🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Sunstone?

[Dgbarry]

I really don't think this is sunstone, it's nothing like the rest that I have, it's mostly white

. Could it be pink tourmaline? Or something else all together? Thank you!

 

[Knight_of_Excalibur_II]

Looks like feldspar to me.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Looks like chunk of Rose Quartz to me.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Looks like chunk of Rose Quartz to me.

I agree. Is it from CO?

 

[blauer]

Definitely not tourmaline. It has that Rose Quartz look but also what looks like feldspar cleavage lines, More information is needed like hardness and collection location.

 

[opalboy]

Could it be calcite?

 

[Dgbarry]

I agree. Is it from CO?

I got it in a bulk purchase so I have no idea where it's actually from. I've never seen

 

[Dgbarry]

I got it in a bulk purchase so I have no idea where it's actually from. I've never seen rose quartz like this though. . . Or calcite

 

[Dgbarry]

Looks like feldspar to me.

I originally thought that's possible

 

[Knight_of_Excalibur_II]

I originally thought that's possible

Not an expert geologist, but 50/50 it could be either. If it were a bit more translucent and a lighter pink, I would be inclined to lean to rose quartz, however, the mineral is completely opaque and resembles orthoclase feldspar, or potassium feldspar (K-spar) to me, which is a far more common mineral. A scratch test, and getting the density would help clarify which one.

 

[blauer]

Hardness and streak test?

 

[russau]

Yep I am leaning towards Rose Quartz myself BUT more info is needed to I.D. it for sure ! I remember seeing some Rose Quartz in California once and it reminded me of it !

 

[Dgbarry]

Hardness and streak test?

It's a hard stone, don't know what a streak test is though.

 

[Red-Coat]

It's a hard stone, don't know what a streak test is though.

For a streak test, you need a ceramic tile that has an unglazed back. A leftover from some DIY. Most tile stockists will happily give you a broken one or an off-cut. The inside of a ceramic toilet-cistern lid will do at a pinch.

Steak the specimen firmly a few times on the unglazed side. Don't rub to-and-fro as if you're colouring in. Blow away any dust to see the colour and nature of the streaks themselves, not the dust created.

The test can be useful for determining the predominant minerals in a rock. It does look like rose quartz but quartzes will be harder than most tiles and, if so, will just leave a white or colourless powdery mark, regardless of any outward colour the specimen has.

Sunstone is composed of feldspathic minerals which are usually a little less hard than quartz (so if you have a known piece of quartz, it should just about scratch sunstone.) Again, any streak will be white or colourless and powdery, irrespective of the outward colour.

In this case, as a diagnostic, the streak test is unlikely to be very helpful.