[Jewelry making - Article 00824] - Re: [Orchid] New Beryl from Madagascar

[Christopher L. Johnston]

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    As a follow-up to Steve Greens excellent comments on the new
    Madagascar beryl the following is also known about this new material. 

    It has an extraordinarily high level of molecular cesium,
    sufficiently high that it may in fact be a new species. Work is
    underway in a number of labs to try and determine if the new material
    is more then simply a "strange" morganite.  There is a rare scandium
    analog of beryl called bazzite characterized by its intense deep blue
    color, far more reminiscent of sapphire then aquamarine. It is the
    fairly common presence of cesium and scandium in aquamarine that
    prevent it from being universally nuked. Both scandium and cesium
    produce very nasty isotopes when exposed to hard radiation. So for
    there to be a cesium analog of beryl is not a big surprise, the
    cesium atom will fit nicely in the lattice. I agree completely with
    Steve that the material is not a red beryl equivalent either in
    physical appearance or in crystallographic terms.  I would only add
    that there were reports of crystals or crystal fragments in the 1/2kg
    range at Tucson. 

    If in fact it is a new species the discovery of a new gem of this
    caliber in 2003 is as startling as it is significant. 

Chris Johnston
Johnston-Namibia C.C.
PO Box 354 ~ Omaruru ~ Namibia
T/264-64-57-0303 F-264-64-57-0548

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