Calcite included with "Byssolite"

Item Description

This is a rarely seen specimen from this "Alpine-type" cleft deposit in Pakistan. While neither mineral is considered rare, it's hard to find Calcite with "Byssolite" inclusions like this, especially in this size! The piece translucent, white/colorless, modified/compressed rhombic crystal of Calcite which plays host to fibrous inclusions dark green color Actinolite (var "Byssolite"). The piece looks nice in both reflected light and with backlighting. It's nearly a "floater", as it's crystallized on the back, but there is some interrupted growth on the underside, so it's not 100% complete all the way around, as the bundle of Byssolite needles on the back is the attachment point. Fine crystallized Calcite from "Alpine-type" localities in Pakistan are rare, and I'm sure those of you who are familiar with minerals from these kind of deposits haven't seen one quite like this in the past. No real damage that I can see with the naked eye.
From the "Alpine-type" collection of Richard ("Rich") Andrew Kosnar (1946-2007), the well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado, who was the namesake for the phosphate species Kosnarite. Rich loved European Alpine minerals, and once the specimens from Pakistan hit the market, he started building a suite of them as a compliment to his European collection.