Aegirine (excellent doubly-terminated crystal)

Item Description

Aegirine is not typically considered a species that forms in collector quality specimens, and it's typically seen as an associated mineral to another species most of the time. With that said, the superb crystals from Mount Malosa are undoubtedly the finest examples of the species ever found. The crystals are not only large for the species, but they are remarkably sharp, well-formed and highly lustrous. This piece is an exemplary crystal as not only are the prism faces glossy and well-defined, but what really makes this one stand out is that the crystal is doubly-terminated! At first, I though the bottom of the crystal was broken, but looking closely you can see it has defined lustrous faces, where it clearly re-crystallized ("re-healed") where it detached from the poacket. The termination on the top of the crystal is well-formed, which is not commonly seen in this material as the terminations of these crystals can often have thin "fibrous" growth that almost looks like a form of etching. The color looks black on the surface, but it's actually a very dark green hue. There are many additional little Aegirines growing on the prism faces of the main crystal. If you're a fan of Pyroxene minerals, or you like Mount Malosa material, this is a worthwhile example to add to your collection. No major damage that I can see.