I saw a few samples of this at Tucson this year. They were calling it a color change beryl because of strong pleochroism (green through the side). Really impressive stuff, though certainly not cheap.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Meg Berry purchased some in Tucson and provided George Rossman with some samples for analysis. It was determined that the blue beryl is very rich in iron: Fe 2.5-3.6 weight %. In addition to iron, relatively high levels of Cs (1.5-2.3 wt.%). In addition traces of Mn, Rb, S, Zn, Cu, Ga, Ni and V.
I would like to read a report on the geology of the area in which this beryl was found. Shengus-Dassu and Chumar Bakhoor areas of the Gilgit-Baltistan.
The iron is very high, but high Cs beryl isn't super super unusual. Pezzottaite is around 14 wt% so there is still a fair amount of wiggle room there. I wonder if any of the other elements are helping the color along? Probably not, but it is pretty impressive looking stuff
Ressurecting an old thread. but I picked up a specimen on eBay labelled as "Unknown Top Blue Crystals Bunch On Matrix". The crystals were dark blue and were obviously hexagonal. It looked intriguing, so I took a punt on it, suspecting apatite or maybe beryl. The specimen arrived yesterday, and a quick hardness check showed that the dark blue crystals easily scratch glass, so they are beryl. Here's a pic from the auction:
The seller says it's from Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, but I'm not convinced. A friend of mine I was chatting to in Instagram says he has never seen any beryls like that from that part of the world. I suspect it may be from Pakistan. There's a seller on Etsy with a parcel of dark blue beryl crystals, some with matrix attached. Although they are individual small thumbnail specimens, they look similar to this specimen. According to him they are from the 'Shalman Mine' in Pakistan. Shalman itself is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the same province that the specimens featured in the Journal Of Gemmology are from, and which feature in the first post of this thread. I'm therefore wondering if this specimen is geologically related.
Has anyone heard of a new dark blue beryl find in Pakistan recently? Is the 'Shalman Mine' the same location as the mine the etched specimens above were found?
Or maybe I'm completely wrong and this specimen IS from Afghanistan. It's certainly an intriguing puzzle. If anyone here can help it would be much appreciated.
Some similar Beryl pieces from the Shalman mine in KP
Hi Mohmand. Yes those were the crystals I saw online.
However, since chatting to the guy who is involved with the dark blue beryl mine in KPK province, and after taking the specimen to a gem & mineral show yesterday, it does indeed appear to be from a new find of dark blue beryl in Badakhshan province in Afghanistan. If the dark blue colour is due to unusually high levels of Fe, than it may be similar to dark blue beryl found in Yukon, Canada.
Nick, not sure about this beryl coming from Badakhshan. I know of dark corundum (Sapphire) finds from that place, but not of Beryl. The seller in possession of the Beryl that I mentioned says its from Shalman mine, KP.
Anyways, its indeed a unique sort of Beryl given that nothing like these have been found in Afghanistan or Pakistan before.
Nick, not sure about this beryl coming from Badakhshan. I know of dark corundum (Sapphire) finds from that place, but not of Beryl. The seller in possession of the Beryl that I mentioned says its from Shalman mine, KP.
Anyways, its indeed a unique sort of Beryl given that nothing like these have been found in Afghanistan or Pakistan before.
I messaged Mohammed Raza, from Gems Parlor, who is involved with the deep blue aquamarine mine that is mentioned in the GIA article, and he says that this new find is in Badakhshan.
I received a second sample today, and the crystals are a purer blue than the other specimen, as there is less iron staining in them:
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum