Garnet, Diopside & Clinochlore (RARE CA combo)

Item Description

RARE and very showy combination from this extinct large skarn deposit underground and open pit W-Mo-Cu-Au-Ag-Bi mine in Inyo County. Sharp, lustrous, partially translucent, brownish-red, Andradite-Grossular Garnet Series crystals are aesthetically set in the center of the sculptural vug AND along the crest of the piece. The dominating large garnet in the vug is 1.6 cm across. The wall of the vug above the garnets hosts RARE for the locale clusters of light green Diopside prisms (a Pyroxene Group species). Dramatically contrasting, also RARE for the locale, a rich field of snow-white Clinochlore crystals, a Chlorite Group species, lies beneath the garnets. The piece displays well without aid. Ex Bob Reynolds Collection. He was the curator of the San Bernardino Museum and a well-known California field collector. A possible unique combination rarity from the less well-known locale.