Artinite

Item Description

A rich and very fine specimen of California Artinite. It is a rather rare carbonate mineral, and forms as crusts of fibrous, radial crystal aggregates. These delicate balls are up to about 8 mm across, and they really resemble mini-Mesolites. Artinaite is always associated with ultra-basic igneous and metamorphic rocks such as serpentinite. You do not see many of these San Benito Artinites around, and this aesthetic set of radial balls one is in really good shape, especially considering how delicate they are. Nice old California piece!