Rhodonite

[Wwoofa]

Hi,
This month's "Gem of the Month" is .... Rhodonite.

Feel free to add more info & pics. If anyone has any questions about Rhodonite then this is a good place to post them.

You might like to change your "Gem of the Month" votes now that this one has been covered.

General Information:
Rhodonite is well known among collectors for its beautiful pink and red color. The red variety can be so deep red that it rivals the color of Ruby.

Rhodonite often has black manganese oxide veins running through a specimen, giving it the distinct appearance of pink with black crisscrossing lines and flower-like formations throughout. These are the forms most commonly used as gemstones, especially in beads and ornamental objects. Large massive specimens of black-streaked Rhodonite is often sliced and polished into slabs for collectors.

Here are a few useful links that should cover all of the main information.

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodonite
Mindat - http://www.mindat.org/min-3407.html
Minerals.Net - http://www.minerals.net/mineral/rhodonite.aspx

Fossicking Locations:
Rhodonite can be found in many locations in Australia.  Here are some of the best known locations.

NSW - Broken Hill
At Broken Hill rare, transparent, red crystals of Rhodonite occur in the silver-lead mines. These are usually seen as fine mineral specimens on matrix but occasionally transparent Rhodonite from this area is faceted. The result is a rare collectors' gemstone.  

Here are some pics ...
[smg id=4888 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Very rare cut Rhodonite gem"]
[smg id=4889 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Rhodonite xls in Galena"]

NSW - Tamworth
"Massive" Rhodonite can be found in many areas around Tamworth.  The colors range from light pink to deep red.

There is a public fossicking area near Bingara where nice pink Rhodonite can be found with a bit of effort.
More info can be found here ... http://aussiesapphire.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=167.0

Here are some great pics previously posted by Mick B ...
[smg id=2253 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Rhodonite Mine"]
[smg id=2909 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="3 Ton Boulder"]
[smg id=4727 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Imperial Rhodonite"]
[smg id=3472 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Imperial Rhodonite"]
[smg id=2893 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Imperial Rhodonite"]
[smg id=4721 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Polished Slab"]
[smg id=4770 type=preview align=center width=400 caption="Carving"]

[Mithril]

Its hard not to love this stone, (even more so after seeing what Mick gets up to with it), being a brisbane bloke I dont get to fossick much locally but I did manage to get my hands on a nice little slab of this from one of the local club shows. After I had bought the item, I got to chatting with the seller only to discover that he had taken the original stone from and area I frequently go camping, At first I was excited but then it clicked in my head that the area was a state forest, which means no fossicking.... Bah... That being said, if they keep looking at changing the laws around fossicking in QLD I may just find myself going camping a little more often and the piece I bought and had a go at is still one of my favourite cabs that I have done so far even more so that it was one of my first. It has a good mix of black pink and red..

Cheers
Luke

[Hunter V]

I have a question, some of the boys in my local club talk about Royal Rhodonite and those who one the peice will say it is and thoses that do not own it will often say its not and just plain Rhodonite.

So my question is- what is the differance between Rhodonite, Royal Rhodonite and Imperial Rhodonite?

Is it simply the royal and imperial have a deeper more red colour?

I am interested to hear the thought of those who are more learned then myself on the matter.

[southerly]

I have a question, some of the boys in my local club talk about Royal Rhodonite and those who one the peice will say it is and thoses that do not own it will often say its not and just plain Rhodonite.

So my question is- what is the differance between Rhodonite, Royal Rhodonite and Imperial Rhodonite?

Is it simply the royal and imperial have a deeper more red colour?

I am interested to hear the thought of those who are more learned then myself on the matter.

Yes it is based on colour and translucency, there is no objective measure I know of just the deeper and more translucent the red the better. I believe the term was coined for 'jewellery' grade rhodonite. MickB may be able to provide more details.

Here is the best piece of rhodonite I have cut, it just glows red in any sort of light and is very fined grained. Much of the deep red is quite coarsely crystalline and a challenge to polish.

This material comes from the Danglemar mine NE of Tamworth, which produced very high quality Rhodonite in thin veins. It takes a high polish.





Since this photo was taken I have achieved a better polish thanks to the help of Mick B.



Here is some fine Danglemar pink, not imperial buy a strong pink colour and very solid fine grained material that takes and excellent polish easily.



David

[mick B]

A sphere and a piece of tumbled rough rhodonite, these are both from John Taggart, he will have spheres and tumbled rough like this at the National show in SA, Davids comments on the rhodonite were spot on. Royal or imperial means the same thing, deepest translucent red , and the fine grain material is choice grade in imperial.

[The Rock Hunter]

wow it looks like southerly and mick are trying to out do eachother lol very nice Rhodonite for the both of ya  

[Fullerton]

Beaut rhodonite Wwoofa, Mick and Southerly.

Out of interest has anyone been able to get any rhodonite in recent times from the public fossicking area near Bingara. Would like to travel via Bingara one day if worth the effort. Mostly mined out or will be productive with some work? Any recent pics?

[fishaholic5]

Beautiful stone, What do the boulders look like before they are split?

Cheers
Wal

[Jimnyjerry]

Beautiful stone, What do the boulders look like before they are split?

Wall look at 3rd picture at start of this topic 

[fishaholic5]

Cool, I must have been blinded by all the red

Cheers
Wal

[agemcutr]

Word has it that Mr Rhodonite(Jon Taggart) has just arrived in Tucson.
All the cool guys are here.No sign of Andrew and Leah Ha Ha

Regards Anthony

[mick B]

John leaves Wednesday with his wife Pam, he gave me the sphere to put a pic here, all the rhodonite in the guessing comp is from his mine, all the rough I posted is from his mine, the top mine site is his.

[Jamo]

I was inspired by our gem of the month, so I cut a lump of rough I'd purchased a while back.

Any suggestions of where it might have come from?

[Klingon]

um....the ground...
 

[Jamo]

You're a genius Klingon, why didn't I think of that?