THE HUNT FOR RED BERYL: POSSIBLE GEOCHEMICAL INDICATIONS OF RED BERYL BEARING RHYOLITES FROM WESTERN UTAH

Red beryl is an ultra-rare Fe/Mn rich variation of beryl. A caret of faceted red beryl can sell for as much as $10,000. There is only one mine of facet-able quality beryl in the world -the Ruby Violet claim located in the Wah Wah Mountains. Red beryl occurs in other various Topaz Rhyolites throughout western Utah, most notably in the Thomas Range, Juab County. Much research has focused on the genesis of the Wah Wah Mountain deposit.

Preliminary research studying the differences between Topaz Mountain red beryl and Wah Wah Mountain red beryl found patterns of depletion and enrichment in the whole rock geochemistry of the two sites. The two sites tended to be depleted with respect to their average composition in Ca, Mg, and Ti, and tended to be enriched in Mn and Fe₂O₃. When facet-able beryl and non-facet-able beryl were examined under SEM the crystals were found to be enriched in Mg, Fe, Mn and Ti. The non-facet-able beryl (Topaz Mt) tended to spike higher in Mg and Ti, while the facet-able beryl (Wah Wah) spiked higher in Fe and Mn. A sample not known to contain beryl, but known to contain garnet, followed similar patterns; more conclusive data is needed. In the preliminary research only two samples were analyzed. To see if the trends continue, two red beryl host rhyolite samples from the Thomas Range were added, as well as an additional sample from the Wah Wah Mountains. The samples were analyzed on ICP and XRD.

The wider sample set revealed the same enrichment and depletion patterns previously found. One of the Thomas Range samples had a Ca value consistent with the Wah Wah samples: 0.29 wt%. The Mg value for this sample was within a standard deviation of the Mg values for the Thomas Range. The beryl from this site was slightly larger (1cm in diameter) than the other Thomas Range beryl samples (about 0.5cm in diameter). The Ti and Mn values were fairly similar from the Thomas Range with values within one standard deviation of the average. The same is true of the Wah Wah samples. The Thomas Range’s Fe₂O₃, Mg (excluding the previously mentioned sample), and Ca values were all similar with respective ranges of 0.08-0.12, 1.11-1.38, and 0.54-0.56 wt%. The Wah Wah samples were enriched in Fe, but did not have similar values. The Ca and Mg values were similar with respective spreads of 0.15-0.19 and 0.0-0.058 wt%.