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[sealdaddy]

This is some material given to me by a friend working in Newfoundland that I'm making a bead out of.
The quartzy looking part polishes nicely, but the imbedded green "mud" gets dug out badly with all polishing media.
I had thought the green was granite, but is FAR too soft...what mineral can it be?
Any suggestions on how to get this piece looking decent?

thanks, y'all~

[Itsandbits]

sorry can't help you Don..... but mud is mud .....
:)

[sealdaddy]

sorry can't help you Don..... but mud is mud .....
:)

I dont think it's actually mud, just soft material that is resisting being polished.
Maybe Frank will chime in and tell why such soft material can infuse quartz in patterns like those.

[lithicbeads]

I suspect it was an epidote vein that has lost much of it's iron or it may also have been a feldspar that gained iron ( that green would be less than 1.8 % iron ) as it was deteriorating and is now  sericite , equivalent to clay. Minerals can move freely through solid rock as the interces between the mineral crystals are very large in comparison to the atoms of elements that can be suspended in aqueous solutions with those interces.

[sealdaddy]

I suspect it was an epidote vein that has lost much of it's iron or it may also have been a feldspar that gained iron ( that green would be less than 1.8 % iron ) as it was deteriorating and is now  sericite , equivalent to clay. Minerals can move freely through solid rock as the interces between the mineral crystals are very large in comparison to the atoms of elements that can be suspended in aqueous solutions with those interces.

Thanks, professor.
Yep...that's about what it seems like, hard clay.

[Itsandbits]

give it a little resin "infusion", then finish it :)

[sealdaddy]

give it a little resin "infusion", then finish it :)

What type would you recommend?
Something polishable, right?

[kenny]

Don I believe that what you have there is chlorite inclusions in quartz in fact pretty positive that is the case.

[sealdaddy]

Don I believe that what you have there is chlorite inclusions in quartz in fact pretty positive that is the case.

I looked that up, and I thi k you are right. Mohs 2 dull moss green material that can be seen as inclusion s in quartz, as phantom growths.
I may try stabizing it to continue polishing. It is in a nice looking (otherwise) bead that might resemble moss agate, if I can do it correctly.
Thanks for the info, friend.