Katie Douglass Katie Michelau Erin Roy Zircon Zircon

Katie Douglass, Katie Michelau, Erin Roy

Zircon

Zircon Colors: yellow, brown, reddish-brown, orange, light blue, light green, light purple, and pink Hardness on Moh’s scale: 7½ Known for luster and fire Color diversity traced by certain elements

Locations Zircon is found in many places. Here a few places: Australia, France, Nigeria, and USA Gem quality materials are found: Vietnam, Thailand Cambodia

SAPPHIRE

Sapphire Colors: Blue, yellow, green, white, colorless, pink, orange and purple Hardness on Moh’s scale: 9 Desirable because of color, hardness, durability, and luster Most popular of gemstones

Locations A large number of sapphires are found in Montana. • Missouri River • Rock Creek • Dry Cottonwood Creek Montana alone has produced over 190 carats in these three locations *Sapphires are found in other places around the world. Madagascar is another particular location.

OPAL

Opal • Colors: colorless, white, orange, yellow, red, purple, blue, green, gray, black, brown (all base colors); many colors can usually be seen at once • Hardness: 5. 5 – 6. 5 • Known for being the most colorful of all gems • Can form fossils • Mineraloid gel that is deposited at relatively low temperatures

Locations • Forms in rocks • Most common in: – Ironstone – Sandstone – Basalt • Largest fractions are found in: – Australia – Mexico – United States • Also found in England Czech Republic

RUBY

Ruby • Color: bright red, brownish-red, purplishred, dark red • Hardness: 9 • Known for its fiery red color • Desirable for its hardness, durability, luster, and rarity • Transparent large sized rubies are more rare than diamonds

Locations • Comes from: – Africa – Asia – Australia • Mostly found in: – – Sri Lanka Thailand India Burma • Also found in the U. S. in Montana, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina

Beryl • Beryl is a mineral of gemstones • Pure beryl is colorless, but impurities cause the gemstone to be found in a wide range of colors – Green beryl is called Emerald – Light blue to blue-green beryl is called Aquamarine

Beryl gemstones’ geographical location • Emeralds come from Muzo and Chivor, Colombia. Other locations include Minas Gerais, Brazil; the Ural Mountains of Russia; the Cobra and Somerset Mines in Transvaal, South Africa; and the Habatchal in Austria. • In the U. S. , the only place to find emerald deposits is in North Carolina. • Aquamarine comes from many places in Brazil, in the states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Esperito Santo. • Other locations include central Madagascar, Mungo, Baltistan, Pakistan and in Russia. • In the U. S. , Aquamarine is found in the New England states, Colorado, California, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah.

Beryl’s uses • Beryl is the main source of Beryllium which is a tough metal used in alloys for added strength. • Beryl is also used to form many gems. – Emerald is one of the most valuable gems. – Aquamarine is a semi-precious gem and is the most popular light blue gem.

Diamond • Diamond is the most prized of gems, and is also the hardest substance on Earth. • Diamond is the greatest conductor of heat. • Color is graded a letter D through Z from an alphabetical scale:

Diamond’s geographical location • Diamonds are not found in many places. • They are found in South Africa; Namibia, Russia; Australia and Brazil. • In the U. S. , diamond is found in Pike County, Arkansas and in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. • Some diamonds have also been found in Lac de Gras in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Diamond’s uses • Diamond is popular in jewelry. – It is the most expensive gem because of it’s brilliance, hardness and rarity. • But 80% of mined diamonds are used as abrasives, thermal insulators, in optics and in electronics. http: //www. minerals. net/