Properties of Stones and Crystals

Find out what the stone you bought from me does!

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Michigan's Upper Penninsula has a wide variety of stones and metals that can be found on beaches, mine tailings, in fields, just about anywhere.

I already covered my favorite, hematite, and other iron mineral/stones. On this page you'll find info on stones found in the Upper Pennisula. I'm most familiar with what is found in mine tailings so those will be added first.

Epidote
Hardness: 6-7
Streak: grey

In its most true form, epidote is found in long, striated yellow-green crystals. But in Michigan most is found filling cavities in basalt with tiny flat green crystals. It often occurs with calcite and prehnite, many times growing on or in them. Michigan epidote is a grass colored green, similar to the color of peridot.

Epidote is a complex silicate mineral. Its primary components include calcium, aluminum, and iron. The chemical formula is Ca2(Al,Fe³?)3(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH), indicating the presence of both aluminum and iron which can substitute for each other within the crystal structure.

Metaphysical properties:
Increases spiritual attunement and removes resistance to spiritual awakening. Enhances perception. Gives courage to enjoy life to the full and ability to manifest dreams, strengthens sense of identity and personal power. Clears negative emotional states. Keeps you centered. Not everyone respons to this stone, causing negativity and too much to deal with on some people.

Jacobsville Sandstone

Jacobsville Sandstone is a red sandstone formation, marked with light-colored streaks and spots, primarily found in northern Upper Michigan, portions of Ontario, and under much of Lake Superior. Desired for its durability and aesthetics, the sandstone was used as an architectural building stone in both Canada and the United States. The stone was extracted by thirty-two quarries throughout the Upper Peninsula of Michigan approximately between 1870 and 1915.

The sandstone has been variously called redstone, brownstone, Lake Superior Sandstone, and Eastern Sandstone. In 1907, the Jacobsville Formation was given its current classification and the name Jacobsville, in honor of Jacobsville, Michigan, a town known for its production of the sandstone. The two main varieties of Jacobsville Sandstone that were quarried were redstone and brownstone. Redstone came from the Jacobsville area, in both uniform and variegated varieties. A purplish-brown variety of brownstone known as rain-drop, so named for its wet appearance, was described as the "most handsome stone quarried on Lake Superior." Brownstone and rain-drop were supplied from Marquette, however, supplies were generally limited. Until the early 1900s, Jacobsville Sandstone was popularly known as Lake Superior Sandstone, brownstone or redstone and prefixed by the location in which it was quarried, such as Marquette and Portage Entry (e.g., Marquette brownstone).

Several buildings in the Upper Peninsula and across the United States and Ontario, Canada incorporate Jacobsville Sandstone in their construction. In the Upper Peninsula, these buildings include The Calumet Theatre, Saint Ignatius Loyola Church, and several buildings in the Quincy Street Historic District. Elsewhere, the sandstone was used in the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Jacobsville Sandstone was popular as a building material because of its strength, durability and aesthetic appeal. In particular, it is resistant to the extremes in temperature of fire and the freeze-thaw cycle of northern climates.The Mining Journal of Marquette reported on November 20, 1875, that: "its fire-proof qualities were thoroughly tested in the great Chicago fire, where Lake Superior brownstone walls ... stood intact, without a crack, scale or blemish being caused by the great heat under the influence of which marble fronts crumbled and fell to the ground."

Jacobsville Sandstone is generally red, due to small quantities of iron oxides, mottled with various pinks, whites and browns. The sandstone exhibits many white streaks and spherical spots, caused by leaching and bleaching, which form sharp boundaries with surrounding colors. Its lithology varies from quartz-rich to feldspar-rich sandstone and shale. The formation consists of four distinct facies: conglomerate, lenticular sandstone, massive sandstone, and red siltstone.

The sandstone is well-cemented and contains no glacial deposits and no fossils. The grains of Jacobsville Sandstone range from .25 to .5 mm (0.0098 to 0.0197 in) in size. Based on an average from samples taken in Marquette and Alger counties, Jacobsville Sandstone is composed of: 27.4% nonundulatory quartz, 27.0% undulatory quartz, 23.0% potassium feldspar, and 12.3% silicic volcanic clasts. Smaller constituents are 3.8% polycrystalline quartz, 2.4% metamorphic, 1.4% sedimentary, 1.3% opaque, 0.8% mafic volcanic, and 0.1% plagioclase. Jacobsville Sandstone's heavy mineral suite is 84% ilmenite, 4-5% leucoxene, 4% garnet, 3% apatite, 3% zircon, and 1% tourmaline.

