[Graphite]
C
Plumbago
Occurs in hexagonal scales or flakes, in layered masses, or earthy lumps; hardness, 1; specific gravity, 2.1; color black or steel-gray; streak gray; luster metallic; opaque on thin edges.
Like the diamond graphite is pure carbon, but in this case it is in non-crystalline form. It occurs in both igneous and metamorphic rocks. In the former case it is either in flakes in the rock, or in veins, and has been derived directly from the molten magmas, having either precipitated in the hardening granite or lava, or having been carried into the fissures and there precipitated to make the veins of graphite. In either case the graphite probably represents organic deposits which have been melted into the igneous magma at the time of its formation. Graphite may also occur in metamorphic rocks, beds of coal or other organic deposits being altered by the heat. Such beds are often of considerable extent and economic importance.
The extreme softness, greasy feel, and the dark-gray streak readily distinguish graphite.
It is widely used in making crucibles and furnace linings for foundries, lead pencils, paint, lubricating powders, etc.
Graphite is found at Brandon, Vt., Sturbridge, Mass., Ashford, Conn., in Essex, Warren and Washington Cos., N. Y., Clay, Chilton and Coosa Cos., Ala., Raton, N. M., Dillon, Mont., etc.
[Diamond]
C
Occurs in octahedral crystals; hardness, 10; specific gravity, 3.5; colorless to yellow, brown, blue, etc., luster adamantine; transparent on thin edges.
Like graphite the diamond is pure carbon, but in this case in crystal form. It is the hardest of all minerals, and as brilliant as any; so that in spite of being by no means the rarest, it may easily be considered the most popular of all gems. Tiny diamonds have been made artificially under great heat and pressure; so that this mineral is thought of as forming in Nature in dark igneous lavas at great depths. The diamond has good cleavage parallel to the octahedron faces, and, in spite of some traditions to the contrary, is brittle.
There are not many diamond localities, the most famous being the Kimberley district of South Africa, which produces many times as many diamonds as all the others put together, though all the time some are being found in Borneo and Brazil. A very few have been found in the United States, only one locality however yielding them in the original matrix. That is at Murfreesboro, Ark., where they are mined in a disintegrating peridotite (a dark lava, mostly peridot), which has been extruded through the sedimentary rocks of that region. This matrix is similar to the “blue earth,” the matrix of the diamonds of South Africa, which occurs in “pipes,” representing the necks of ancient volcanoes. The American diamonds are of small size, averaging considerably less than a third of a carat in weight, which does not allow great value to the individual diamonds.