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Competition From Other Diamond Simulants
Strontium titanate does not have the hardness and toughness of diamond, and that was a problem. It has a hardness of 5.5 — low enough that contact with many common objects could result in a scratch or a damaged facet edge. This deficiency allowed newly developed simulants a place in the market. Starting in the…
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The Rise and Decline of Strontium Titanate
The impressive fire of strontium titanate made the stone a rapid success in the jewelry trade. People loved the intense fire and the lower price compared to diamond, and many purchased strontium titanate instead of diamond. Many people bought it just because they loved its appearance. Savvy merchants invented exotic trade names for strontium titanate…
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What is Strontium Titanate?
Strontium Titanate is a man-made material with a chemical composition of SrTiO3. It grabbed public attention in the early 1950s as a diamond simulant – a material that has an appearance that is very much like diamond but has a different composition and/or crystal structure. When cut and polished like a diamond, strontium titanate has a very…
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Demand for Spodumene
The demand for spodumene is dependent upon the use of lithium in manufacturing. In the past, most lithium compounds and minerals were used to produce ceramics, glass, aluminum alloys, and high-temperature grease. However, in the last two decades an exploding demand for rechargeable batteries to power vehicles, cell phones, tablet computers, cameras, music players, GPS…
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Treatment of Gem-Quality Spodumene
Some gem-quality spodumene will develop a richer color when heated or irradiated. These procedures have been applied to many gems that enter the marketplace. Some of these will fade over time when exposed to direct sunlight. Valuable spodumene gems of any color should be stored away from direct light.
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Spodumene as a Gemstone
Spodumene sometimes occurs in transparent crystals in pastel shades of pink, purple, green, and yellow. These have been cut into gemstones that are prized by collectors. However, their use in jewelry is limited to pieces that will be subject to limited abuse because of spodumene’s perfect cleavage. Kunzite Pink to lilac specimens of gem-quality spodumene are highly…
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Spodumene as an Ore of Lithium
Spodumene once served as the most important ore of lithium metal. It was very costly to liberate lithium from the silicate mineral; however, lithium refined from spodumene was of very high purity. In the late 1900s, subsurface brines with high concentrations of lithium were developed in Argentina, Chile, China and other locations. These brines could be pumped to the…
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Enormous Crystals
Spodumene often occurs in extremely large crystals. One of the earliest accounts of large spodumene crystals is from the Etta Mines, Black Hills, Pennington County, South Dakota. The United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 610 reports: “The crystals are often of enormous size. In the Etta Mine, where they are best exposed both in the open…
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What is Spodumene?
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral that is typically found in lithium-rich pegmatites. It is usually associated with other lithium minerals such as lepidolite, eucryptite, and petalite. Spodumene has a chemical composition of LiAlSi2O6 but small amounts of sodium sometimes substitute for lithium. Throughout most of the 20th century, spodumene was the most important ore of lithium metal. Lithium brines discovered in South America and…
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Mexican and Other Fire Opal Localities
Mexico has been the world’s primary source of fire opal for nearly 100 years. The Mexican fire opal deposits produce significant amounts of transparent to translucent, bright orange to orange-red material. Some of the transparent material is faceted, mounted in commercial jewelry, and described as “tangerine opal” because of its color. In the 1990s, Ethiopia became…