Lepidolite on Elbaite (16.34g)

specimen number:
2062599

location:
Santa Rosa mine, Itambacuri, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:
A unique and attractive combination specimen, this with a double terminated glassy gem green crystal of elbaite, hosting to purple lustrous crystals of hexagonal lepidolite measuring to 1.3 cm across. This is in great condition all around with very slight micro-damage present. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark. He acquired the specimen from the dealer Tom Palmer in the middle 1970s.

The Santa Rosa Mine, located in the Itambacuri and Franciscopolis district of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a historic site within the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province. Geologically, the area formed within the crystalline core of the Neoproterozoic Aracuai Orogen, where sheetlike granite pegmatite dikes intruded local biotite schists and gneisses. These pocket-rich pegmatites developed through late-stage magmatic fluids that created cavities housing exceptional multicolored tourmaline crystals. Historically, the site initially operated as a mica mine beginning in 1938 before shutting down after World War II. It achieved global fame for mineral collecting on October 12, 1967, when prospectors discovered rich deposits of gem-quality tourmalines weathering out of the hillsides, sparking an intense local mining rush.

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