Spodumene

specimen number:
8911100

location:
Dara-e-Pech, Kunar, Afghanistan

description:
A loose beautiful gemmy pink crystal of double terminated spodumene, this the variety often called kunzite. No points of attachment, this is perfect all around. The crystal weighs 111.25 g. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

The Dara-e-Pech district in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan lies within the Hindu Kush mountain range, where ancient tectonic collisions created vast pegmatite fields rich in lithium, beryllium, and rare gemstones. Artisanal miners and local gemstone collectors have worked these rugged alpine pegmatites for decades, tunneling into hard granite host rock to extract exceptional mineral specimens despite regional instability and difficult terrain. Among the most famous mineral discoveries from Dara-e-Pech is kunzite, the pink-to-violet gem variety of the lithium aluminum silicate mineral spodumene. Kunzite forms large, prismatic crystals within deep pocket zones, acquiring its distinctive pastel color from trace amounts of manganese in the original mineralizing fluids. Known for its strong pleochroism, displaying richer shades of pink or violet when viewed along its long axis, Dara-e-Pech kunzite remains highly sought after worldwide for both high-end jewelry and pristine natural mineral collections.

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