Andradite, Mary Kathleen Mine, Queensland

Mineral Matters #761

Even though the July issue of the Monthly Mineral Chronicles has only recently been published, there is no rest for the wicked! 😆

Work on the next issue is already underway.

The mineral I have selected for the Mineral Snippet in the next issue is andradite, a calcium iron garnet. And spoiler alert! Colour is not a definitive identification property, and can’t be relied on to distinguish from certain other garnet species.

The one below is a good example. Green, orange and brown, all on the one specimen. Now while there may be some chemical differences between each, they are all predominantly andradite (that is, more than 50% andradite).

Below: Andradite, Mary Kathleen Mine, Cloncurry, Queensland. Width of view 3.5mm.