Milky Quartz, the Cloudy White Variety of Quartz

Milky Quartz, the Cloudy White Variety of Quartz

Milky Quartz is any quartz crystal or cluster that is white in color and cloudy. The cloudy white character of the crystals is what lead to the variety name, milky. The cloudiness of milky quartz comes from microscopic inclusions of fluids that have been encased in the crystal from the time the crystal first grew. From a cynical point of view the inclusions have ruined the crystal from being used for the many purposes that quartz crystals are tasked to do (e.g. gemstones or optic purposes). However, milky quartz is used in many fine ornamental carvings and the fluid inclusions can give milky quartz a attractive greasy luster unlike the other varieties of quartz.

 

Milky quartz is occasionally associated with gold in hydrothermal veins. Prospectors searching for gold laden ore look for outcrops of milky white quartz veins. 

Colored by minute inclusions of gas and/or liquid trapped during crystallization.