Elbaite

specimen number:
8911043

location:
Barra do Salinas, Coronel Murta, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:
A thick glassy gem green and deep red color zoned crystal of elbaite. Naturally healed on the base, this is in perfect condition and very sharply formed. The crystal weighs 31 g.

Situated within the Aracuai pegmatite district near Coronel Murta in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Barra do Salinas is a famous pegmatite locality renowned for its granitic pegmatites intruded into Precambrian metamorphic host rocks. These complex, highly differentiated pegmatite dikes formed through late-stage magmatic crystallization and pocket-forming hydrothermal fluids, concentrating rare elements that allowed extraordinary mineral crystals to grow in open vugs. Decades of small-scale artisanal mining, garimpeiro activity, and specimen collecting have brought international acclaim to the site. Barra do Salinas is especially prized among mineral collectors for yielding world-class elbaite crystals, a member of the tourmaline group, which frequently display exceptional transparency, sharp faces, and dramatic color zoning, including spectacular combinations of pink, green, and blue hues.

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