Diopside with Calcite

specimen number:
2354098

location:
Kajiado Co., Kenya

description:
Pale yellowish green lustrous mostly gemmy crystal of diopside 1.2 x 1.2 x 0.6 cm in size standing up from a blue cleavage calcite matrix. This is in good condition.

Located in southwestern Kenya, Kajiado County features extensive Precambrian Mozambique Belt basement rocks, including high-grade metamorphic calcitic and dolomitic marble bands interlayered with gneisses and schists. These ancient sedimentary carbonate formations underwent regional metamorphism during the Pan-African Orogeny, producing massive white crystalline limestones as well as distinct blue, green, and dark-greyish varieties. Commercial extraction was pioneered in 1923 by Kenya Marble Quarries Limited near Turoka, initiating over a century of open-pit mining for decorative statuary, floor tiles, agricultural lime, and cement aggregate. Beyond industrial quarrying, the region has attracted mineral collecting interest for its rich calc-silicate assemblies, yielding notable rock-forming mineral specimens including coarse calcite crystals, hornblende, graphitic veins, garnet, and accessory silicate inclusions exposed across active and abandoned quarry faces.

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