Identification of this specimen please

Hi,

One of my customers has found this specimen in Nigeria.

But has no idea what it is, I can’t identify it either, but as I provide world class customer service, I wanted to ask on her behalf. :wink:

Is there anyone who could help me identify this please?

Thank you,
Laura



Seems there are 3 obvious options that have conchoidal fracturing, Quartz, Aquamarine and Topaz, but with Nigeria having white/pale Topaz by the ton it would be at the top of my list. Where, in Nigeria, it came from could narrow it down further.
Best of luck with your quest to id it.

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Looks suspiciously like man-made slag glass to me…

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Hi!

Thank you, oh I don’t know. She found it on a random walk. :sweat_smile:

This is already narrowing it down.

I just think the colour is very unusual?

Thank you,
Laura

Hi!

Ah thank you for mentioning, I’ll let her know, not to get her hopes up too much.

I guess the best thing for her to find a specialist close by.

Thank you for your time.

Warm wishes,
Laura

Should be a very easy ID for anyone with standard gemological tools.
Even without them. Hardness? 10X loupe magnification looking for bubbles.
But as Jeffrey mentioned, those curved lines, while not a slam dunk, are certainly suggestive.

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It seems like the extent of pink coloration varies depending on the viewing angle. If this is how your stone behaves, then I don’t think it’s glass. It could be pleochroic, i.e. different colors depending on viewing angle and lighting. Does the color depend on whether the stone is viewed indoors or outside? A simple test is to measure it’s hardness. Look up Mohs hardness. You can buy kits or collections of minerals to use to measure Mohs hardness. There are also common materials like copper pennies, glass, quartz that can be used to get a quick and dirty estimate of hardness.

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Agree with JB and BV, this is likely slag.

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Hi!

Thank you for replying. I’ll ask her for the colour variations indoors and outdoors.

Thank you,
Laura

I have to agree too, looks like slag. use your gem tools to figure it out.

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This is a great thread. Rather than some members saying you CAN’T or SHOULDN’T make a gem or mineral specimen ID with just a photo … We have here many members working together to do just that. I congratulate everyone on this thread for making the ATTEMPT!! This is how you sharpen your observation (measurement) skills, learning, and Experience Level.

Probability is the soul of reason. These are my observations and reasoning from just the photos to form an impression of what the ID is or probably is OR what it is not.

First thing is SIZE. It is about the size of a closed fist. Some natural gems never get this big. Second, it is weathered with a matte finish (semi-transparent) [you can see the outline of his fingers through the stone] also showing rounded edges from the weathering. This stone was around water and wind for quite a long time. Third, the Color is near colorless … This can rule out stones that are always a single color in nature or that are never near-colorless in nature. There is a strong conchoidal fracture present which is also weathered. From the looks of it to my eye, this stone would be transparent if it was not weathered. There is no apparent crystal habit which indicates it is probably amorphic in internal molecular structure as well as singly refractive. From these above observations and reasoning, my impression is that this stone is a Weathered Man-Made Glass.

NOW I get out the instruments and make the confirmation to see how good my observations and reasoning was! :smiley: I hope my commentary was useful to our members.