Chrome DiopSIDE or DiopTASE?

Hi Folks,

I’m giving a presentation Friday afternoon, and realize I might not
get a response in time to help, but you can feel free to email me
directly. This might be a question better directed to a mineralogy
list, but thought someone here might be able to help.

I have a mineral specimen and I’m not sure whether it is Chrome
Diopside or Chrome Dioptase. They are bright “emerald green” druzy
crystals on matrix. There is also coating of another mineral on the
matrix, like melted sugar. The crystal formations seem to be
hexagonal, but I can’t be sure, even with a 10x loupe. The druzy
isn’t dense enough to make a good jewelry piece. The matrix is medium
gray/tan with a touch of red, it that’s any help. I was pretty sure
it was Dioptase until research yesterday seemed to indicate there is
an occurrence of Diopside druzy from California that meets this
description.

I took a quickie digital photo of it and popped it up on a Web page,
if you want to see it. They say a picture is worth a thousand
words… I should have shut up a long time ago! :slight_smile:

http://www.carolinaartisans.com/chrome_question.htm

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Dave

Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com

I ahve been involved with the mining of diopside for 13 years ,and
have never seen druzy come out of our Yakutsk or Montana mines…