Fluorapatite (2007 find)

Item Description

The famous Sapo Mine in Brazil might be best-known for producing some of the most iconic Fluorapatite specimens from the entire country. The pieces from the mid 2000s were some of the most distinctive and certainly singular examples of any pegmatite Apatite species found in the last couple decades. This piece features many iconic dark green crystals of Fluorapatite, with notably sharp, smooth, lustrous and well-formed hexagonal faces, measuring up to 1.9 cm, aesthetically sitting atop a sculptural group of white bladed Albite with minor associated Muscovite Mica. My favorite aspect of the Apatite crystals themselves are that they feature small but elegant pyramidal modifications around the basal terminations, giving them character and a beauty all their own. When some of the thinner crystals are backlit, you can see they actually have some color zoning, as the exterior is nearly colorless, and leads into the rich green color at the center of the crystals. No major damage that I can see with the naked eye, and the piece displays beautifully as you can see from the video. The piece was mined in 2007, and imported by Brazilian mineral dealer, Luis Menezes. Retail price is $2,000 on this piece. From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-187353.html