[Rockhounds] Speaking of garnets...

[Lanny]

Can't help it, I have to jump in here. Someone has been providing Don 
with incorrect information.

The star garnets occur over a large area (an area of 35-40 square 
miles) of which Emerald Creek is only the largest deposit and the most 
known. There are also star garnets on Purdue Creek near Bovill, about 8 
miles to the south, and in a few small drainages between these two 
areas. There is (maybe was) an abundance of them in a small area off 
Cat's Spur Creek, about 3 miles south of Clarkia (about 7 miles SE of 
the main area on Emerald Creek, an incredible deposit with interesting 
stories). There also are star garnets on Bechtel Butte off the SE 
corner of the Emerald Creek area.

To the east, there are some on tributaries of Glover Creek and 
Floodwood Creek and other drainages (in the region southerly of 
Freezeout Mountain). I was told that some of the crystals mined further 
south on the main fork of the Clearwater River also produced stars.

Actually, the garnets are not scarce, they are easy to find at rock 
shows in the northwest. Also, they were abundant as sharp crystals, and 
still fairly easy to obtain as sharp crystals. I've heard various 
statements of the percentage that were stars from the Emerald Creek 
area that ranged from about half to more than three fourths and this 
included the various crystal types (rounded, sharp, surface patterned, 
etc.). From the Cat's Spur Creek deposit all the crystals produce 
stars.

I would also like to correct (again) this ridiculous story that the 
Forest Service continues to tell, that they only occur in Emerald Creek 
and India. They also occur in the Sloan Creek area of Snohomish County, 
Washington. This seems to be a difficult piece of misinformation that I 
couldn't even purge from the system when I worked for them!

  An interesting bit of information is that nearly all the garnet 
locations (star garnet and those that are facet quality) in the region, 
at least all of those well known to the rockhound community, are on 
National Forest acquired lands. Acquired lands (by statute) are not 
open to mineral entry, thus it is illegal to go out and dig garnets 
without a permit on these lands.

I'm contacting Pete off the list to offer the samples he requests.

Regards,

Lanny


On Oct 12, 2007, at 8:23 AM, DonH wrote:

> R. Peter Richards wrote:
>> Speaking of garnets, does anyone have iridescent and/or star garnet  
>> for trade or sale?  I believe they come from Montana or possibly  
>> Idaho, perhaps from more than one place.  I am interested in them  
>> from the standpoint of a crystal collection and an interest in  
>> oriented inclusions, not for lapidary use.  I'd like a well-formed  
>> crystal, and maybe some broken pieces for thin section work.
>
> Hi Pete,
>
> Just for everyone's edification, the star garnets are known from one 
> small area in northern Idaho, and a locality in India.
>
> Like Oregon sunstone, these are hard to find free or cheap, but I'll 
> see what I can do (more off-list).  They are rarely euhedral, in the 
> strict sense of the word.
>
> Don
>
>
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