Stichtite Value, Price, and Jewelry Information

STICHTITE: Argent Hill, Tasmania, Australia (specimen ~ 2 inches across). Photo © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with permission.

Stichtite is not facetable, but the pink color is quite striking in cabochons. Cut stones are especially beautiful when there are other minerals present to add splashes of green and yellow. This material somewhat resembles a pink, granular material from the USSR referred to as canasite.

Stichtite Value

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Stichtite Information

DataValue
NameStichtite
Crystallography Hexagonal (R). Massive, foliated, fibrous, lamellar, scaly.
Colors Lilac to rose pink.
Luster Pearly. waxy, greasy.
Fracture Friable, flexible laminae (inelastic).
Hardness 1.5-2.5; greasy feel.
Specific Gravity 2.16 (Quebec); 2.22 (South Africa).
Birefringence 0.027.
Cleavage Perfect 1 direction.
Stone SizesMassive material is sometime cut into cabochons, but the material is usually used to carve decorative objects such as ashtrays and bookends. The color is usually lilac to purplish, often veined with green serpentine, and the color combination is quite handsome. Blocks weighing several pounds are obtainable.
Luminescence None.
Spectral Typical Cr spectrum: 3 lines in the red at 6655 to 6300.
FormulaMg6Cr2(CO3)(OH)16· 4H2O.
Pleochroism Light to dark red.

Dimorph of Barbertonite.

Streak: White to lilac.

Optics: o=1.545; e =1.518.

Uniaxial (-).

Shadow edge seen at about 1.53.

Occurrence: In serpentine rocks, usually associated with chromite.

Black Lake, Quebec, Canada.

Dundas, Tasmania: mixed with green serpentine.

Transvaal, South Africa; Algeria.

Comments: Stichtite is not facetable, but the pink color is quite striking in cabochons. Cut stones are especially beautiful when there are other minerals present to add splashes of green and yellow. This material somewhat resembles a pink, granular material from the USSR referred to as canasite.

Name: After Robert Sticht of Tasmania, general manager of the Mt. Lyell Mining and Railway Co.