Figure 1. Since mid-2002, increasing amounts of spessartine (and some almandine-spessartine) have emerged from Afghanistan. The spessartine in matrix measures at least 3 cm in diameter, and the loose crystals weigh 3.59–15.47 ct. Courtesy of Intimate Gems; photo by Maha Tannous.

Beginning in mid-2002, these contributors received occasional reports of new spessartine discoveries in Afghanistan, and a few faceted stones stated to be from this production were seen at the Tucson gem shows in 2003 and 2004. Recently, a multitude of rough and cut samples of this material were loaned (and, in some cases, donated) to GIA by Sir-Faraz (“Farooq”) Hashmi of Intimate Gems. Most of these samples were purchased in late 2003, in the mineral bazaar at Peshawar, Pakistan. The dealers reported the garnets were mined from pegmatites in the Darre Pech area of Kunar Province, where they were apparently recovered as a byproduct of mining for kunzite and tourmaline.

 

Figure 2. This group of yellow-orange to orange spessartines from Afghanistan ranges from 0.78 to 1.68 ct. Courtesy of Intimate Gems; photo by Maha Tannous.

was a small crystal of kunzite (2.6 cm long) associated with spessartine and feldspar, while the  other consisted of spessartine in a matrix of albite (cleavelandite variety) and K-feldspar that was covered by a thin layer of a porcelaneous clay-like material (again, see figure 1). The spessartine crystal in the latter specimen measured at least 3 cm in diameter, with some areas suitable for faceting. The rough parcel consisted of broken fragments and a few well-formed crystals, as well as pieces that were moderately to heavily corroded (as is typical of spessartine from some pegmatites).

 

Figure 3. This group of orange-red to dark red almandine-spessartines (0.41–1.28 ct) is reportedly from the same mining area as the orange spessartines in figure 18. Courtesy of Intimate Gems; photo by Maha Tannous.

The faceted examples we examined comprised two distinct color groups. Each group was cut from rough purchased at different times, but represented as being from the same mining area. One group ranged from yellow-orange to orange (figure 2), and the other ranged from orange-red to dark red (figure 3). Two stones from each color group were chosen by one of us (EPQ) for examination. The following properties were obtained: R.I.—1.799 (yellow-orange), 1.802 (orange), and both red stones were above the limits of a standard refractometer; S.G.—4.26 (yellow-orange), 4.28 (orange), and 4.22 (orange-red), and 4.24 (red); fluorescence—all were inert to both long- and short-wave UV radiation; and all had similar absorption spectra when viewed with a desk-model spectroscope. The absorption features consisted of strong bands at 410 and 430 (although these two bands converged in the red stones, creating a cutoff at 440 nm), with weaker bands at 460, 480, 505, 520, and 570 nm. In the two red stones, the 505 and 570 nm bands were more pronounced than they were in the orange stones. This is consistent with their greater inferred iron content, as indicated by their darker and redder color. Based on these properties, the orange-red to dark red garnets are probably a mixture of spessartine and almandine.

Microscopic examination revealed “fingerprints,” two-phase inclusions, and needles in all four of the samples. The properties of the yellow-orange to orange stones are comparable to those reported for spessartine from other deposits (see compilation in B. M. Laurs and K. Knox, “Spessartine garnet from Ramona, San Diego County, California,” Winter 2001 Gems & Gemology, pp. 278–295), except for the higher S.G. values obtained for the Afghan samples in this study.

Figure 4. At 12.58 ct, this oval brilliant provides a fine example of a relatively large spessartine from Afghanistan. Courtesy of Mark Kaufman of Kaufman Enterprises, San Diego, California; photo by Maha Tannous.

According to Mr. Hashmi, most of the facetable rough seen thus far in the Peshawar market has weighed less than 2 g, although some 3–5 g pieces were available and the largest clean rough known to him weighed 15 g (a well-formed crystal). The faceted material has typically ranged up to 2 ct, although a 12.58 ct oval brilliant reportedly from this locality was seen at the 2003 Tucson gem shows (figure 4).

Curiously, faceted examples of this spessartine look very similar to the hessonite that also has come from eastern Afghanistan in recent years (see entry on pp. 258–259 of this section). In fact, Mr. Hashmi cautioned that some rough parcels he has examined contained both types of garnets.

Elizabeth P. Quinn and Brendan M. Laurs
Gemological Institute of America, Carlsbad