KAOLINITE
Specimen kao-3

Dims: 1.1x1.0x0.6" (2.8x2.5x1.5cm)

Wt: 0.4oz (12.6g)

Hamilton, Steuben County, Indiana, USA

This is a small quartz geode containing a layer of pure white kaolinite coating the bottom half of the cavity. Under a loupe, the kaolinite looks much like snow on a landscape, and my 15x loupe does reveal individual crystals, but just barely. That makes these crystals rather huge by kaolinite standards, although I may be seeing books of even smaller crystals. The easily examined translucent crystals of this specimen are quartz, likely with kaolinite inclusions to lend a milky appearance.

Dims: 1.10x1.02x0.90" (2.81x2.58x2.28cm)

Wt: 0.51oz (14.5g)

Goodsprings, Clark County, Nevada, USA

While this looks like a well formed crystal of orthoclase, it is not. It is a specimen of kaolinite as a pseudomorph after orthoclase. Actually, the base of the specimen has many more of these very white crystals in a greenish-white matrix that also includes bits of pyrite and quartz. It is easy to recognize the kaolinite crystals - they are whiter than anything else in the specimen.

Dims: 1.05x0.82x0.75" (2.66x2.08x1.91cm)

Wt: 0.38oz (10.7g)

Goodsprings, Clark County, Nevada, USA

These kaolinite crystals show excellent form of orthoclase crystals - they are pseudomorphs. Most of the white crystals are likely kaolinite, and they are embedded in a slightly darker mineral that is a light gray with just a hint of green, and no crystal indications. The surface of the kaolinite crystals have a rough texture, which I suspect is a distortion of the original orthoclase structure due to the incorporation of water into its composition.