Cordierite

specimen number:
2062648

location:
Richmond Quarry, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire, USA

description:
A double terminated crystal of cordierite 2.0 cm in length set perfectly up on matrix. A smaller crystal is attached to one side. The crystal grouping is standing free from the matrix and in good condition all around.

The Richmond Quarry in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, historically operated as a soapstone mine. Geologically, the site features metamorphic host rocks and quartz dikes where remarkable specimens of cordierite formed. Cordierite is a magnesium-iron-aluminum cyclosilicate mineral that typically occurs in metamorphic environments. At this historic New Hampshire locality, cordierite frequently appears as well-formed, prismatic or barrel-shaped crystals embedded within quartz matrices and often undergoes surface weathering that alters the mineral into a greenish-white mica known as pinite.

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