Since Scott deleted the post about anime nudes I guess I'll have to discuss something else!

I thought about placing these photos under the North Carolina by county topic, but I wanted all the photos to be seen without jumping from one topic to another.  I will eventually get these photos posted in the NC county from which they came.



I wanted to share photos of my small collection of North Carolina Zoisite var. Thulite with you.  This mineral has been a favorite of mine since 1963 when I saw my first specimen. 

Zoisite, and its pink variety thulite, found in the Spruce Pine District have recently been discovered to be Clinozoisite and var. Clinothulite through extensive analyses (see Mindat.com).  I still vacillate between the two (hard to break old habits) when I talk about them.

The following photos are arranged by the year I acquired the specimens.  The specimen number refers to the year acquired and the numerical sequence it was obtained.  I have combined two photos into one to show the specimen's display side and reverse side or closeup view.




No. 1963.028       
Deer Park Mine No. 2, Penland, Mitchell Co., NC
Specimen:    2.24 x 1.57 x 0.78 inches   




No. 1988.017
Lawson Mine, Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., NC      
Specimen:    2.8 x 1.9 x 1.5 inches
Max. Crystal: 0.61 x 0.16 inches





No. 2007.007
Hoot Owl Mine, Estatoe, Mitchell Co., NC
Specimen: 3.43 x 1.42 x 1.65 inches
Max. Crystal: 0.31 inches





No. 2009.001
Chalk Mountain Mine, Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., NC
Specimen: 3.03 x 1.73 x 1.38 inches                
Max. Crystal: 1.57 inches

The crystals on the reverse side resemble pink tourmaline.





No. 2009.020
Bon Ami Mine (McKinney Mines), Crabtree, Mitchell Co., NC
Specimen: 7.5 x 5.0 x 1.0 inches
Max. Crystal: 1.4 x 0.1 inches

I love mica with inclusions, especially thulite inclusions.





No. 2011.023
Fannie Gouge Mine, Blue Rock, Yancey Co., NC
Specimen: 2.3 x 1.4 x 1.3 inches
Max. Crystal: 1.06 inches


My problem is, I like so many different types of minerals, but beryl, quartz, and thulite top the list. I hope you enjoyed the pics.

Dennis

Thanks, Dennis. That is a very nice collection of thulites.
(I'll go with the old school terminology ).
There are so many minerals I know nothing about it always
helps to see a nice variety of the animal.
I noticed these are all from the Spruce Pine Pegmatite region.
Are there any other localities in NC that you know of where
Clinothulite has been, or can be, found?
Joe

Dennis nice pics of the Thulite.  There is some nice Thulite found in the Banner Elk area.

Well that spammer sure chose a good one to knock back up
to the top.
I sure enjoyed looking at these pics again!