Thread: Is This An Emerald?

Here are some image links copy and paste these into your browser. I'm thinking it's an emerald.

It scratches glass.

There's also a smaller one I found that makes a rainbow when light shines through it, you see a rainbow in it.

I'd be more inclined to think it's furnace slag. It's not really got any crystalline structure that I can see. Where did you find it? Does it scratch with hardened steel?

Google "mineral identification" and it'll give you a series of standard tests you can do to determine what a mineral is.

check out this website: http://www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/...php?title=Home It has wonderful information to learn how to identify gems.

It's free, and non-profit, so I hope it's okay to post the link here.

Found it in a creek up in Pennsylvania along with some pink and blue ones as well.

I would love to say yes but the answer is probably no on a face look it isn't clear enough to be an emerald, emerald's, sapphires, rubies are usually clearer, more diamondy



if you found other coloured ones my guess is it's some form of vulcanised stone, pretty but not overly valuable





my opinion would be to keep it as a souvenir

Actually emerald can be transparent to opaque. You might want to contact your local gem and mineral club. They should be able to help you.

I'll load up some more pics soon.

Yes we do need better photos on this, preferably ones that show an in focus overview of the specimen. Next: how big is this specimen? It looks rather large. Although Mindat.org does list beryl from several localities none seem to have produced large gemmy crystals. The association of blue, green, and pink, combined with the conciodal looking fractures apparently visible in the first picture would indicate to me that these are most likely some form of waste glass or slag product.

Weights about 7 pounds and I want to say is around a foot in length.

Yeah, with that size, it is definitely not an emerald, unless it is the largest one in the world... it is probably slag from an iron mine, I'd love to see the pink one though, if it is from an iron mine it is technically obsidian...

I have done a bit of research on your behalf and am inclined to agree it is NOT an emerald, unless you have found an obscenly large and badly cut one


I am inclined to think it's a Raw Mystic Topaz, it looks similar to the cut ones, I can't find it in a raw form to check though but I will continue my search

Originally Posted by Booms

I am inclined to think it's a Raw Mystic Topaz, it looks similar to the cut ones, I can't find it in a raw form to check though but I will continue my search

From what I can find "Mystic topaz" is low grade colorless topaz with a man made coating on the surface to give color. This is definitely not topaz. the color is wrong and the fracture shown on the image is wrong.

i'm afraid that a picture will probably never allow a mineral to be fully identified

yes, it's green and has a conchoidal fracture as you would expect of emerald, but this could just as well be silica-rich glassy industrial slag
how you would tell the two apart i'm not sure