Page 4 Advertisements Column 4

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 December 1945, Page 4

A fine crystal of the rare mineral beryl, a beryllium aluminium .silicate, •has just been received by the Canterbury Museum. It was presented by Mr. C. F. Schadick, engineer-clerk of the Buller County Council, and was found by him in a quarry near Charleston, on the coast road between Westport and Greymouth. The crystal of beryl occurred together with quartz and feldspar in a pagmatite (granite) dyke, which has been worked as a source of feldspar for use in the pottery industry. The crystal is about five inches in diameter, pale green in colour, and has the typical hexagonal shape of beryl crystals. Beryl is an uncommon mineral and has been found in New Zealand only at Charleston, Dusky Sound, and Stewart Island and is quite rare at these localities. According to Dr. B. I-I. Mason, honorary mineralogist to the museum, the present specimen is probably the finest that has yet been found in New Zealand. In recent years beryl has achieved some commercial significance as the only ore of the metal beryllium, a light metal similar to aluminium and possessing valuableproperties when alloyed with other metals. _ ’