Calcite with unusual color centers

Item Description

Interesting plate of strangely styled "polka dot" Calcite crystals having small white columns with dark centers. Upon closer inspection the 0.5 cm wide white columns are tiny flattened Calcite discs stacked one on top of the other with a white to buff opaque fringe. The centers might be hematite included, from a previous growth - in any case, they are so sharp this looks like a pointillism painting as much as a mineral! These transition to a translucent center with pyramidal terminations that shows a hexagonal dark gray core. A complete oddity! There is some minor bruises here and there but overall the Calcites are in good condition. Simply a one-off specimen from the Xikuangshan Sb deposit in Hunan, China. Ex. Kurt Hefendehl Collection. Unusual, even by standards of unusual Chinese calcites!