WHAT IS THIS? A QUARTZ?

[Neelie]

A friend of my dad found this stone while climbing a hill in a place called Tarbela, in the Hazara district of Pakistan, located in Khaybar Pakhtoonkhwa.

It looks like a big block of salt, but it isn't. I'm posting some pics. Can anyone identify it, I think it is a quartz. It's roughly about 8x 5 x3

I would like to know where to get it evaluated from, possibly some site that can do the evaluating.

 

[Neelie]

I think I better upload some more pics so it can be seen from all angles

 

[RockHugger]

I have come to the detailed analytical conclusion it is a big shiny white rock.

I honestly have no idea from the pictures.

 

[VapidLapid]

Yes Rockhugger, I concur. A big shiny white rock with greyish pink modifier.
And it does look to be just about a quart.

 

[RockHugger]

On my iPad monitor is see the grayish pink now.

Noone can tell what it is by pictures. It could be many things.

 

[breezing]

okay - admit i initially skimmed your post and just looked at the first picture - first thing that came to my mind was halite i was going to suggest licking it.

pala has an overview of pakistan's gemstones http://www.palagems.com/pakistanoverview.htm

nearly impossible to accurately identify off a picture, round up a gemologist or ask a geologist at a local college.

 

[Neelie]

Ok let's suppose it is a quartz, could it hold any value considering it's size, it is rather big and weighs about 2kg.

 

[RockHugger]

If it is quartz, it is highly included, and not worth much at least as gemstones go. I'm not sure if quartz is used commercially. It looks a little like calcite. I think they made drywall out of that stuff.

 

[kenny]

It is the MOTHER of all Pink Diamonds.


(Humor attempt)

 

[Neelie]

Does that mean all of my dad's friend's dreams of becoming a millionare have been dashed to the ground?

 

[Porridge]

Does that mean all of my dad's friend's dreams of becoming a millionare have been dashed to the ground?

Aw! While we can't give any definitive answers from pictures, I am pretty confidant in my guess that this particular find will not make him a millionaire. Sorry!

 

[chrono]

Neelie,
I'm afraid it's definitely not millionaire grade material.

 

[Nashville]

Looks like some sort of quartz.

But we can all pretend it's a gigantic raw diamond!

 

[Neelie]

Oh well, my dad had given his friend the bad news already, but I just wanted the stone to be identified properly. My dad too, believes it's a quartz!

 

[platinumrock]

*lick*

 

[T L]

It could be spodumene too (kunzite), but I'm not sure. No way of knowing without letting a gemologist take a looky.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

It could be spodumene too (kunzite), but I'm not sure. No way of knowing without letting a gemologist take a looky.

I had that suspicion too, as the color seemed to be more intense at different angles. It still looks heavily included and not very saturated. Kunzite should come nearly flawless and nicely saturated to attract a decent premium. The region she described is rich in spodumene. A good test would be a black light. Kunzite from that area has a strong orange/pink fluorescence (depending on short or long wave uv light.)

 

[iLander]

I'm thinking "rockticus biggeus" myself . . .

This reminds me of the story of the guy that went looking for garnet; he went looking all day and didn't come across any. Then when he was sitting down for lunch, he noticed the ground looked odd and felt hard. He realized he was sitting on a giant garnet the size of a boxcar (does anybody else remember this story?).

So, it could happen. It could be a giant, valuable something-or-other. Or not . . .

Any other rocks like that in the area? If it's a deposit of some kind, there should be pebbles too, shouldn't there?

 

[Barrett]

Big chunk of quartz. Classic quartz growth pattern in top pic is dead giveaway

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Big chunk of quartz. Classic quartz growth pattern in top pic is dead giveaway

AmGuy! So glad to see you back! I hope things are better?

 

[Neelie]

Thanks all you guys, but it seems it has all boiled down to the quartz, I had origanally thought it was.

My dad's friend has given up on it already!

 

[movie zombie]

given up on it from the $ angle only, i hope. it is a lovely junk and deserving to be placed on a mantle or in the garden.

MoZo

 

[desertgem]

Quartz has no cleavage planes whereas Kunzite has strong cleavage ( almost every cutter has a tale of woe). Looking at the edges where broken ( or maybe use a small pointed tool to chip), Quartz will fracture with out showing a flat plane, but Kunzite will. When I look at it and ignore the size, Kunzite pops first into my mind as I was looking a parcel of kunzite from that area, and it does come rather large. But not positive from a photo.

Jim

 

[Neelie]

Uh oh! should have thought of the mantle or garden idea first. He's already given it away.

Oh well, lets hope the person who now has it will use it for a similar purpose.

 

[movie zombie]

oops: junk was supposed to be chunck! again, its a lovely chunk and i'm sorry he won't get to see it in his garden......

MoZo

 

[Barrett]

It's about as far away as one can get from a spodumene (kunzite) crystal...the dead giveaway is the whole backside which is all conchoidal fractures. Then, of course, the growth lines running parallel to the a/b and not parallel to the c like on spodumene. The only reason OP's dad's friend even picked it up was the large euhedral face on the front side..if not for that he would have stepped right over it.

 

[Barrett]

Here is a quartz piece I have... growth lines parallel to the a/b like in the pic I drew on above

 

[Neelie]

Here is a quartz piece I have... growth lines parallel to the a/b like in the pic I drew on above

Thanks for all the info and the drawings, it does help in understanding the growth pattern of a quartz much better.
Much of the information you have given is similar to what I read in a book my brother has.