Phenakite

specimen number:
2063380

location:
Mt. Antero, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA

description:
Colorless to pale yellowish large blocky loose slightly translucent and lustrous crystal of phenakite without matrix. In excellent condition. Classic for the species and locality. Collected by Nick Golosow in 1978.

Mt. Antero, located in Chaffee County, Colorado, is a famous high-altitude mineral locality situated within the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. Geologically, the peak is composed of the Mount Antero Granite, a Tertiary batholith where cooling fluids formed extensive beryllium-rich pegmatites and hydrothermal veins in the granite host rock. First documented by prospectors in the late 19th century, the mountain became renowned among miners and rockhounds for producing world-class phenakite specimens, which typically occur as translucent to transparent, colorless-to-pale-yellow tabular crystals embedded in quartz or microcline cavities. Today, collecting on Mt. Antero remains a rugged tradition, with gem hunters navigating extreme weather and high elevation to uncover some of North America's finest phenakite crystals.

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