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a publication of the World Gem Society.....19.March.2012.....
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World Gem Society: Critical Andesine Update
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An advance look at our upcoming report from the Tucson Panel specimens
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At the 2012 Tucson Gem Show a panel discussion was held to once again promote the existence of natural Tibet andesine and Inner Mongolian andesine mines. This panel was moderated by Dana Schorr. The members of the panel included:
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Richard W Hughes
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Ahmadjan Abduriyim
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George Rossman
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Adolf Peretti
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Shane McClure
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John Emmett
At the end of this panel discussion specimens tagged "Andesine, untreated Tibet (China)..." and Andesine, untreated Inner Mongolia (China)..." were distributed to the attendees by the panel members. These were formally presented as specimens of natural, untreated andesine from the Tibet mines and Inner Mongolian mines. Through our World Gem Society members attending the meeting we were able to obtain four sets of these andesine specimens. Two of these specimens are shown below.
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Upon arrival back at our lab we immediately endeavored to take Raman scans of these specimens. However, at first look under our Meiji Techno MT2000 microscope of our Enwave Raman unit at 80x we noticed the image you see below left which was an area of glazed, glassy material. Due to the depth of field of this type of microscope we just caught the figure in the image for a second. Upon more careful examination at greater magnification (120x) available on this Meiji Techno model we were able to positively identify this feature as a glazed encrusted thread protruding from the encrusted material on the surface of this claimed Inner Mongolian andesine. |
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Due to the profound nature of this find, we decided to cease other review of these specimens and focus on a high magnification inspection of all of the specimens provided by the Tucson panel members. The revelations have led to a new and expanded study of this material based on these specimens that are now officially declared to be natural and untreated by those who claim expeditions to Inner Mongolia and Tibet. Our study of these specimens has expanded to independent scientific labs where advanced study, commissioned by the ISG, is currently underway. However, since we scheduled a report of our findings of these specimens provided by the Tucson Discussion Panel group we wanted to present this brief overview of our findings to date. The following images represent many that we will present in a later, formal report complete with advanced testing. |
 Since our first high magnification view of a glaze encrusted thread was with the Inner Mongolian specimen, we continued to search the other specimens that Shorr's panel had provided as untreated. The image below serves as just one example of what was found. Another Inner Mongolian specimen had a surface glaze of what appeared to be quartz crystals partially melted into the surface with a glaze encrusted thread also melted onto the surface of the crystal. We believe this image speaks to the issue that this claimed Inner Mongolian andesine has been subjected to some type of treatment. The dark spot is a piece of glazed-on metal that will be covered shortly. |
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 The panel's specimens from Tibet were next inspected at magnifications up to 120x through our Meiji Techno microscopes. The image below is directly from one of these specimens from Abduriyim that is claimed to be from a Tibet andesine mine, natural and untreated. This is a blackened thread that is also encrusted with the glaze material, and melted onto the surface of the claimed Tibet andesine crystal. |
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We should note that a high magnification inspection of these and other specimens from Litto Gems and King Star has not previously been undertaken. This is an issue that will prove important in our future updates on this subject. |
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We want to stress that this report deals specifically with specimens handed out at the Tucson Gem Show Discussion Panel. We will provide a full report of specimens from the Tucson Panel, Litto Gems and King Star as well as others in our full report coming out in a few weeks. |
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One of the features that we previously found on diffusion treated Tibet andesine has been molybdenum metal. While this element has been missing from Abduriyim's elemental reports published by the GIA and Gem-A, advanced testing of a variety of specimens by different testing methods and different independent scientific labs have all produced the same result: molybdenum. All agree that various levels of molybdenum and another critical element that we will divulge later are indeed present on and slightly in these crystals. The Tucson Panels specimens were no different. |
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Below is a high magnification image of a piece of metal (that matches our previous studies) that has melted into the glassy surface glaze of this Abduriyim supplied specimen. This piece of metal was hot enough to melt its way into this hardened glaze material that is composed of quartz. We believe we have the answer to the origin of this metal and why, like the glaze material and melted threads, this metal has been found on virtually all of the andesine specimens. |
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There are a number of additional issues that we continue to study based on the above, including a fluorescent glaze that has been found on both the claimed Inner Mongolian and Tibet specimens. Other issues, that have been previously documented but could not be fully connected, are now available for study due to our finally obtaining the Abduriyim and Richard W. Hughes expedition specimens as seen above in this mini-report.
Based on the time requirements of the independent scientific studies currently underway, we will have the full report published as quickly as possible.
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Robert James
World Gem Society
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©2012 YourGemologist LLC and World Gem Society. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. We encourage sharing as long as all copyrights are left intact. |
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