vs. Enhancedcontinued from page 6

continued on page 8

Page 8 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Natural black calcite inside geodes from Keokuk, Iowa, has also been used as a black drusy gemstone.

Although I stated in Part 1 of the article, that we will not be discussing synthetic stones, there is one exception of a rar-ity that I would like to share with you. In 2010 I purchased a few pieces of black drusy synthetic sapphires, created by Cha-tham. It was an anomaly rather than a regular product. Being sapphires with a high refractive index, the drusy surfaces are highly reflective. Chatham is a leading source of high-quality lab grown gems, founded 75 years ago by Carroll Chatham. He was the first to grow emerald crystals, and his son Tom Chatham continues the fascination with crystal formation and the creation of a variety of lab-grown gems.

Lapis with pyrite vs. blue magnesite with copper inclusions Lapis Lazuli is a striking rich blue opaque rock, composed of several minerals, lazurite being the predominant one and the main cause for its blue color. Lapis, in short, as it is com-monly known, is also associated with calcite veins, pyrite crystals and smaller amounts of diopside, mica, hauyinte and hornblende. There is a fine line of balance for the amount of these minerals to be present to make lapis an attractive gem. Too much calcite makes it softer and lower grade or too much pyrite makes it dull and detracting from the blue body color. Lapis may also show a shade of violet.

Lapis, Fleur-de-lis, HSH; Dyed blue magnesite vs. natural lapis (Keith Horst cabs); Photos © HSH

There are only a few well known mining areas in the world producing fine Lapis, and they are all ancient de-posits. The Russian lapis, often used in Faberge carvings, comes from the Lake Baikal area, south of Irkutsk, in Sibe-ria. The lapis from Chile comes from the Andean moun-tains region, near the city of Ovalle, north of Santiago, and is often referred to as ‘Andean lapis’. Lapis Lazuli from

Afghanistan, the finest quality of Lapis in the world, comes from the ancient historic mines of Sar-e-Sang in the Badakh-shan province, located in the West Hindu Kush Mountains. These mines have been in operation for over 6,500 years.

Pale and mottled material, both Afghani and Chilean, is successfully marketed as ‘Denim lapis’. Light-colored material may be dyed to a deeper blue color, or the white veins only may be dyed. Lapis should be handled with care, away from heat and chemicals, especially in the event that the stones, carvings or beads may be dyed.

Another material that I only recently saw, is re-consti-tuted lapis, which is natural lapis crushed and mixed with resin, made into a block and slabbed. Some slabs even show pyrite inclusions.

Man-made crushed lapis for inlays, similar in color to material from Afghanistan, is mixed with pigments, and is available by Natural Expressions, Inc®, in Gilbert, AZ.

Magnesite, a soft and porous material that we discussed in the turquoise treatments, is also on the scene as a simulant for lapis. Magnesite is dyed blue, and with added metallic in-clusions that simulate pyrite, it truly looks like natural lapis.

Magnesite from China is also available in yellow and or-ange colors, imitating Cherry Creek jasper (also known as Red Creek jasper) a multicolored material from mainland China. The dyed yellowish-orange magnesite also resembles the recently discovered “yellow feather jasper”, a colorful jasper from Utah with distinct crisscrossed black dendritic patterns.

Genesis Polymer “Stone” is an imitation, or faux stone, created as a dry mix polymer-clay with metallic inclusions, and is sold in a white version imitating gold-in quartz, and a black version imitating gold or pyrite in black jade.

Azurite with malachite vs. azurite/malachite block Azurite is a deep blue-colored copper mineral, with chemical formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2. . Azurite crystals are formed as dark blue prismatic crystals, but more common-ly azurite is found in a massive, nodule or stalactitic form. It is very soft, only 3.5-4 on the Mohs scale. Azurite mineral specimens from the legendary Bisbee and Morenci mines

Natural vs. Enhancedcontinued from page 7

continued on page 9

Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016 Page 9

are the most sought after; they make great cabs and free-forms with a combination of drusy and polished surfaces. Azurite is habitually found together with malachite, which is often a pseudomorph replacement of azurite. The two minerals make a stunning visual arrangement when cut to-gether as a gemstone.

Carved azuzite-malachite. Bisbee, HSH; Azurite-malachite block with & without bronze infusion. Photos © HSH

A combination of azurite/malachite is offered as com-pressed blocks created by Colbaugh Processing, Inc. (http://www.colbaugh.net/). Small natural nodules of azurite and malachite are compressed with resin into blocks. These com-pressed blocks are also offered with bronze infusion, which creates a golden webbing pattern within the material.

Plastic resin imitation blocks are also available on the market; they are an inexpensive option for lapidary materials.

