Diopside (2021 discovery)

Item Description

Here we have a specimen from a discovery in July of 2021 in Afghanistan. This find yielded some beautiful and impressive Diopside specimens from the Janduk Mine, near the famous locality Ladjuar Medam. For centuries, this area has produced world-class specimens of Lazurite (Lapis), and more recently fine pieces of Sodalite, Richterite and Afghanite among other things. The Diopside crystals found around this area formed in the same marble as the other minerals, which is often etched away to expose the crystals within. This piece is a good example of these exciting and colorful specimens featuring beautiful lime green colored, fairly sharp and well-formed crystals measuring up to 2.2 cm along, which are associated with dark brown hexagonal crystal groups of Phlogopite Mica on white marble matrix. The piece is in good shape overall, though there is some incomplete crystals that you can see where the marble has been etched away. I've seen a few of these pieces labeled as "Lavrovite", which is a vanadium-bearing variety of Diopside, but we have not had these pieces analyzed to know whether or not they contain vanadium. I will say that there is probably some kind of chromophore in these Diopside crystals (possibly something like vanadium or chromium), because they are a brighter green hue than you'd typically find in the species, as a lot of Diopside from around the world is a much darker green typically (almost black in some cases). If you collect Pyroxene minerals, specimens from Afghanistan, or if you're a fan of species from marble deposits, this is a great chance to pick up one these attractive and worthwhile Diopsides from this recent discovery.