Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org



The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USA

Oldest recorded age at locality: 5.3
Youngest recorded age at locality: 0

mindat Locality ID: 3531
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-3531.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USA": 0
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 0

Latitude: 36°20'9"N
Longitude: 120°36'19"W
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 36.335833333333,-120.60527777778

AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Ag Al Ba C Ca Ce Cl Cu F Fe H K Li Mg Mn Na Nb O S Si Ti W 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: Ag Al Ba C Ca Ce Cl Cu F Fe H K Li Mg Mn Na Nb O S Si Ti W 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AmphiboleAnalcimeAragoniteBaotiteBenitoiteCalciteClayCopperCovelliteDigenite
FeldsparGarnetJoaquiniteMeliliteNatroliteNeptuniteNoneNot in a structural groupPectolitePerovskite
PyritePyroxeneSerpentineVesuvianite

31 IMA Minerals at location:
Actinolite  (*)Aegirine  (*)Albite  (*)Analcime  (*)Anatase  (*)
Andradite  (*)Aragonite  (*)Baotite  (*)Bario-orthojoaquinite  (*)Barioperovskite  (*)
Benitoite  (*)Calcite  (*)Chalcocite  (*)Chrysotile  (*)Covellite  (*)
Delindeite  (*)Digenite  (*)Diopside  (*)Djurleite  (*)Fresnoite  (*)
Glaucophane  (*)Joaquinite-(Ce)  (*)Jonesite  (*)Natrolite  (*)Neptunite  (*)
Orthojoaquinite-(Ce)  (*)Perovskite  (*)Pyrite  (*)Serandite  (*)Silver  (*)
Vesuvianite  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Actinolite  (*)Amphibole   Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe2+0.5-2.5)Si8O22(OH)25.3003419
Aegirine  (*)PyroxeneNaFe3+Si2O65.3001022
Albite  (*)FeldsparNa(AlSi3O8)5.3008803
Analcime  (*)AnalcimeNa(AlSi2O6)·H2O5.3001627
Anatase  (*)Not in a structural groupTiO25.3002162
Andradite  (*)GarnetCa3Fe3+2(SiO4)35.3001534
Aragonite  (*)AragoniteCa(CO3)5.3003250
Baotite  (*)BaotiteBa4(Ti,Nb,W)8O16(SiO3)4Cl5.30027
Bario-orthojoaquinite  (*)JoaquiniteBa4Fe2+2Ti2O2(SiO3)8·H2O5.3002
Barioperovskite  (*)PerovskiteBaTiO35.3001
Benitoite  (*)BenitoiteBaTiSi3O95.30020
Calcite  (*)CalciteCa(CO3)5.30027770
Chalcocite  (*)NoneCu2S5.3005707
Chrysotile  (*)Serpentine ClayMg3Si2O5(OH)45.300951
Covellite  (*)CovelliteCuS5.3004165
Delindeite  (*)NoneBa2Ti2(Na2   )Ti(Si2O7)2(OH)2(H2O)2O25.3004
Digenite  (*)DigeniteCu1.8S5.3001027
Diopside  (*)PyroxeneCaMgSi2O65.3004135
Djurleite  (*)NoneCu31S165.300300
Fresnoite  (*)MeliliteBa2TiO(Si2O7)5.30017
Glaucophane  (*)Amphibole   Na2(Mg3Al2)Si8O22(OH)25.300286
Joaquinite-(Ce)  (*)JoaquiniteNaBa2Fe2+Ti2Ce2(Si4O12)2O2(OH)·H2O5.30011
Jonesite  (*)Not in a structural groupKBa2Ti2(Si5Al)O18·nH2O5.3002
Natrolite  (*)NatroliteNa2(Si3Al2)O10·2H2O5.3001236
Neptunite  (*)NeptuniteKNa2LiFe2+2Ti2Si8O245.30049
Orthojoaquinite-(Ce)  (*)JoaquiniteNaBa2Fe2+Ce2Ti2(SiO3)8O2(O,OH)·H2O5.3003
Perovskite  (*)PerovskiteCaTiO35.300495
Pyrite  (*)PyriteFeS25.30039462
Serandite  (*)PectoliteNaMn2+2Si3O8(OH)5.30038
Silver  (*)CopperAg5.3005186
Vesuvianite  (*)Vesuvianite(Ca,Na)19(Al,Mg,Fe)13(SiO4)10(Si2O7)4(OH,F,O)105.3001395



1 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Hg-000455.30 ?-?    YesCalomel, Cinnabar, Clearcreekite, Deanesmithite, Edgarbaileyite, Edoylerite, Gianellaite, Hanawaltite, Mercury, Metacinnabar, Montroydite, Mosesite, Peterbaylissite, Schuetteite, Szymanskiite, Tedhadleyite, Terlinguaite, Tiemannite, Wattersite, EglestoniteHg6418New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USACalifornia Mercury OccurrencesStudemeister (1984)10.1007/BF00199786MD19_202 


SampleSource LocalityReference URL
FKM-244California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://www.rockptx.com/fkm-226-to-fkm-250/#FKM-244
R060350California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://rruff.info/R060350
R050332California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://rruff.info/R050332
R120101California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://rruff.info/R120101
R070735California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://rruff.info/R070735
R070288California State Gem Mine (Dallas Gem Mine; Benitoite Mine; Benitoite Gem Mine; Gem Mine), Santa Rita Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USAhttps://rruff.info/R070288


All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

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