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Steve Sorrell's avatar

The blue one is interesting Richard. Chromium can be responsible for quite a few different colours in minerals including yellow ("chrome" cerussite), orange/red (crocoite), red (ruby), green (emerald, uvarovite, chromium grossular, diopside and others), green/red colour change (chrysoberyl var alexandrite), purple (stichtite), as well as the pale blue here. Some gibbsite, associated with crocoite, at Dundas, Tasmania, is a similar blue, so probably also due to chromium.

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Richard I Gibson's avatar

Thanks for that!

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Pat Dickerson's avatar

Another fascinating column, Richard! Always looking forward to your multifaceted comments!

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