Quartz

specimen number:
9302298

location:
Piedra Parada, Veracruz, Mexico

description:

An attractive cluster of glassy gemmy purple quartz crystals. This is the variety often called amethyst. Classic locality, in great condition all around.

The Piedra Parada locality, situated near the town of Las Vigas de Ramirez in Veracruz, Mexico, is a world-renowned mineral deposit famous for producing highly aesthetic amethyst specimens. Geologically, the area features a complex sequence of Tertiary-aged volcanic rocks, primarily consisting of andesitic and basaltic flows, tuffs, and breccias. Hydrothermal fluids circulating through these volcanic host units filled vesicular cavities and fractures, depositing quartz that crystallized under precise temperatures to form long, slender, intensely zoned purple amethyst prisms, often perched on a matrix of altered volcanic rock or associated with microcline and epidote. Mining at the site has historically bypassed major industrial corporate milling, operating instead as a localized, seasonal, and artisanal specimen-mining endeavor since the mid-twentieth century. Local prospectors and independent miners have worked the steep, forested terrain using hand tools to carefully extract individual pockets, with active field collecting and surface mining continuing into the twenty-first century to supply the international mineral market.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.