Bultfonteinite (rare and fine quality)

Item Description

Bultfonteinite is a rare fluorine-bearing calcium neosilicate species, named in the early 1900s after the Bultfontein Mine in South Africa. Good display quality specimens are not terribly common on the market, and the species itself is only found in about 20 localities around the world. With that said, in the late 2010s, we started seeing these beautiful and fine quality examples coming out of the Shijiangshan Mine in Inner Mongolia, China. This particular specimen is loaded with dozens if not hundreds of thin / acicular white "needles" of Bultfonteinite measuring up to about 8 mm long, sitting atop a thin layer of grey botryoidal Datolite, sitting on Calcite matrix. The underside of the piece shows an olive-green hue, presumably a mineral like Andradite. I will point out that the piece is a bit fragile, so it needs to be handled carefully. A really choice example of this rare mineral in a showy display quality specimen.