AESCHYNITE
Specimen aes-3

Dims: 0.4 x 0.2 x 0.2" (1.0 x 0.6 x 0.5 cm)

Wt: 1 g

Vest-Agder, Norway

This tiny thumbnail piece consists of a misshapen chunk of yttrium-rich Aeschynite. The piece shows rather heavy damage and though some crystal form is visible, it is incomplete and missing its termination. It has a rusty-brown color and dull luster on its undamaged surfaces, but its freshly-damaged surfaces show a nearly black color and a brighter, pearly-to-vitreous luster. There is no host rock present, and it is protected within a small plastic box.

Dims: 0.99x0.46x0.28" (2.51x1.18x0.72cm)

Wt: 31.0 ct (6.20g)

Hittere, Norway

This thumbnail specimen of aeschynite consists of a single tabular crystal with a roof termination. The ends are quite different (one brown and dull, the other more black and vitreous, likely due to a thin coating of calcite. The crystal has a large crack nearly penetrating the entire length, and indicates to me that the edges are also fractures. The crystal is predominately brown, although it is vertically striated both in texture and veins of black.

Dims: 2.21x1.52x0.54" (5.61x3.85x1.38cm)

Wt: 2.26oz (64.0g)

Hittero, Norway

This is a specimen of massive aeschynite-(Y) from its type locality, Hittero, Norway. It is relatively dense, black, opaque, and shows no crystal forms. It is acompanied by several other minerals, most notably a yellowish coating likely due to weathering, several areas of quartz crystals, at least one tiny spray of a blue mineral that looks like chrysocola, and a small patch showing metallic glints that looks like a metal sulfide (which is unlikely when associated with an oxide such as aeschenite).