Moraesite

specimen number:
2354043

location:
Itinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:
Very choice example for the species, this matrix is completely coated with silky white micro crystals of moraesite. The specimen comes with two previous labels from the collection of Jack Nieburger.

Situated along the Jequitinhonha Valley in Minas Gerais, Brazil, the Itinga district is famous for its extensive granitic pegmatites that intruded ancient metamorphic rocks. These pegmatite deposits have been heavily exploited by local miners (garimpeiros) since the mid-twentieth century for commercial lithium ores, gemstones, and rare phosphate minerals. Itinga is the type locality for moraesite, a rare hydrated beryllium phosphate mineral that forms delicate white to pale-yellow fibrous rosettes and delicate crystalline crusts within the altered secondary cavities of these complex pegmatites.

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