quartz

Quartz Mineral Group: SILICATES
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Quartz is the most common mineral found in rocks. Quartz is a very common mineral. The quartz family is very large with a large variety of gemstone material. These quartzes are crystalline. Quartz goes by many common names such as: amethyst, citrine, Herkimer diamonds, massive quartz, milky quartz, puddingstone, smoky quartz, rock crystal, rose quartz, rutilated quartz, tiger's eye. Chalcedony is form of cryptocrystalline quartz that includes *agate,* *bloodstone, chert, onyx* and *jasper*. Quartz is very important in industry for making gauges, oscillators, resonators and watches. Quartz crystals are strongly piezoelectric, becoming polarized with a negative charge on one end and a positive charge on the other when subjected to pressure. They will vibrate if an alternating electric current is applied to them.
QUARTZ CRYSTALS Clear quartz crystals are what most people think of when they think of a crystal. When quartz is clear, it has also been called rock crystal.
SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Blackwell Tiff Mine, Bonne Terre, Missouri, USA
SPECIMEN: Red Quartz Crystals SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Nova Scotia, CANADA	SPECIMEN: Quartz with Pyrite & Aragonite SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Creswell Mine, Stanley, Ontario, CANADA
MASSIVE QUARTZ Most quartz found on the earth's crust is massive - namely it is not in crystal form. Quartz is one of the most common rock-building minerals. It is most often found in large massive chunks. When quartz is massive, it is a white, milky color. It is also sometimes called milky quartz. This quartz sample is milky white with some glassy portions. Quartz is very hard and very common. Because it is hard, it will scratch many rocks. Many rocks have quartz in them and that is why they are hard. Quartz breaks with very sharp edges that easily scratch people and things.	SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Quadville, Ontario, CANADA
RUTILATED QUARTZ This is a polished quartz sphere. When clear quartz has the fine needle-shaped crystals of rutile in it, it is called rutilated quartz.
QUARTZ GEODES ORIGIN: Kentucky, USA This geode half is lined with clear quartz crystal tips, or terminations. They sparkle. The geode “skin” is a smooth, light gray rock.	The word crystal is derived from a Greek word meaning clear ice.
ROSE QUARTZ	Rose Quartz is pink in color, probably caused by trace amounts of manganese or titanium. The Ancients believed that Rose Quartz helped women have beautiful complexions and prevented wrinkles. It was also believed to open a person's heart, so that person might receive love and give love more easily.
SMOKY QUARTZ	Smoky quartz Polished smoky quartz carving - a hand holding a "crystal ball".
HERKIMER DIAMOND ORIGIN: Herkimer, New York, USA	Herkimer Diamond Perfectly formed, very hard, clear, gem-like quartz crystal in vug in gray rock matrix. “Herkimer diamonds” look like they have been cut & polished but they form naturally in holes inside rocks in the area near the town of Herkimer, New York.	Herkimer diamonds are not really diamonds. They are actually doubly terminated quartz crystals. They are called diamonds because they come out of the host rock completely formed & look like they have been cut & polished like a diamond.
TIGER'S EYE ORIGIN: SOUTH AFRICA Polished red tiger's eye	Tiger’s Eye Tiger’s Eye is a quartz that contains fibers of crocidolite which has altered to a yellow color. The fibers give the specimen it’s distinctive glowing chatoyancy. Polished gold tiger's eye	This golden brown chatoyant stone has been tumbled for weeks to give it its slick and shiny surface. Tiger's eye is used mainly for jewelry-making and ornamentation. It is formed by the alteration of crocidolite and consists essentially of quartz colored by iron oxide. origin: South Africa
CHALCEDONY also known as Cryptocrystalline Quartz SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Kentucky, USA The hollow spherical geode section is partially filled in on the inside with smooth, beige, small botryoidal chalcedony. It looks like rounded gray peas.	Chalcedony can be opaque, translucent or transparent. It comes in many colors and forms. Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline quartz. It has crystals so small that a microscope is needed to see the crystal structure. The following are some of the common semi-precious gemstones that are cryptocrystalline quartz. Agate Aventurine Bloodstone Carnelian (cornelian) Chalcedony Chert Chrysoprase Flint Jasper Onyx Opals Petrified Wood Thunder Eggs	Chalcedony is often found in geodes. Its crystal habit, or growth pattern is often botryoidal.
JASPER SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Lake Superior, Ontario, CANADA Banded Jasper The bright red of jasper makes it easy to identify. This specimen is dramatically layered. It has 2 flat, cut surfaces with a slight polish.	SPECIMEN ORIGIN: PANAMA Jasper Nodule This creamy yellow-orange, hard jasper nodule shows its waxy luster in areas where the rough “skin” has been broken off. It is translucent when sliced thin but opaque when in a large chunk.	SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Nova Scotia, CANADA Jasper Pebble This smooth, blocky, opaque beach pebble has reddish brown jasper sandwiched between layers of other rocks.
Jasper banded with Magnetite	Jasper & Magnetite pebbles	Jasper banded with Magnetite
PUDDINGSTONE
BLOODSTONE or HELIOTROPE SPECIMEN ORIGIN: BRAZIL	Bloodstone got its name because the red spots caused by iron oxides look like drops of blood as they appear on a dark green background.
CHERT SPECIMEN ORIGIN: Lafarge Quarry, Dundas, Ontario, CANADA	This very hard striped rock is found in nodules or lenses in limestone. It takes a very high polish and was used by First Nation people in southern Ontario to make pipes with.
ONYX Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz