Yesterday, at a show I was doing, someone showed me a green cabuchon with
Iron pyrite in it that supposedly came from Peru. The green had various
shades. Does anyone out there have an idea what kind of stone
this could be. Thanks Vince, Eugene, OR.
I’ve seen green fluorite with pyrite from china. But am not aware if it
comes also from Peru.
Hi Vince - I don’t know about Peru, but Colorado has some pretty decent
green turquoise with included pyrite. Did they have any guess as to the
hardness?
Jim
I find This very intriguing can you please describe this better! Did it
have bands, multi-minerals (besides the Iron Pyrite) or was It Agate like
or just plain in color.
If the stone is non-transparent with the color of different shades of
green along with Pyrite inclusions, then there is fairly good chance that
the stone is some kind of Turquoise.
Arif Mohiuddin Sikder, Ph.D.
Gem Testing Laboratory
Bangladesh
My best guess is that its a species of turquoise…which often comes in
shades of green. If you’ll send me (off-list) a scan of the stone I’ll be
happy to offer a more informed opinion. The bigger the scan the
better…bandwidth isn’t a problem for me. Hoping to be of assistance, Pete
If it did come from Peru, my guess would be that the stone in question is
chrysacolla. I have cut such stuff in the past and it really is beautiful.
The colors are more vivid than one normally finds in turquoise, and there
are often several shades of green and blue in the same piece, along with
pyrite inclusions.
Lee