Locality: Ore Hill Garnet Locale, Sugar Hill, NH
Specimen Size: 1.3 cm almandine garnet crystal
Field Collected: Tom Mortimer
Catalog No.: 1386
Notes:
Locality: Ore Hill Garnet Locality, Sugar Hill, NH
Specimen Size: 3 cm crystal
Field Collected: Don Swenson
Catalog No.: A Don Swenson collection specimen
Notes: This is a large garnet for this locality.
Locality: Ore Hill Garnet Locality, Sugar Hill, NH
Specimen Size: 2.2 cm crystal group, two views
Field Collected: Don Swenson
Catalog No.
Locality: Keyes #4 Mine, Orange, NH
Specimen Size: 2.1 cm complete, but rough, crystal with minor muscovite matrix
Field Collected: Tom Mortimer
Catalog No.: NC
Notes: A voucher specimen for Almandine at the Keyes #4 Mine, (not a particularly remarkable specimen).
Locality: Etna Highlands Locality, Hanover, NH
Specimen Size: 1 cm almandine crystal in schist
Field Collected: Tom Mortimer
Catalog No.: NC
Notes: This is a Phillip Morrill locality that is listed in slashes (i.e. as a documented but "Unlocated site") Curt LaPlante and I, when searching for this site in the 1990's, believed we collected these garnets in the referenced area. Morrill notes "almandine crystals to 1/2 inch." The ones we found, such as the one illustrated here, approximate that size. These were not abundant in the spot we collected. These are not particularly remarkable for NH almandine garnets, but an example is included here to document the locality and to calibrate a future collector's expectations.
Locality: Joe Hill Farm, Springfield, NH
Specimen Size: 4 cm specimen with garnets to 5 mm
Field Collected: Bob Whitmore. Specimen purchased from Yankee Minerals 2016.
Catalog No.: 2015
Notes: These small garnets are embedded in pegmatite, not mica slate as noted by Jackson (1844) in his report of spessartine at the Joe Hill Farm. I [tm] have been on the lookout for Joe Hill Farm garnets for many years. Bob Whitmore was one of many collectors who searched for Jackson's spessartine locality. These garnets are similar to analyzed, self collected, almandine specimens from the area of Joe Hill Farm.
Locality: Pearl Lake staurolite locale (Pond Hill), Lisbon, NH
Specimen Size: 2.5 cm specimen. Almandine crystal pair on schist.
Field Collected: Don Swenson
Catalog No.: A Don Swenson collection specimen
Notes:
Locality: Ruggles Mine, Grafton, NH
Specimen Size: 4.5 cm specimen with almandine garnet crystals to 1.5 cm
Field Collected: Unknown - a purchased specimen
Catalog No.: 2054
Notes:
Locality: Palermo Mine, N. Groton, NH
Specimen Size: 1 cm field of view. Two views, lower with polarizers to reduce reflections
Field Collected: Clayton Ford, gift from Gordon Jackson
Catalog No.: u2010
Notes: [tm] This one took multiple tests to arrive at an identification.
I initially thought might be triploidite or triplite. I showed it to Jim Nizamoff .... and he opined "garnet." APFU from a polished grain EDS analysis (BC190 - set 14) gave: Fe2Mn0.70Mg0.17Na0.16O8 Carbon was not quantified. Definitely not a garnet or a phosphate.
I put a grain in a drop of muriatic under my scope. A few bubbles appeared slowly! Since Fe > Mn, I hought perhaps this is Mn rich siderite with a bit of Na and Mg. Just does not look like a carbonate.
In another muriatic grain test 4/3/18 I could not see any bubbles from the pink mineral. A few came from the glassy pale yellow mineral. When the muriatic droplet evaporated overnight, the pink mineral remained, but the pale yellow and dark matrix mineral left behind a clear crystaline residue adjacent to the pink mineral and a white thin crust in the droplet area. - as shown in the third photo.
A second polished grain EDS analysis (BC280) clearly indicated an almandine-spessartine garnet with a chemistry of: (Fe1.61, Mn0.98)Al2.54(SiO4)3. A trace of phosphorous was noted in the analysis.
Jim was right, garnet !