Metaphysical properties:

Because Sandstone is created by either wind or water, it is often called a “stone of creativity”. It strengthens relationships within groups, both at home and the workplace. Use Sandstone to keep you from getting distracted, especially during mediation. A cheerful stone, Sandstone keeps those annoying tantrums and mood swings under control. When used on the Sacral chakra, Sandstone can help you discern the truth among those around you and to keep your mind clear when making decisions.

Physically, Sandstone can help strengthen bones, nails and hair. It is also helpful with disorders of the eyes as well as water retention.

Kona Dolomite
Only in Marquette county does the iron give it the pink and red color.
Moose Blood when red

Kona dolomite consists chiefly of cherty dolomite, interstratified with layers of slate, graywacke, and quartzite, and gradational sediments. Thickness 700 ft, but possibly 1,400 ft. Composes Kona Hills, on eastern shore of Goose Lake in northwestern MI. Age is Precambrian (early Huronian). White-weathering and red dolomitic quartzite and a few thin beds of laminated orange and brown ferruginous quartz-feldspar siltite are locally noteworthy units.

Metaphysical Properties
Dolomite is a very loving energising healing crystal. You would give this crystal to someone who lives alone or is a solitary sort of person.
It is also good for those who lack resourcefulness and have a fear of failure.
Dolomite's healing properties assist you with generosity, It brings you inner tranquillity and also increases your stamina. Dolomite crystals also help with energy alignment and the removal of blockages. and is a very uplifting crystal.
This stone heals fear, promotes courage and stability. Dolomite will help you face your fears and phobias and overcome them. It heals the trauma that originates from phobias and fears.
With its gentle vibrations, dolomite is a stone of comfort and eases. It will balance your emotions through self nurturing. This stone activates the ability to receive love, nurturing and comfort in your life from yourself and others.
Dolomite is an excellent stone if you suffer from heartbreak or depression. as it mutes loneliness and dulls anxiety. It encourages you to be open to giving and receiving love and affection. It will boost your energy levels and creative juices. Dolomite lends a calming, serene energy to the emotional body. It enables you to see how much of your emotional experience is created by your attachment to being entertained by the drama of life. Its energy allows you to detach from that drama and experience the calm perspective that allows you to see the miracles that are always present. Dolomite stimulates the heart centre, allowing you to experience love, compassion and appreciation. Dolomite is a stone of comfort and ease. With this stone in hand, you can balance your emotions through self nurturing and open your heart chakra. This stone activates the ability to receive love, nurturing and comfort in your life from yourself and others.

Hematite, Magnetite, Jaspilite, Taconite, Slag on the Hematite and Magnetite page

Prehnite
Hardness: 6 - 6.5
Streak: colorless

Pale green, color can be faint, rarely pink. Widespread in Lake Superior area but best specimens in Keweenaw. Forms in botryoidal (grape-like) masses usually in cavities in other rock. Found with minerals like calcite, epidote, zeolites, and copper. Prehnite growns around other minerals, in Michigan specimens can form after the copper and grow around it.

Metaphysical Properties: Prehnite is considered a stone of unconditional love and the crystal to heal the healer. It enhances precognition and inner knowing. Enables you always to be prepared. Prehnite calms the environment and brings peace and protection. It teaches how to be in harmony with nature and the elemental forces. Helpful for “decluttering” – letting go of possessions you no longer need, aiding those who hoard possessions, or love, because of an inner lack. Prehnite alleviates nightmares, phobias and deep fears, uncovering and healing the dis-ease that creates them. It is a stone for dreaming and remembering. Beneficial for hyperactive children and the causes that underlie the condition.

Patricianite is a pink variety of prehnite, commonly found in the basalts of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan. It may contain intermixed chlorite and native copper inclusions, and can be confused with thomsonite.

Basalt
Hardness: 5-6
Streak: n/a

Very common volcanic rock, great range of color from dark grey to black, greens, blues, reds. As lava it cooled so quickly that it became very dense and so finely grained that under a microscope cannot find distinctive features making it unique.

These basalt flows are quite thick and extensive, in which gas cavities are almost absent. In case of thin and irregular lava flows, gas cavities are formed on the rock surface. The rock is called “vesicular” basalt when the gas cavities are empty. The majority of the gas cavities are filled up by secondary minerals (zeolites, calcite, quartz, or chalcedony) and amygdales are formed. The rock containing such filled-up gas cavities is called “amygdaloidal” basalt

Metaphysical Properties: When used in jewelry, it is said to help the wearer find strength and courage in difficult times. The stone is also thought to promote physical and emotional healing. Basalt is a grounding stone that can help you to focus and connect with the earth. Transformation, change and rebirth.

