Gaspeite
Consumer Information
What color is it?: Gaspeite is a medium green color with yellow modifying color as seen above.
What is the story behind this gemstone?: Named for its main source of occurrence, Gaspe, Quebec, Canada this gemstone is a fairly new item on the gemstone market. It has a pleasing "earth green" color and wears very well.
Can I wear it everyday?: Yes, for most purposes it will wear well with a hardness of about 4.8.
Is it expensive?: Relatively inexpensive. About the same price as a nice piece of Lapis Lazuli in the finest quality.
Is it a birthstone?: No
What do I need to know before going shopping?: First, don't shop for gaspeite on eBay. This is a rather rare gem material that is only now being found in the open markets. I found the above specimen at the Tucson show. It is a very pretty stone that matches well with other earth tone gem materials.
General
Information
Rough gaspeite shown above
Source: Canada
Chemical: (Ni,Mg,Fe)Co3 A member of the calcite group of minerals
Formation: In volcanic rock formation
Crystal System: Trigonal but rarely seen as crystals
Unusual Properties: None
Gemological Information
RI: 1.61 - 1.83
Birefringence: .22
Optic Character: B-
Specific Gravity: 3.21
Hardness: 4.8
Transparency: Opaque
Special Identifying Properties and Tests: None
Synthetics: None known at this time
Imitations: None known at this time