May I post pictures of my rough

[alexdp4]

I picked up this rough in West africa in a river and I have since sent it to GIA for evaluation, once I returned back to USA. We think its Garnet, if its ok with the rules of this board my I post some pictures?

I hope to hear from GIA this week, but i was wondering if any experts could eye it.

 

[alexdp4]

I am asking permission, because last time I posted on another website and they banned me. It was mean and I still to this date dont know why. So I am ready to post the rough once a Mod says ok.

 

[blithesome71]

Hmmm I'm not a Mod but I think it's ok to post some photos of your rough gem/stone here in this thread

 

[alexdp4]

Here are the first 4 pictures there are 20 in total of the better quality stones all are vibrant orange

 

[alexdp4]

next 4

 

[alexdp4]

next 4 - 3 of the pics were one stone

 

[alexdp4]

next pics

 

[alexdp4]

almost finished

 

[alexdp4]

Thats all of the pictures, look forward to feedback, sorry my camera is not very good.

 

[alexdp4]

few previous pictures

 

[Barrett]

Some of those look like agate or carnelian to me..others look some what like spess garnet

 

[alexdp4]

Barret, please explain why you think they are agate or carnelian?

Thank you very much

 

[blithesome71]

The first photo reminds me of, hmmm, an orange brain?

Yeah those last photos look like carnelian/brownish orange agate

 

[Pandora II]

Some of those look like agate or carnelian to me..others look some what like spess garnet

Ditto.

The one that looks like it has a darker brown coating on it looks particularly like an agate to me.

Garnet just doesn't look like that.

Unfortunately, none of the stones show any crystal faces so it's pretty much impossible to say anything more than that they are an orange material of some sort without having them in hand. They really could be anything.

There's a fair amount of salting that can go on at mines. Literally every trick in the book goes on - Tibetan Andesine anyone - and the closer you get to the source the more likely you are to encounter synthetics.

Do let us know what GIA come back with.

 

[VapidLapid]

Four east African garnets and a carnelian

 

[alexdp4]

based on these pictures you just posted then they look more like garnet than carnelian, but its possible they are carnelian. I personally collected them in a river in Nigeria on a trip we did for some gold exploration.

I would say that the gems are a water warn and tumbled by nature.

 

[alexdp4]

do garnets have bands?

 

[alexdp4]

I guess they do have bands

Most garnets are zoned; in fact only rarely are they not zoned. But the zoning may not be visually obvious. The most common way in which garnets form is through metamorphism of sedimentary rocks. The core of the garnet, which grows first, will have one chemical composition. As it grows the composition of each layer of the garnet changes as the garnet gets larger. Geologists who analyze garnets using an electron microprobe are able to perform chemical analysis of spots as small as one micron (one thousandth of a millimeter!!). With that technique they are able to make a chemical map of the garnet by analyzing dozens or even hundreds of spots on a single crystal. Commonly these analyses reveal that the garnets (usually amandine) have cores rich in magnesium and rims rich in iron. Some garnets do have visible color bands, but others require microprobe analysis to “see” the zoning.

http://www.gamineral.org/zoning_in_minerals.html

 

[VapidLapid]

Bearing in mind that all we have to go on is your pictures, I have to say I am firmly in the carnelian camp, especially the picture called orange red 1.jpg

 

[alexdp4]

ok, but would a cornelian have a fire intense inside like that stone?

I plan on cutting it, its very gemmy. I thought Cornelain was blocky?

I would also add that on this stone its a brownish skin, but underneath is gem. it has a one cm of this skin, then gem.

 

[alexdp4]

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to comment on these not so great photos. I appreciate your feedback and I may ask a lot of questions, but I am very appreciative.

 

[Barrett]

You see how many of your pics look just like the carnelian in Vapids pic(the very back stone).
Great pics, by the way Vapid..well done in comparing
What country did you find them in?

 

[alexdp4]

Barret, I picked them up in Nigeria.

 

[alexdp4]

I am using a camera phone, I am sure those other pictures were taken with a high end camera.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Hi Alex! Could you post some pictures of the rough on a piece of white paper but in ordinary light (without back light or the flashlight)? Thanks!

 

[Michael_E]

The difference between carnelian and garnet are pretty dramatic. Carnelian has a fairly low refractive index and is never water clear. Garnet on the other hand, has a substantially higher refractive index and only has significant value if it is water clear and facetable. The bottom line as far as value is that if the stone is not water clear and facetable, then you may as well treat it as a carnelian since the values of either stone in a translucent grade are similar. I would certainly have someone with the means to test the R.I. of the stone do so, just so that you can be sure of what you have.

 

[alexdp4]

ok, no backlighting on a sheet of white paper.

I sent most of the stones to GIA to have the RI checked as well.

 

[Pandora II]

Most of them look like carnelian to me.

 

[lelser]

Ditto. I see a LOT of rough garnet and this is probably not facet grade regardless of ID. Tough to tell from photos, though.

Cheers,

Lisa
www.lisaelser.com

 

[Barrett]

That would be carnelian. Note the greasy smooth texture. Go to wikipedia(carnelian) and the very first pic on the right..the left specimen in that pic looks like it was taken from your latest photos(the round one)..with little more light added to it

amguy