Azure Accessories

February Birthstone ~ Amethyst

This is one of my favourite stones…I prefer the deeper purple color over the pale mauve stone…maybe it is a favourite because it is the stone for Pisces, which I am?

below are a couple of pieces I managed to take photos of... the amethyst in the pendant is the stone on the left...it is rather difficult to see...

• Variety of quartz
• Must be purple to be amethyst
• One of the most beautiful purple stones
• Purple is color of royalty
• From Greek meaning “not drunken”   :~)
• may occur as a long crystal with pyramids at each end
• may occur as a druzy
• the quality, shape, lustre is  not the same for every mine
• these qualities are often so distinct the mine can  be determined by the appearance of the stone
• found: Vera Cruz,  Guerrero, Brazil, Thunder Bay, Uruguay, Africa, Maine, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Italy, Germany & Russia
• the amethyst found near Thunder Bay is known for druzy clusters
• green amethyst is actually prasiolite, a green quartz, which is rare
• sensitive to heat
• is sometimes heated and  turned yellow to be sold as Citrine, which it truly isn’t

During my research I came up with  websites for four Amethyst mines in the Thunder Bay area…take a look at the sites, they offer some great photos as well as information regarding their individual mines, most of which you may visit an often purchase amethyst.

1.      http://www.purplehazeamethyst.com/

2.      http://amethystmine.com/

3.      http://www.mineamethyst.com/

4.      http://www.mcrocks.com/ftr10-1/MerkelOctober2010.html

The fourth website www.mcrocks.com caught my attention…I found a page where Ian Merkel, talked about his visits to  Blue Point Mine, (owned by Linden Swanson) Pearl Ontario, which is 35 miles east of Thunder Bay.  The mining at this site is done by drilling and blasting areas, then working these particular “fractures as they were called.    Ian and his party visited Blue Point Mine in 204, 2009 and 2010 and were allowed to work fractures not in the immediate work area of Mr. Swanson.  

 My suggestion would be for the reader to visit the website as there is a great deal of fascinating information…some very technical, but interesting for anyone who has a passion for Amethyst!  As well there are 20 amazing photos of the work site as well as amethyst…far too many for me to share with you in this article.    I’ve included 4 of Ian’s amazing photos and one of a pair of earrings and a pendant I made with amethyst stones…I forgot I even had the photos…was happy I found them!  
A special thank you to Ian Merkel for allowing me to use his amazing photos!

As always leave a message on my blog or send me an email hjcote11@gmail.com.

Enjoy your week…

Cheers

Information source

http://www.galleries.com/February_Birthstone

http://earthsky.org/earth/february-birthstone-amethyst

http://www.purplehazeamethyst.com/

http://amethystmine.com/

http://www.mineamethyst.com/

http://www.mcrocks.com/ftr10-1/MerkelOctober2010.html