Axinite-(Fe) with Epidote and Albite

Item Description

This is an attractive association specimen from the "Alpine-type" deposit at Khapalu in the high mountains of Pakistan. This piece small cabinet specimen features sharp, lustrous, gemmy, thin "wedge"-shaped crystals of Axinite-(Fe) measuring up to 2.4 cm long. Some of the crystals are rather gemmy, with that classic clove purple hue. The main crystal shows a unique golden color when backlit (only in certain lighting), which shows the pleochroism of the species. Sprinkled on the display side of the piece are thin pistachio green colored prismatic crystals of Epidote, and when you flip the piece over, you'll see some really excellent thick, tabular, gemmy crystals of Albite of a slightly blue shade. 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 Albite association, 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.