Diopside (Specimen #100224)

Mineral(s): Diopside, Phlogopite 

Location: Dog Lake occurrence (Cranberry Lake occurrence; Fiddlers Elbow occurrence), Storrington Township, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada 

Size: 4.5 x 4.5 x 3.5 cm 

Description:  This specimen is a grouping of large, well-formed, brown to light-green crystals of diopside. The crystal edges are well defined and there are small plates and crystals of phlogopite on the crystal faces. Some crystal faces also have a dusting of talc.

The crystals occur in a coarse-grained calcitic marble. Dog Lake and Cranberry Lake are interconnected, and the specimens are collected near the shore of Dog lake. There are exposures and veins in the woods where amateur collectors extract the diopside crystals.