Caryopilite with Quartz, Kutnohorite

specimen number:
2354108

location:
Valgraveglia Mine, Reppia, Geno, Liguria, Italy

description:
Fairly rich tan colored botryoidal crystallized caryopilite in groupings to 0.2 cm in diameter mostly covering an area 4.0 x 1.0 cm in size on a quartz matrix with minor kutnohorite. Good example for the species, this is in good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Eric Laskowski.

Located in the Graveglia Valley within the Ligurian Apennines of northern Italy, the Val Graveglia Mine (near Reppia, Genoa) is famed for its complex manganese ore deposit hosted within Jurassic radiolarites and ophiolitic sequences. The mine was actively exploited from the nineteenth century through the late twentieth century, yielding manganese primarily for industrial steel production. Submarine hydrothermal activity followed by low-grade alpine metamorphism created an extraordinary environment that generated dozens of rare hydrated silicate and manganese mineral species. Among these is caryopilite, a hydrated manganese silicate mineral typically forming brown to reddish-brown fine-grained masses, rosette-like aggregates, or platy crystals in fracture veinlets. Val Graveglia became a renowned locality for mineral collectors and researchers alike, who sought out its unique micro-minerals and rich suites of rare secondary manganese species prior to the cessation of mining operations.

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