Rainbow Calsilica Rainbow Calsilica is a manufactured material created and sold by Colbaugh Processing, Inc. Tests were undertak-en on samples of this material by researcher Lori Kiefert at the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute lab in Basel in 2002. The Renishaw Raman 1000 analysis showed that the white grains are calcite, and that hematite is present in the red layers and celestine in the black areas. Also, that synthetic pigments and a paraffin-like wax have been used to stabi-lize the material. Their final report states that “the samples examined appear to have been made of pulverized carbon-ate rock that was mixed with pigments and stabilized with a polymer (Gems & Gemology, Winter 2002).

Rainbow calsilica man made vs. natural quartz

with blue chrysocolla and red jasper veins. Rainbow

calsilica cabs (Keith Horst cabs) Photos

© HSH

In spite the fact that Rainbow Calsilica is manufactured, it is a very popular lapidary material, offered for sale in blocks and slabs, and as finished cabs and beads for the jew-elry designers. I pur-chased a small amount over a decade ago and the material sold out fast.

Rainbow Calsilica imitates natural material found in or near copper mines in Arizona, material which is quartz with blue veins of chrysocolla and red veins of jasper running through. The combination of all colors is not found com-monly in nature, so these natural pieces are highly prized.

As lapidaries, designers and collectors, we all look for new gem materials to incorporate into our artwork. The list of all-natural materials is shrinking daily, and the vari-ety of enhanced lapidary materials existing on the market today is almost overwhelming. The better we understand these materials, the better we’ll be able to sell them to our customers. Today’s gem and jewelry consumers are educated, and they look up to us artists to educate them even more about the natural origin of the materials or the technological enhancements that made these gem materi-als more affordable, durable and attractive.

Helen Serras-Herman is an acclaimed gem sculptor and gemologist (FGA), with over 33 years of experience in unique gem sculpture and jewelry art. Her award-winning artwork has been exhibited world-wide and pub-lished in over 170 trade magazines and books. See her work at <www.gemart-

center.com> and her business Facebook page at Gem Art Center/Helen Serras-Herman

Natural vs. Enhancedcontinued from page 8

Page 10 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Tiger Eye History and Factsvia The Rockhounder, June 2016

First of all, tiger’s eye, tigereye, tiger eye and tiger-eye are all accepted ways to write this name.

Tiger’s Eye is a durable quartz compos-ite with the usual quartz hardness of 7. It begins as the fibrous blue mineral called crocidolite, which is comprised of iron and sodium. Most of us know crocidolite as as-bestos. The transformation begins when quartz becomes imbedded between thefibers of crocidolite. This process will re-sult in one of two gemstones. A blue stone is called Hawk’s Eye or the golden brown stone called Tiger’s Eye.

During the process, the asbestos is completely dis-solved. But the quartz takes on the fibrous formations and the blue color of crocidolite. This creates the parallel lines within the gem which gives it that ever shifting play of light and movement the stone is so loved for. This is also knownas chatoyancy, the gleam that rolls across its surface, much like the eyes of a cat.

Even though the iron and sodium dissolve, traces of hydrated oxide of iron deposit between the crocidolite and quartz, creating the golden color that is common to Tiger’s Eye. How much of this hydrated mineral is deposited will determine how Golden brown, red, green or blue, Tiger’s Eye and Hawk’s Eye will be. The rarer blue Hawk’s Eye will have only the slightest amounts. The varying amounts of hydrated oxide of iron, actually cause several colors and mixes of color. When the color is a greenish gray, it is called cat’s-eye quartz. A golden yellow reflection on a brown stone, is called Tiger’s Eye. If the stone is blue gray or blu-ish, it’s known as Hawk’s Eye. Redish brown, or mahogany colored stones, are known as bull’s-eye or ox-eye.

Up until recently tiger eye has been considered to be pseudomorph, but new evidence proves otherwise. it has long been thought that the crocidolite fibers were re-placed with quartz much like the replacement that hap-pens in petrified wood. New evidence proves this may not be the case and that quartz and the crocidolite co-exist.

Tiger eye has a fibrous structure and in the lapidary shop must be oriented properly to get the chatoyancy and/or the “cats eye” effect. Cuts must be exactly parallel to the length of the fibers to get the full chatoyancy. If the saw cut

is perpendicular, or 90% to the fibers, you end up with a lifeless, dark brown to black stone with no chatoyancy orlight play at all. Orientation of cutting is critical to getting good chatoyancy and color out of tiger eye.

These fibers in Tiger Eye may be up to about two inches long and very thin. Most are only 0.001 millimeters, or 0.000039 inches in diameter and are not always straight making it even harder at times to cut good chatoyant stones.

