My Etsy Shop

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Apatite is one of my favorite minerals.  It occurs in a wide range of colors, blues, greens,pinks, yellows and some not so lovely shades of brown and red.  Because of its lovely colors and clarity it is commonly faceted for jewelry.  It is not particularly hard (5 on Mohs scale) so if you are going to use it in jewelry use it for earrings or pendants (above the waist jewelry).

We have field collected apatite in Ontario and Quebec.  If you are nearby an apatite fee collecting area give it a try as it is an easy mineral to collect and generally pretty, even in the less spectacular colors.  In the right mine or pit you could easily come away with a nice 3 or 4 inch crystal, the trick is taking it out in the matrix.

Here is an apatite from Cerro De Mercado Iron Mine, Durango, Mexico, a famous and productive location for yellow to yellowish green gemmy apatites. Tomorrow I will show you a very similar apatite from Utah.




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