THE MINERAL GASPEITE

  • Chemistry: (Ni, Mg, Fe)CO3, Nickel Magnesium Iron Carbonate
  • Class: Carbonate
  • Group: Calcite
  • Uses: As an ornamental stone and as mineral specimens.
  • Specimens

Gaspeite is considered a rare mineral, being found in only a few localities, but it is becoming a popular mineral in the semi-precious stone markets. It is being used as a cabochon in sterling silver jewelry with such notable minerals and material as turquoise, malachite, azurite, onyx and coral. Gaspeite's light green, almost apple green color is quite unique and not hard to mistake. It accents the banded greens of malachite and the blue green of turquoise. Carved material is generally homogenous, but it may contain portions of its brownish host rock which may give it a distinctive character.

Gaspeite is found as a secondary mineral around nickel sulfide deposits. It was thought of as just a gangue mineral by miners when it was encountered and usually placed in the mines dumps or tailings. A gangue mineral is a mineral that probably contains the ore metal, but its chemistry is such that processing it is either impossible or unprofitable. Such was the case with gaspeite despite being rich in nickel. Of course lapidary craftsmen have a different view of gaspeite's profitability! Gaspeite is named for its type locality of Gaspe' Peninsula, Lemieux Township, Gaspe'-ouest County, Quebec, Canada, but the best material of late is coming from North of Perth, Australia.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Color is a pale green to apple green.
  • Luster is vitreous to dull.
  • Transparency: Crystals are usually translucent, massive material is opaque.
  • Crystal System is trigonal; bar 3 2/m.
  • Crystal Habits include rhombohedrons and scalenohedrons, but crystals are very rare. More commonly found massive.
  • Cleavage is perfect in 3 directions forming rhombohedrons.
  • Fracture is uneven.
  • Hardness is 4.5 - 5.
  • Specific Gravity is 3.7 (somewhat heavy for a translucent mineral).
  • Streak is yellowish green.
  • Other Characteristics: Effervesces slightly in hydrochloric acid.
  • Associated Minerals include millerite, pentlandite, skutterudite, annabergite and other nickel minerals.
  • Notable Occurrences include the type locality of Gaspe' Peninsula, Lemieux Township, Gaspe'-ouest County, Quebec and Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and a new source of carvable material from Kambalda and Widgie Mooltha which is North of Perth, Australia.
  • Best Field Indicators are color, locality, reaction to acids, cleavage and density.
GASPEITE specimens:
(hover for more info)
GASPEITE specimen gas-1
$ 48.00
Dims:2.4x1.4x1.4" (6.0x3.6x3.5 cm)
Wt: 2.2oz. (61g)
Carr Boyd Mine, Western Australia, Australia
The top of this specimen is scattered with minute clusters and crusts of gaspeite crystals. They are pale green in color, but they are so tiny that even with a loupe the hexagonal form cannot be verified. The matrix of this specimen appears to be a limonite/goethite mix. There is no damage to this specimen.
no photo
gas-1 ($ 48.00)
Carr Boyd Mine, Western Australia, Australia
GASPEITE specimen gas-2
$ 95.00
Dims: " (cm)
Wt: oz. (g)
Widgiemooltha, Western Australia
This gaspeite specimen is perfect for a lapidairist, as the gaspeite is a perfect yellow-green, and it is dense with few inclusions. The vein of gaspeite is generally about 10mm thick, tapering up to 13mm at one end, and down to 7mm at the other. One corner of the specimen (perhaps 25% of the volume) is lower quality material, and both faces of the specimen are coated with a brown host rock with unidentified colorless transparent crystals - they don't look like the usual quartz or calcite, but more like gypsum or barite.
no photo
gas-2 ($ 95.00)
Widgiemooltha, Western Australia
GASPEITE specimen gas-3
$ 53.00
Dims: 2.72x1.10x0.83" (6.9x2.8x2.1cm)
Wt: 1.48oz. (41.8g)
Widgiemooltha, Western Australia
Except for a few crusts and crystals of an unidentified brown mineral, and a small amount of a beige mineral, this specimen is all gaspeite. Its color is a unique pale green, and the gaspeite has no crystalline form at all. It is relatively pure, although there are two shades of green, a pure gaspeite green, and that green with a touch of brown mixed in.
no photo
gas-3 ($ 53.00)
Widgiemooltha, Western Australia

 


Copyright ©1995-2023 by Amethyst Galleries, Inc.