Calcite
Hardness: 3
Streak: white

Very common, usually white or clear but can be colored by minerals nearby, often pink or red due to iron or copper in Michigan. Fills cavities or forms in pointed (dog tooth) or square crystals.

Vinegar will dissolve calcite, be careful when cleaning rocks found in the UP. Sometimes it is recommended to clean rocks with vinegar (I've seen this with some stones like Petoskey) but be sure of what you have before using. Of course, this could be used to an advantage when finding copper, often it is encased in calcite. You can soak a stone that has copper in the calcite to dissolve the calcite, revealing the copper. I have done this, it takes a few days depending on how much calcite. Also this is a good test to tell quartz from calcite, which can look very similiar when found raw. Just put a drop or two on the crystal and watch for a reaction ( a loop or magnifing glass helps), if it bubbles it is calcite, no reaction it is quartz. Wash off thoroughly if calcite to prevent damage to the crystal.

Metaphysical Properties: Calcite is commonly believed to increase and amplify energy--energy of healing, learning and awareness. Calcite is not only an oft-used cleanser in the material word, it is also believed to be a spiritual cleanser that changes perspective and renews commitment to making change. Calcite is also prized for its protection against negative energy as well as physical or psychological attacks.

Feldspar
Hardness: 6 - 6.5
Streak: white

Feldspar is a group of minerals containing potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminum silicates. Feldspar was given its name by Johan Gottschalk Wallerius in 1747. The name feldspar is derived from German "feld," meaning "field" because some early specimens were found in fields and "spar, " a geological term for non-metallic minerals with a vitreous luster and good cleavage.

Feldspar is an important and common raw material used to produce ceramics and geopolymers. Feldspar is also often used as an anti-caking agent in powdered forms of non-dairy creamer. Feldspar is an important ingredient in the manufacturing of glass. The alkali content in feldspar acts as a flux, lowering the glass batch melting temperature and reducing production costs.

Microcline: the "red feldspar" of the native copper deposits of Michigan is an unusual variety of microcline, forming a thin red line on the stone. Red microcline is found in cavities in the lava flows of the copper district.

Moonstone is a type of microcline feldspar, it can be found in Michigan but is not high quality so not typically listed as a location for it. It will have the shiller (relects light ) that is clear, not blue. I have found this variety. Labradorite has been noted as being found in Michigan, also a microcline feldspar, however in all my years of rock hounding, I have yet to find or see any evidence of it.

Orthoclase: The pink mineral found in sand is a variety of feldspar, orthoclase, and this mineral gives the pink or reddish color to the granites of buildings, monuments, and tombstones. But feldspar is white or light gray as well as pink or reddish. In addition to the color and hardness, the most important property of feldspar is the manner of cleavage, or splitting, by which two smooth, lustrous faces almost at right angles can be produced on large crystals. Even where the crystal grains are small, as in granite, one cleavage face or plane is always visible. These cleavage faces give the shiny light reflections from a freshly broken piece of granite.

Unakite, a unique green and pink rock, is found in Michigan, particularly along the shores of Lake Superior and in the Keweenaw Peninsula. It's also found occasionally around Lake Huron. This metamorphic rock is composed of green epidote, pink orthoclase feldspar, and quartz.

Feldspar is found everywhere in Michigan in the granite pebbles, cobbles and boulders in the soil and in gravel pits. Sometimes crystals one-half inch or longer can be found in certain kinds of granite. Large areas of granite form the bedrock in the western part of the Upper Peninsula. In some places pegmatite dikes which contain unusually large crystals of feldspar cut across other kinds of rock. Some of these dikes are located near Felch and Foster City in Dickinson County, near Republic in Marquette County, and near Gogebic Lake in Gogebic County, and large crystals of labradorite in a porphyritic rock in the same region (very rare).

Metaphysical Properties: Feldspar is believed to be a gemstone of creativity. Feldspar helps with finding unconventional and exciting ways to achieve goals by stimulating creative thinking. It increases your self-respect, self-esteem and self-awareness.

Feldspar is believed to help to align our chakras, subtle bodies and meridians and is good for astral travel.

I found an interesting article about it that is very technical http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/arc/mimicrocline.htm
if you are interested

Chlorite dark Green. Powerful positive healing stone, beneficial for the environment or personal energy field. With amethyst it removes energy implants and wards of psychic attack. With carnelian and ruby it protects against psychic attack and assists earthbound spirits to move on.

Copper said to combat lethargy, passivity, restlessness, excitabilty and non acceptance of ones self. also brings luck in recovering lost property. a major electric conductor making it a great tool for those involved in energy based healing.

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