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Let's Rock => Rockhounding Tips, Maps, Trips Etc. => Topic started by: Itsandbits on November 03, 2014, 12:36:11 PM

Title: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Itsandbits on November 03, 2014, 12:36:11 PM: I cut this this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see the inside variations of colour; about 4kgs.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n9JtW8nP1o8/VFfjUysmXPI/AAAAAAAAL4o/Zi7GBrL8yHg/w552-h735-no/IMG_20141103_095718.jpg)
I haven't taken a slice off this yet but it seems to be fairly translucent too.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fuZpChhoJb8/VFfjXA_y95I/AAAAAAAAL40/0enK33DnzSY/w980-h735-no/IMG_20141103_095735.jpg)
nice tight grained material; the saw cut finish in the first picture shows good shine
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JtNZzl4maro/VFfjOQQd74I/AAAAAAAAL4E/rgurYNtiZUM/w980-h735-no/IMG_20141103_095806.jpg)
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Minkos61 on November 03, 2014, 01:21:27 PM: Sweet looking material Lloyd.
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Enchantra on November 03, 2014, 01:44:31 PM: Gorgeous! That's some nice color variation!
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Itsandbits on November 03, 2014, 02:23:15 PM: Thanks all; did you notice the guy in the blue shirt sitting in a canoe going through some whitewater rapids? LOL I just noticed it myself
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Twitch on November 04, 2014, 04:26:43 AM: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Bentiron on November 04, 2014, 02:54:53 PM: "mutton fat" what an appetizing name for a rock, "Hey, how's your mutton fat doing today?". Real catchy name for sure. Actually not a bad looking stone but what a name, my wife is laughing about. :laughing6:
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Itsandbits on November 04, 2014, 05:17:08 PM: sorry, not my name LOL, blame it on the Chinese LOL, they love the stuff
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: wampidy on November 04, 2014, 08:19:08 PM: Okay, I got lost in the shuffle I guess and am not sure about the sillimanite and the connection to jade. I was thinking that sillimanite was one of the minerals that make up jade. Where have I gone wrong here?
Jim
Title: Re: mutton fat Sillimanite; new block of material
Post by: Itsandbits on November 04, 2014, 11:33:43 PM: Quote from: wampidy on November 04, 2014, 08:19:08 PM
Okay, I got lost in the shuffle I guess and am not sure about the sillimanite and the connection to jade. I was thinking that sillimanite was one of the minerals that make up jade. Where have I gone wrong here?
Jim
I guess it goes back to my original post calling it mutton fat nephrite but Frank corrected me and informed me that it is "sillimanite", a material most call mutton fat jade. It has a lot of the same properties of nephrite but is a little heavier and easier to polish. India is a hotspot for jewelry grade catseye material in many different colours and transparency, I found an area in the last slab that looks like it may have catseye but need to cab it and see if I can get the grain right.