Allanite Group

Item Description

This piece hails from a discovery in April of 2001 at the Nueva Vizcaya Mine in Spain. At the time they were discovered, they were identified as Allanite-(La), which were considered some of the finest of the species ever seen. Further analysis has shown that these crystals contain zones where multiple species are present, including La-dominant Allanite, Ce-dominant Allanite, and REE-bearing Epidote. With that said, these specimens are now listed simply as being part of the Allanite Group as they cannot be isolated as single species. This is still an impressive example featuring superb, jet-black, prismatic crystals measuring up to 1.6 cm long, associated with octahedral black metallic crystals of Magnetite n matrix. Most of the crystals are in very good condition, but some contacts / imperfections can be seen in certain areas. These were found for a brief time and never again, so if you missed out on them years ago, now is a great time to get your hands on a good example of this hard to find material.
From the collection of Colin Manlove.