Orford Nickel mine, St-Denis-de-Brompton, Sherbrooke County, Quebec, Canada

12.1 x 7.3 x 4.2 cm

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A mass of parallel orientated Diopside crystals partially covered with micro Grossular crystals which are colored a vivid green with included chromium. In the past, the Garnet crystals from this location where mistaken for Uvarovite and similar specimens in old collections are often labeled as such. Intermixed with the Garnet crystals are a few, black colored Chromite crystals. The Disopside is called Jackstraw because of the resemblance in shape and color to straw. However, on this specimen, a few of the Diopside crystals are colored a bright green by inclusions of chromium. There is also a patch of crudely formed, white colored Calcite crystals which fluoresce under SW. Although the fluorescence is less than vivid, the color is interesting because it varies between a pink and light blue and not commonly encountered in specimens from the location. The specimen is from an old collection from a suburb of Detroit and was in a box wrapped in deteriorating newspapers from the 1960s and appears to be self collected by the former owners.

Condition: Good

Flaws: Many of the Diopside crystals are not terminated.

This mineral is also found in the following galleries: Minerals From Canada | Inosilicates | Garnets | Oxides and Hydroxides | Calcite | Fluorescents | Minerals Priced Between 100 and 199 Dollars