Astrophyllite

specimen number:
8911094

location:
Eveslogchorr Mt, Murmansk Oblast, Russia

description:
Rich lustrous bronze colored sprays of astrophyllite crystals measuring to 4.0 cm in size embedded throughout matrix. Good palm sized example for the species. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

Eveslogchorr Mountain, located within the alkaline igneous complex of the Khibiny Massif in the Murmansk Oblast on Russia Kola Peninsula, is a world-renowned geological site celebrated for its rare pegmatites and exceptional mineral diversity. Exploration and mineralogical collecting in the rugged alpine terrain gained momentum during the early twentieth century through expeditions led by Russian scientists, including Alexander Fersman, who mapped the area and documented its unique pegmatitic veins along watercourses such as Astrophyllite Stream. The mountain is particularly famous for producing spectacular specimens of astrophyllite, a heavy, potassium-iron-titanium silicate mineral prized by collectors for its brilliant metallic to copper-bronze luster and striking golden-yellow to reddish-brown coloration. Astrophyllite typically crystallizes in intricate, bladed, radiating starbursts or fan-like aggregates embedded within a light-colored matrix of nepheline or feldspar, taking its name from the Greek words for star and leaf in reference to its distinctive foliage-like radial crystal habits.

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