Garnets
There are different types of garnet and many found in Scotland. Primarily the garnet crystals which we find are almondine garnets, although there are pyropes and spessartine garnets in Scotland, too. We just haven't found them yet.
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Garnets are found all throughout the Highlands. They form in the mica-rich schist and erode out as the mica meets the eternal rain. We have yet to find garnets of gem quality but we have not given up the search. See what we have below.
Garnets are a Heavy Mineral
Garnets are a heavy mineral for the size of them. If you are panning for gold anywhere north of Glasgow, they tend to show up in your gold pan. Garnets sold at The Stone Circle have been naturally eroded out over time, or are still in the host rock which the form in.
Garnets Occur in Both Igneous And Metamorphic Rocks
Garnets primarily form in metamorphic rocks but they show up occasionally in igneous rocks, too. Igneous rocks are those cooked up in volcanoes while metamorphic rocks start off as one thing, and turn into another over time, heat, pressure, and environmental factors (like how Scotland is really, really rainy!)
Garnets love to form in mica, or in our case in micaceous schist (that's those silvery/goldy/shiny/flaky rocks you find anywhere north of Stirling). They begin as an impurity, a speck of another mineral inside a bed of different rock. Over time and across the metamorphic process, the garnets will "grow".
There are different varieties of garnet, including almandine, spessartine, pyropes, grossular, andradite, and uvarovite. Although they are traditionally a deep, wine-coloured red, garnets can come in other colours like blue, green, pink, orange, and brown.
A famous example of a rare colourless garnet belongs to the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow although it was mistakenly labelled as a diamond for a generation or two.
"Second purchase from this shop. Stone as shown. Gold schist really sparkly in the sun light. Very lovely natural find. Thank you."
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