Fluorapatite (rare "Faden" for the locality)

Item Description

The Morro Velho Mine in Brazil is best known for its fantastic green Siderite crystals, but there are other species found in lesser quantities, including beautiful pink Apatites. Virtually all of the Apatites I've seen from this mine are solitary hexagonal examples, but this piece is an incredibly RARE "Faden" habit group featuring fantastic, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, soft pink colored, tabular hexagonal crystals, free of matrix. While "Faden" habit Apatites are not unheard of, this is the ONLY specimen I can remember seeing from this particular mine. "Faden" is the German word for "string" and you can clearly see how the piece grew along the fibrous "string" like inclusions that allowed the crystals to form together in near parallel growth. There's actually a bit of curvature to the piece, like you would see in a "Gwindel" Quartz. You just don't see pieces like this from Morro Velho, so if you collect Apatite, Brazilian minerals or just unique and fine quality display specimens, this is something that you're not likely to see again, so don't miss out. Valued $1,800.