Bob Beattie's Photo Gallery

5YG-UP7Molybdenite MoS₂ , Chalcopyrite CuFeS₂

Mount Stronach, Scottsdale district, Dorset municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Dimensions: 11.5 cm x 9.7 cm x 4.5 cm
Largest Crystal Size: 6 mm
Weight: 567 g

Aggregations of Molybdenite crystals, plus irregular grains of disseminated Chalcopyrite, in unaltered biotite adamellite. The Chalcopyrite can be more readily seen in the daughter images. Self collected from Bert Farquhar's sample pit in the early 1960's. Image is a 4-layer CombineZP stack.

12Q-8AMCerussite PbCO₃ , Galena PbS

Beams Quarry, Flowery Gully, Beaconsfield district, West Tamar municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Lustrous, cerussite crystals in a 6.5mm-wide cavity in limestone. The metallic-grey particles, outside the cavity, are relict galena. Personally collected, June 2013. Image is a 7-layer CombineZP stack.

2RV-248Forsterite Mg₂SiO₄

West Scottsdale Quarry, West Scottsdale, Scottsdale district, Dorset municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Fractured, gemmy Forsterite in fine-grained olivine nephelinite. 'Top' view, FOV 4.1cm. Image is a 3-layer CombineZP stack. Self-collected in the 1960's. Bob Beattie specimen & photo

CET-DU1Forsterite Mg₂SiO₄

West Scottsdale Quarry, West Scottsdale, Scottsdale district, Dorset municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Dimensions: 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm x 3.2 cm

Fractured, gemmy Forsterite (approx 3.5x3.5x3.2 cm) in fine grained Olivine Nephelinite. Specimen width in image is 6.5cm. Image is a 7-layer CombineZP stack. Self-collected in the 1960's. Bob Beattie specimen & photo.

X9W-YUQCassiterite SnO₂ , Torbernite Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·12H₂O

Royal George Mine, Avoca-Royal George mining district, Northern Midlands municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Cassiterite and occasional Torbernite, filling a 3-5mm-wide joint in quartz greisen. Specimen size 12.8 x 10cm. Self-collected in 1966. Bob Beattie specimen & photo.
Most of the cassiterite is fully contacted across the joint (in the brighter, grey-brown areas), but there are also pockets containing lustrous, translucent, dark brown cassiterite crystals, to 8mm. Several of these are detailed in the associated images.

NCQ-THJPhillipsite Subgroup, Thomsonite Subgroup

Olivers Road, Gads Hill, Upper Mersey Valley, Meander Valley municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Geode in altered basalt, containing translucent, grey, globular balls of Thomsonite, to 1mm, on fine grained, often 'stalactitic', Phillipsite. Specimen size 7.8 x 5.5cm. Bob Beattie photo & collection. Specimen collected by Mathew & Elizabeth Latham.

293-QWFCalcite CaCO₃ , Chabazite, Thomsonite Subgroup

Olivers Road, Gads Hill, Upper Mersey Valley, Meander Valley municipality, Tasmania, Australia

A small vesicle containing a single, honey-coloured Calcite, plus phacolitic Chabazite, on globular Thomsonite. The matrix is altered basalt. FOV 26mm. Image is a 6-layer, CombineZP stack. Bob Beattie specimen and photo.

QTM-M3MCalcite CaCO₃ , Stilbite Subgroup M_6-7[Al_8-9Si_27-28O₇₂]·nH₂O

Giblin Street Quarry, Lenah Valley, Hobart City, Tasmania, Australia

Pale honey-coloured Calcite encrusted in clear, colourless blades of Stilbite, to approx 0.5mm. FOV 2.0cm. Self-collected July 2009. Bob Beattie specimen & photo.

1FK-YU0Chabazite

Giblin Street Quarry, Lenah Valley, Hobart City, Tasmania, Australia

White, translucent Chabazite crystals, to 5mm, on a joint surface in slightly altered dolerite. Self-collected in the mid-1960's. FOV 6.5cm. Bob Beattie specimen & photo.

TJX-Y6GTorbernite Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·12H₂O

Royal George Mine, Avoca-Royal George mining district, Northern Midlands municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Torbernite crystals on a joint surface in quartz greisen. FOV 10.5cm; max crystal size 5.0mm. Self-collected in 1966. Bob Beattie specimen & photo.
Note: The specimen may well be Metatorbernite, as the late Ramsay Ford identified this species in an XRD of another of my 1966 samples.