Axinite-(Fe) with ''Adularia'' and ''Mountain Leather''

Item Description

This is an attractive association specimen from the "Alpine-type" deposit at Khapalu which is very close to K2 in the high mountains of Pakistan. This small cabinet is filled with sharp, lustrous, translucent, "wedge"-shaped crystals of Axinite-(Fe) measuring up to 3.7 cm long. Some of the crystals are somewhat gemmy, with that classic clove purple hue. Sprinkled on the lower portion of the piece are translucent, very lustrous, tabular crystals of K-Feldspar (Adularia) with a wispy greenish-blue hue, along with some soft patches of white matted "Mountain Leather" (most likely either Chrysotile or possibly Palygorskite> The piece is not undamaged, but it's still an eye-catching example of these fairly uncommon Axinites from Pakistan. If you collect "Alpine-type" minerals, this is something that you rarely see on the market. These crystals compare quite favorably to the famous metamorphic Axinites that came out of Russia in the 1990s or true Alpine Axinites from France that were the standard for Axinite-(Fe) for a long time. It's not easy to find a matrix crystal group of Axinite like this, especially with the wonderful associations, so don't miss out on this one as very few were found at Khapalu, and this is an older specimen going back to the mid 2000s.