Bessemer City Quarry Unknown

[pegmatite]

I could use some help identifying the unknown brown mineral associated with this fluorapatite crystal from the Bessemer City Quarry in North Carolina. Sorry the photo isn't better, but it's the best my camera will do given the small size of the specimen. Thanks for your ideas.



Steve

[lauriesrocks]

It could be fairfieldite, but without greater magnification, it would be nearly impossible to be sure. Another possibility would be albite with a brown coating.

[pegmatite]

Here's a little sharper photo at a slightly better angle. There is clear albite associated with the fluorapatite, but the brown appears to be a phosphate. Looks just like a shelf fungus you'd see growing on the side of a tree. Color and luster remind me a lot of hydroxylherderite. Thanks for looking.



Steve

[lauriesrocks]

With the better pics it looks even more likely to be fairfieldite. Check for fluorescence. If it is not fluorescent, it would rule out eucryptite. Hydroxl-herderite does occur at Foote, and thus possibly at LCA, but it is pale yellow to greenish white, primarily twinned, and prismatic, so I would rule that out. Messilite is an unlikely possibility. If you can show it to Jason Smith, the worlds foremost authority of Foote/LCA minerals, he could give you a positive ID. He lives near Gastonia. If you could get a photo under the microscope I might could help you better.