Treatments: In most cases, but not always, red tiger eye is not a natural occurrence. It is usually the result of heating and can be done using the kitchen oven. Here’s a basic recipe for heat treating tiger eye.

To protect the tiger-eye from thermal shock during heating, cover slabs of ordinary, gold tiger eye in fine clean silica sand, at least 3” all around the slab.

Place the metal container in a cold oven and increase the temperature by 50 degrees every hour until it reaches 400 degrees. Then turn the oven off and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Allow plenty of time for the container to cool all the way through. (If you heat treat tiger eye to sell

BE SURE you let it be known it has been treated, it’s only right and it’s the law.)

There are natural occurrences that tiger eye can be found with red color. And other known ways have been from brush fires where the deposits are found and also when miners would build fires next to the seams to help crack it up into smaller pieces, remember most of these miners had nothing but hand tools to work with.

Not long after tiger eye was first discovered for lapi-dary, the world famous Idar-Oberstein lapidaries discov-ered by using hydrochloric or oxalic acid they could bleach tiger eye to an evenly colored light, translucent yellow. When cut property they produced “cats eye” stones that look much like the rare variety of chrysoberyl but can be

continued on page 12

Page 11 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Auctions - Lynne and Bernie Emery

Directory (address changes) Patty Lortie Field Trips - Richard Hoff

Greeters - Barbara Buchleitner

Hospitality - Liz & Wendy Stanne

Committee Chairpersons

Mineral of the Month - Jim Hooper

Personals/Announcements/ Sunshine - Lynne Emery and Patricia Smith

Programs - Richard Hoff, Keith Kaneda & Tony Wilner

Safety - Johnny Johnsson

Show - Bernie & Lynne Emery

Showcase - Steve Dyer

Telephone Chain Lynne Emery Phylllis Dyer Dawn Johnsson Mary Chandler Liz Stanne Wendy Stanne

by Brad SmithRaising a Cabochon

When a cabochon sits too low in a bezel, the bezel hides a lot of the stone. The solution is to either sand down the bezel height or boost up the stone. If you’re going to raise it up, question is what is the best material to use ?

I was taught to use fine sawdust but now think that might be a problem when used in rings. I reason that rings will frequently get wet, which would cause the sawdust to swell in size and push the stone against the bezel. Then when the sawdust dries out, the stone would be a little loose.

In any case, I now prefer pieces of plastic sheet to boost up my stones. Piec-es are readily avail-able from product packaging or from old credit cards. I just cut a piece to loosely fit the be-zel and drop in the stone (with some dental floss) to check it’s height.

Transparent Cab

When bezel setting a transparent cabochon in silver, I usually cut out the back of the bezel to allow background light to show off the colors and patterns in the stone. If this is not possible or appropriate, I worry that the silver be-zel will tarnish under the stone and will ruin its brilliance. What to do?

My solution is one extra step before setting the stone. I place a piece of thin silver Mylar plastic under the stone to act as a mirror that will never tarnish. Mylar is readily available in craft and gift wrap stores, or in a pinch from a party balloon supplier. You may even want to experiment with using colored or patterned Mylar (i.e. diffraction pat-tern) under some stones.

Page 12 Chippers’ Chatter – September, 2016

Carolyn Weinberger PO Box 302 Glyndon, MD 21071-0302

September: 6: Gem Cutters Guild meeting - 7:30 pm at Meadow Mill, Clipper Mill Rd, Woodberry

9: Chesapeake meeting - 7:30 pm at Westchester Com-munity Center. Tim Rose to speak on Maine pegmatites.

24-25: Gem Cutters Guild show at Howard County Fairgrounds.

28: Baltimore Mineral Society meeting - 7:30 pm at Natural History Society of Maryland, Belair Rd.

October: 3: Rosh Hashana 4: Gem Cutters Guild meeting 12: Yom Kippur 14: Chesapeake auction at Westchester 14-16: Desautels Micromount Symposium - Info for registration and program <cscrystals2@gmail.com>. 28: BMS meeting

distinguished very easily between the two by gemologists.

Other treatments but not usually done, never by me, but some do do it. In pietersite and bighamite stones es-pecially, it is very common to run into pits, cracks, or voids called vugs. These are some-times filled with wax, super glue or opticon in the last steps of sanding and polishing the stone. I never do any of these treatments but as I said it is and has been done by others.

There are many other types of stones that display a “cats eye” or shimmering chatoyancy. The word “Chatoy-ant” comes from the French word for “cat” or to glow like a cat’s eve.

Tigereye is the anniversary gemstone for the 9th year of marriage.

Editors Note: Remember tigereye has asbestos, so al-ways use a face mask and/or keep tigereye under water when sanding and polishing.

Tiger Eyecontinued from page 10