Bixbyite with Fluorite, Topaz, Quartz, Ilmenite

specimen number:
2063744

location:
Thomas Range, Juab Co., Utah, USA

description:
Bright lustrous sharp cubic crystal of bixbyite 0.7 cm on edge set across the top of a rhyolite matrix that is mostly coated on one side by light purple crystallized fluorite. Colorless crystallized quartz is present throughout. Small gemmy crystals of topaz and very tiny black ilmenite crystals are present as well. The specimen comes with several previous labels, including one from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Situated in Juab County, western Utah, the Thomas Range is world-renowned for its exceptional rhyolite flows formed during the Miocene epoch. Volcanic vapors moving through cooling cavities in the rock created ideal conditions for the crystallization of rare minerals, including bixbyite, pseudobrookite, and red beryl. Bixbyite, a striking black cubic oxide of iron and manganese, was discovered in the region by prospector Maynard Bixby in the late nineteenth century. The rugged desert area has since become a legendary destination for mineral collectors who carefully break open the hard rhyolite matrix to extract these sharp, mirror-faced crystals, making Thomas Range bixbyite specimens prized centerpieces in global mineral collections.

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