Zultanite is a gem variety of the mineral diaspore, mined in the İlbir Mountains of southwest Turkey at an elevation of over 4,000 feet.[1] The mineral's name is a trade name and is equivalent to the trade name Csarite.[2]
Turkey is the only place where the gem quality material has been found,[3]: 154 and at the Ilbir Dağ deposit it has been "formed in open spaces by hydrothermal remobilization of bauxite components".[1] The gem quality material was first discovered in the early 1980s.[4]
Zultanite has a hardness of 6.5 to 7.[5] Depending on its light source, zultanite's color varies between a yellowish green, light gold, and purplish pink.[1] Its color can be pastel green in outdoor light and beige pink in incandescent light.[6]: 105
- ^ a b c Hatipoğlu, Murat; Türk, Necdet; Chamberlain, Steven C.; Akgün, A. Murat (February 2010). "Gem-quality transparent diaspore (zultanite) in bauxite deposits of the İlbir Mountains, Menderes Massif, SW Turkey". Mineralium Deposita. 45 (2): 201–205. Bibcode:2010MinDe..45..201H. doi:10.1007/s00126-009-0262-2. S2CID 128606419.
- ^ Rosen, Lisa. "A Short History of Diaspore and its trade names Zultanite and Csarite". The Gem Society. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ PROCEEDINGS 4th International Congress on "Science and Technology for the Safeguard of Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean Basin" VOL. II. Angelo Ferrari. ISBN 978-88-96680-32-2.
- ^ "New Acquisitions - Diaspore". The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- ^ "Zultanite: A Color Changing Stone". Retrieved 2021-11-24.
- ^ Jewelry & Gems - The Buying Guide, 7th Edition. Gemstone Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-943763-71-2.