Recently found some more turquoise from my days in Chinle.
These were sold as stabilized Sleeping Beauty nuggets at Thunderbird Supply, Gallup in the mid 1980’s. They have not been polished, but have a gloss due to being stabilized.
I am unfamiliar with how turquoise was stabilized then. Would there have been clear, crystal like pieces that remained attached to some of the nuggets?
Many of the nuggets have pyrite in them. Some have black areas and dark gray/black (magnetite?) crystal like formations. A magnet does stick to some of those areas.
Yes, stabilization can leave clear/yellowish sometimes lumpy/dippy looking residue. I think it tends to yellow more over time, and i have seen some that has a crystal-type look to it if the residue has been chipped. It’s most obvious if it looks like it’s solely on the surface, as opposed to a quartz inclusion that looks embedded or protruding form the blue.
I also have some (sawed) turquoise nuggets that are most likely Sleeping Beauty and most -if not all- of them have quartz and pyrite inclusions too. The pyrite in mine is mostly tiny specks though. I really love it and often look at it through a loupe.
(you can see them in the last 2 pics in this topic: Rough turquoise, mostly Sleeping Beauty (?) )
