Hematite with Rutile intergrowth

Item Description

A rich, large, representative example of the intergrown rutile and hematite this locale is famous for. Unlike most, which are "delicate flowers", this is a rather massive specimen. What is most interesting is not the usual feature of peripheral stars of rutile flaring off...that is not here. Rather, the complex intergrowth of the rutile and hematite in the center of the cluster, as shown in the closeup, is very interesting and hard to puzzle. It looks like the rutile and hematite truly grew together, the rutile being constrained to fill in for hematite in its crystal growth.