Cobalt-bearing Calcite on Calcite

Item Description

Here is a captivating, atypical Cobalt-bearing Calcite from Morocco that at first glance really looks like a Brazilian rose quartz! It certainly fooled us! The piece features a blocky, almost snow-white Calcite rhomb as the base with the top of the piece hosting light magenta-pink Cobalt-bearing Calcite along the crest of the piece. This later generation of colorful Calcite appears to be a moderate dissolution of the preexisting white Calcite that was then tinted with cobalt during its recrystallization. In fact, the pink color actually penetrates into the white Calcite along distinct planes as if it were staining it! The coarsely recrystallized, pastel magenta-pink, Cobalt-bearing Calcite scintillates with reflective surfaces in various orientations in unison suggesting common, shared crystallographic faces around the new growth surfaces. It's a fascinating, splendid are far from typical Cobalt-bearing Calcite from Bou Azzer. In fact, we cannot recall seeing another like it.