50 THE MINERALS OF TASMANIA. 



dnm, which is comparatively abundant at the locality, as 

 is also the zircon. 



81. Chrysocolla (Silicate of Copper). 



This mineral usually occurs as a thin crust on other 

 copper minerals. Colour : Various shades of emerald- 

 green, passing to pale-blue. Obtained as a thin coating in 

 small patches, Star of Peace Mine, Cascade. 



82. Chrysolite (Silicate of Magnesiurn and Iron). 



This is also known as olivine. As a rule rocks containing 

 this species are no good for the important metallic minerals, 

 and its occurrence may with some certainty be looked upon 

 as an indication of their non-existence. Large specimens 

 form the green stone termed peridot, but those occurring 

 here are usually too small to be of use to the jeweller. 

 Found in pale-green semi-transparent particles in basalt, 

 Dundas ; in amygdaloidal basalt at Bischoff and the Wil- 

 mot River ; Upper Forth River, massive in basaltic dyke : 

 of a yellowish-green colour in coarsely crystalline dolerite> 

 Paddy's Sugar Loaf Mountain (W. R. Bell) ; near Hamp- 

 shire Hills ; Deloraine ; as somewhat large crystals, often 

 a third of an inch in diameter, which are of a bluish colour 

 and opalescent tarnish, in partially-decomposed basalt at 

 the Emu River ; commonly scattered as small blebs in 

 black basalt. Table Cape ; in large masses, often inter 

 mixed with zeolitic matter, Sheffield : in basalt at Derby,. 

 as well as in most basaltic rocks occurring in this island. 



83. Chrysotile ( Hydrated Silicate of Magnesium). 



Almost all of the locally termed asbestos belongs to this 

 species ; it usually occurs as seams and patches in serpen- 

 cine. Abundant near Beaconsfield and the Asbestos Range. 

 The fibres are occasionally up to 4 inches in length, pale in 

 colour, silky and beautifully soft to the touch. It is 

 easily separable from the more compact rock. Samples 

 occasionally occur which show a gradual transition to 

 hematite, with which it is closely associated. At the 

 Heazlewood it abounds in the serpentine, but is short in 

 fibre and amianthus-like. About Mt. Heemskirk it occurs- 

 wherever its parent rock exists, sometimes as short 

 entangled masses of a white colour ; in greater or less 

 quantity at Mt. Claude and Dundas ; and it is said to 

 occur east of the Mussel Roe River, North-East Coast. 



