Prerequisites for the ennoblement of garnet from the new manifestation of the Polar Urals

Abstract

The work is devoted to a rare and most valuable variety of garnet - demantoid. In mineralogical directories, the color of demantocetz is described in the range from emerald green to chocolate and tobacco, and its price changes accordingly. Materials for this work were our own field observations and samples collected at a new manifestation of garnet in the Polar Urals. The laboratory researches have shown, that the selected crystals, probably, are andradite-demantoid, though the majority of grains are characterized mainly by yellowish shades. In some cases, heterogeneity in coloring was noted - emerald green center and yellowish periphery of crystals. In spite of the high dispersion, the strong yellowish or even brown coloring does not allow counting on the commercial success of the found fan as an ophanous raw material. Assuming that the coloring zoning is caused by the oxidation of iron in the mineral, it seems reasonable to try to change the color of the garnet by reduction of iron. Thus, there are mineralogical prerequisites for experiments to change the color of garnet, which, if successful, may lead to a significant increase in the value of jewelry raw materials.