Almandine

specimen number:
2354172

location:
Nuevo, Riverside Co., California, USA

description:
Good locality example for the species, deep red to almost black semi lustrous crystals of almandine measuring to 1.7 cm in size embedded throughout matrix. In good condition.

Located in the Lakeview Mountains near Nuevo in Riverside County, California, the local granitic pegmatite deposits, most notably exposed at the Southern Pacific Silica Quarry, formed within the Cretaceous Peninsular Ranges Batholith as coarse-grained igneous dikes. During the twentieth century, commercial quarrying targeted these pegmatite bodies primarily for silica and feldspar, while exposing accessory mineral assemblages rich in rare-earth elements, uranium, thorium, and iron-bearing silicate species. Among these secondary and rock-forming minerals, almandine occurs as distinct brownish-red to dark red garnets embedded within the quartz and microcline matrix, forming classic isometric crystals and crystalline masses. Although commercial quarrying operations eventually ceased, the Nuevo pegmatite field became well known among regional mineral collectors and field prospectors for yielding notable almandine garnets alongside rare pegmatite species.

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