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ORTHOCHRYSOTILE
Calaveras Asbestos Mine, near Copperopolis, Calaveras County, California
Cross-fiber veinlets composed of silky luster, “very hairy”, light green Orthochrysotile are cutting through massive, dark green Serpentine matrix.








 

CHAROITE TYPE 1
Chara River, Murun Massif, between the Chara and Olekma Rivers, SW of Oleminsk, Yakutia, Russia (type locale)
Charoite was first described as a new mineral in 1978.  For many years the collecting site was controlled by the Russian government and Charoite could not be exported, except as lapidary items (not as uncut, natural specimens).  Over the years, the government has relaxed their restriction and it is now possible to obtain natural Charoite specimens.  Both types are offered below.  Charoite is very pale lilac to light, to medium violet-purple in color, with a compact-fibrous, to asbestiform structure.  Chemical composition is: (K,Na)₅(Ca,Ba,Sr)₈(Si₆O₁₅)₂(Si₆O₁₆)(OH,F)·H₂O  In “Dana’s New Mineralogy”, 8^th Edition, Gaines, et al, P. 1400, Charoite “alters to ‘Charoite asbestos’, a white to cream colored felt-like mass, which differs in OH-content from Charoite”.  A thin layer of the white Charoite alteration can be seen on the exterior surfaces of the following specimens:  Type 1 F., G., and H.  Type 2 I., J., K., M., N., and P.   All specimens have labels from the Fersman Mineralogial Museum in Moscow.

Type 1 – The Charoite specimens in this group are all in natural condition, without saw cuts.  Note that item 1 H. is a particularly noteworthy, display quality specimen with the medium purple, compact-fibrous Charoite enclosing more than 20 sharp, shiny black sprays of radially structured (*) Aegirine.  Also associated are scattered, light yellow crystal sections (to 1/2” in length) of Steacyite, a Thorium-bearing silicate.  Steacyite is fluorescent bright greenish-yellow under both shortwave and longwave ultraviolet.  Translucent-opaque white K-Feldspar is also present on many of the specimens as small “pods” included within the Charoite.

 

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CHAROITE TYPE 2
Chara River, Murun Massif, between the Chara and Olekma Rivers, SW of Oleminsk, Yakutia, Russia (type locale)
Charoite was first described as a new mineral in 1978.  For many years the collecting site was controlled by the Russian government and Charoite could not be exported, except as lapidary items (not as uncut, natural specimens).  Over the years, the government has relaxed their restriction and it is now possible to obtain natural Charoite specimens.  Both types are offered below.  Charoite is very pale lilac to light, to medium violet-purple in color, with a compact-fibrous, to asbestiform structure.  Chemical composition is: (K,Na)₅(Ca,Ba,Sr)₈(Si₆O₁₅)₂(Si₆O₁₆)(OH,F)·H₂O  In “Dana’s New Mineralogy”, 8^th Edition, Gaines, et al, P. 1400, Charoite “alters to ‘Charoite asbestos’, a white to cream colored felt-like mass, which differs in OH-content from Charoite”.  A thin layer of the white Charoite alteration can be seen on the exterior surfaces of the following specimens:  Type 1 F., G., and H.  Type 2 I., J., K., M., N., and P.   All specimens have labels from the Fersman Mineralogial Museum in Moscow.

Type 2 – Cut and/or polished Charoite specimens.  Associates include small “pods” of translucent-opaque white K-Feldspar, and black Aegirine. Item 2 P. has very obvious inclusions of both K-Feldspar and Aegirine.  Items A., B., and C. have been cut to expose the color and structure of the Charoite.  Items L. through P. have been both cut, and polished.  The gram weights on the specimens are given only as a measure of size.  Specimens are not priced by the gram.

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ACTINOLITE (Byssolite) with ALBITE
La Valle di Champorcher, Valle d’Aosta (Aosta Valley), Northwestern Italy
This locality is accessible to mineral collectors only during the summer months, as it is in the Alpine region of Northern Italy and snow during the winter months makes prospecting impossible for the Italian mineral collectors.  Byssolite is a varietial name given to the hairy or fibrous form of Actinolite.  The first four specimens listed below all have light gray-green, to pale smoky gray color Byssolite “rabbit fur” fibers on matrix associated with numerous small white Albite (Feldspar) crystals.  Items A. and D. are in natural condition, and items B. and C. each have the base of the matrix sawed flat, so the specimens will stand up in proper orientation for display.  Item E. has a solid coverage of light green Actinolite (Byssolite) hairs / needles standing upright, covering 98% of the surface of the matrix, with just a few tiny white Albite xls. associated.  Also see Actinolite (Amianthus), MI-1203, described on Page 4 of this list.

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