Hematite with Rutile

specimen number:
2063329

location:
Cavradi gorge, Val Curnera, Tujetsch, Surselva, Grisons, Switzerland

description:
Classic Swiss Alpine specimen consisting of bright lustrous platy metallic crystals of hematite in a cluster with little attached matrix. Some contacting present along a few crystal edges, this still very nice. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Located in Val Curnera within the municipality of Tujetsch, Surselva Region, Grisons, Switzerland, the Cavradi Gorge is world-famous among mineral collectors for its classic Alpine cleft geology. The gorge cuts through a distinct iron-rich zone hosted in altered metamorphic rock, producing open cavities filled with pristine hydrothermal mineralization. Historically, the locality has seen no major industrial mining, but local crystal hunters known as Strahlers have worked the steep, hazardous cliffs for centuries. Cavradi Gorge is prized for producing world-class specimens of high-gloss, tabular hematite plates arranged in iron rose habits, often perched on lustrous smoky quartz, adularia, and micro-crystals of rutile or anatase.

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