Spessartine on Quartz

specimen number:
9509909

location:
Wushan Mine, Tongbei, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China

description:

Very unusual grouping from this prolific locality showing smoky quartz crystals mostly coated by gemmy orange red crystals of spessartine to 0.3 cm in size. What makes this unusual is that the pyramidal terminations on the quartz crystals are grayish in color due to inclusions. These are preferential in the prism faces remain smoky and color. In perfect condition and measures 7.5 x 7.0 x 5.0 cm. This is old material collected over 30 years ago.

The Wushan Mine near Tongbei in Yunxiao County, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China, is world-famous among mineral collectors for its exquisite spessartine garnet specimens. Discovered and actively mined primarily in the 1990s, commercial specimen extraction slowed down significantly and the locality has since become largely inactive or protected due to local government regulations on mining. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within miarolitic cavities of complex granitic pegmatites intruded into regional rock formations. The vibrant red-orange spessartine crystals typically formed alongside smoky quartz, feldspar, muscovite and sometimes fluorite inside these specialized gas-vug cavities as hydrothermal fluids cooled and crystallized.

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