Search Mineralpedia – A Mineral Photo Database and Identification Guide

Named for Scottish metallurgical chemist Allan Brugh Dick, who was the first to describe the species. Dickite is relatively common and widespread with well studied material from localities in Wales, Hungary, France, South Africa, the United States, and Mexico, along with many other localities. It occurs typically of hydrothermal origin in veins that were derived in part from altered aluminosilicate minerals and can additionally be found as an authigenic mineral in sediments and sedimentary rocks. Dickite is associated with quartz and quartz variety chalcedony.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/dickite.pdf

Named in honor of Richard W. Thomssen, an American economic geologist and a collector of microscopic mineral specimens. Dickthomssenite is a rare mineral that occurs only in Utah in the United States at its type locality in the Firefly-Pigmay mine, as well as in the Vanadium Queen and Blue Cap mines. Dickthomssenite occurs in an oxidized uranium-vanadium deposit in association with pascoite, sherwoodite, and selenium.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/dickthomssenite.pdf

Named for the Greek dyo, from which the prefix di- gets its origin to represent “two,” and opsi, meaning “face,” in reference to the two possible orientations of the vertical prism. Diopside is a relatively common mineral that can be found of fine quality in localities in Austria, Italy, Finland, Russia, Canada, the United States, Madagascar, China, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan, among many other general localities. It occurs commonly in skarn, calcium and magnesium rich gneiss and schist, kimberlites, and peridotites and is typical of metamorphosed silicious calcium and magnesium rich rocks in the pyroxene-hornfels and epidote-amphibolite facies. Less commonly, Diopside can be found in alkaline olivine basalt and andesite.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diopside.pdf

Named after the Greek words dia mesou, which means “through,” and optasia, for “vision,” in reference to the ability of the viewer to look through the mineral and see the internal cleavage directions. Found in oxidixed copper deposits, Dioptase is a somewhat uncommon mineral that can be found in localities in Kazakhstan, Romania, the United States, Argentina, Chile, the Congo Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, and many other min or localities. Dioptase is pyroelectric and will generate a charge in response to temperature changes.

Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/dioptase.pdf