#topax

Fiery Topaz (Topaza pyra), males, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, found in NW South America

The last match of round one pits a widely beloved gem vs a widely used ore!

https://www.mineralcup.org/2024/vote/r1m16

TOPAZ

This hard silicate has claimed the place of one birthstone and two state minerals!

Name: From Greek τόπᾰζος, "green gem, chrysolite", which might be related to either τοπάζω, "to guess at", from the obscurity of the island where the ancient stone was mined, or to Sanskrit तपस्, tapas, "heat".

Bling: A strongly crystalline gem that comes in shades of orange (and more rarely, pinks or blues). Can also be polished until slippery!

Uses: Used as an abrasive and also an aid in steel smelting. Also gemstones.

Team Lick: Safe, but boring.

Didier Descouens. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

SPODUMENE

Double pyroxenes in this year's cup! This mineral's rainbow colors give way to valuable cinders.

Name: From Greek for "burnt to ashes", referring to its ash-grey color when refined.

Bling: A strong color-changer on top of its many base color options - changes color depending on the angle or light.

Uses: Source of lithium, which needs to be extracted by roasting! Also gemstones.

Team Lick: Safe, but boring. Research is ongoing on the hazards of spodumene dust, so don't inhale.

Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

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Purple topaz

In a recent post describing the mineral topaz (see http://on.fb.me/1Ma3wxD) I mentioned as an aside that there was a rare purple variety to complement the more common imperial (pinky orange), yellow, colourless and blue material in the market. This 3.0 x 1.2 x 0.8 cm example was mined from a famous pocket in the mid 1980's that came from (like much of the best imperial topaz) Ouro Preto, in that ever giving fount of lovely crystals, the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Loz