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Post by radio on Mar 19, 2017 7:55:24 GMT -5
We recently had a dump truck load of crushed limestone spread on our driveway and as I was walking back from the mailbox the other day, a sparkly rock caught my eye. Expecting a piece of Quartz, I picked it up and was surprised to see a distinct purple coloration in the stone! The quarry this limestone came from is less than 20 miles from my house and to my knowledge, there has been nothing reported in South West Missouri that resembles Amethyst. This is harder than calcite, but not as hard as quartz, so I'm stumped. It has cleavage planes similar to Calcite and the "crust" on the one side appears to be a milky quartz.The piece is about 1 1/2 X 1 inch. The color in the stone is a bit more vivid than the pic captured, but is not a deep Purple like we normally associate with Amethyst. I just may have to see if I can hound their piles of crushed rock
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Post by captbob on Mar 19, 2017 8:24:50 GMT -5
Plenty of purples in the fluorite world.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 19, 2017 9:17:36 GMT -5
The color reminds me of kunzite.
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Post by radio on Mar 19, 2017 9:38:49 GMT -5
I would estimate the hardness at a 6. Well above Flourite and Calcite and below Quartz, although it is definitely associated with Quartz which is what the milky colored skin is on the left of the piece. I am S.E of Joplin, Mo which is a mining district where many gorgeous Calcite specimens have been found, but all my searches show nothing with Purple coloration. If I recall the Mohs scale correctly, Calcite is about a 3 and this is substantially harder than that.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 19, 2017 11:04:54 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2017 13:40:44 GMT -5
The color reminds me of kunzite. Kunzite/Spodumene Arlen have a look!
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Post by radio on Mar 19, 2017 15:17:41 GMT -5
Much harder than Flourite. Rockjunquie and Shotgunner may be on to something with the Kunzite/Spodumene thing. It seems to be a bit softer than the 6.5-7 those are listed at though. Missouri Geologist does not even list Stone Co where I live, nor the neighboring Counties of Barry or Taney. The City of Joplin in Jasper Co, part of the Tri state mining district is rich in all sorts of minerals though. It lies to my Northwest about 50-60 miles as the crow flies, so it is not out of the question some of those things are in this area, but just never documented. some interesting reading here: www.missourigeologists.org/BobBeste'sMineralLocationGuide/Min%20Loc2_2014.pdf for other locations, where the "Min%20Loc2_2014.pdf, simply highlight and delete the "2" after "Loc2"and type in 1,3 or 4, hit "enter and it will take you to the other States
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Post by spiceman on Mar 19, 2017 16:11:40 GMT -5
The Fluorite is my guess. I have found fluorite in lime stone just like your showing. If it is heated the purple might became darker. Do a google search on fluorite. Just a try.
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Post by radio on Mar 19, 2017 16:37:47 GMT -5
The Fluorite is my guess. I have found fluorite in lime stone just like your showing. If it is heated the purple might became darker. Do a google search on fluorite. Just a try. Much harder than Flourite. Roughly a 6 on the Mohs and Flourite is listed as 4
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2017 16:49:30 GMT -5
I'm onto nothing. It's Tela that nailed it.
I'm in the world of near zero doubt based upon images on like. Fractures and crystal shapes all similar.
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