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This month we feature a massive quartz from Pakistan. It's an impressive size even for a fine quartz crystal, but this one has an added dimension that makes it quite unique. From its original crystalized state an exsolution process has created beautifully etched crystal faces with wild jagged patterns. The crystal has maintained its transparency on the inside but the surface has been transformed into a complex geometric puzzle. There is even a linear vug wrapping around the crystal like a cliffside cavern (see photos here).
This month we feature a malachite and azurite from south of the border that seems to take on a symbolic holiday form of (all) sorts. The evergreen mass is a fibrous chatoyant malachite. Dangling from the bottom left are four main azurite clusters: pristine well-formed crystals that even show some transparency. The rest of the specimen has then been magically hung with spherical pyrite ornaments from China and topped with a complex penetrating spinel twin from Burma. A dazzling array for the season upon us.
Pala International's featured mineral this month is a fine gold specimen from a relatively new find in Brazil. The majority of this material came to the market in early 2016, with some specimens only trickling out recently. This month we can offer one of our fine crystalized golds for a collector interested in a beautiful small miniature for their collection.
This specimen appeals to the connoisseur on so many levels. Matrix gwindel specimens of this caliber are quite rare. What is very nice about this piece is it has a double-terminated single crystal smoky in front of the gwindel. The clusters of quartz crystals surrounding it are all terminated and sit on a white feldspar matrix. The gwindel itself is perched on the side, bending and twisting toward the center. It is well viewed from every angle.
This crystal of apatite is perched right on top of the quartz matrix. Measuring 2.6 cm x 1.5 cm x 2 cm, the main apatite crystal is 1.5 cm x 1.3 cm. This is rather large for the locality and is quite a deep purple. The apatite is ex John C. Medici Collection. It comes from Foote Lithium Co. Mine, Kings Mountain District, Cleveland Co., North Carolina, USA. It would be great for any collector of American rarities.
This specimen was offered to be in sync with the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show theme, "Shades of Blue: Minerals of the World." This beauty hails from the Sepon Mine in southern Laos, an open pit copper and gold mine. (Gold production was suspended in 2013.) Its azurite blades range from deep blue to brilliant, and the malachite features bulbous apricot-like blobs, berry-like rounds, and even a pseudomorph at lower right. It's a beautifully complex specimen that calls out for consideration.
First we feature another iridescent rainbow goethite found about 27 years ago. The perfection and coloring of this specimens is fantastic. Formerly in the collection of Emilio Rodenas.
This is a very fine pink tourmaline with a green cap from a unusual locality in Badakshan, Afghanistan. The tourmaline is from the Deodara Mine and sits on a nice matrix bed of feldspars and has a beautiful quartz crystal balancing the specimen on the opposite side. This is one of the largest and finest specimens to come out of this locality. The tourmaline is repaired at the base but it is a lock fit. This is really a choice piece for those collecting fine quality tourmalines/pegmatite minerals.