Quartz

specimen number:
9892125

location:
Crystal Hill Mine, La Garita, Saguache Co., Colorado, USA

description:
Showy grouping of glassy gem very pale amethystine quartz crystals without matrix. Aesthetically arranged and in great condition all around.

Located near La Garita in Saguache County, Colorado, the Crystal Hill Mine lies within an epithermal mineral deposit set in Oligocene volcanic ash-flow tuffs and breccia structures on the northwestern edge of the San Luis Valley. Hydrothermal fluids circulating through these fractured host rocks deposited precious metals alongside abundant silicon dioxide mineralization. Mining in the area began in 1881 following early discoveries of gold and silver in collapse breccia, which prompted short-lived boom towns like Biedell. Modern open-cut heap leach operations targeted low-grade gold ores in the late 1970s and 1980s before the site underwent partial land reclamation. Beyond its commercial mining history, the locality is well known to rockhounds and mineral collectors for producing fine specimens of quartz, including clear rock crystal, smoky quartz, and pale lavender amethyst crystals that formed inside small vugs and rock cavities.

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