Indicolite Tourmaline with Eosphorite, Vayrynenite, Topaz, et al.

Item Description

It would be an understatement to say that this piece has a lot going on. This specimen hosts SEVEN species, and is truly a delight to view. Honestly, there is no one characteristic of the piece that stands out more than another in my opinion. First we will start with the "heart" of the specimen, which is a thick, prismatic dark blue (Indicolite) and black (Schorl) Tourmaline crystal coated by a layer of white Albite (var: Cleavelandite) crystals. Looking closer, you will see several thin, prismatic, attractive pastel orange color Eosphorite crystals measuring up to 1.1 cm along with a few sharp, lustrous, well-formed, gemmy colorless Topaz crystals scattered about. On the lower portion of the back of the piece, you will see a few small dark red crystals of what is either Stibiotantalite or Tantalite-(Mn) sitting on the Albite which measure up to about 2 mm. If you look along the upper portion of the back of the piece, you will notice that one of the Topaz crystals actually has inclusions of Stibiotantalite / Tantalite-(Mn)! Additionally, there are some small, dark brown, rosette-shaped spherical aggregates of an unknown and possibly unreported mineral (possibly a phosphate like Roscherite?) on the piece as well. Last but not least, the upper portion of the front specimen features a small (about 2 mm), but electric bright pink crystal of Vayrynenite(!), which is rare enough to find from anywhere in Pakistan, but to have one on matrix with so many other associated species in magical. I also found a few tiny pink "needle"-like Vayrynenite crystals when I viewed the piece under the microscope. It is not often that pegmatite specimens have this many associations on the same piece, let alone the great mix of rarity with colorful more common species. It's safe to say that one does not see many specimens like this one from Pakistan or any other pegmatite region in the world. I honestly can't remember seeing another specimen like this from any world locality, and if you collect pegmatite minerals, gem material, or unique association specimens, do NOT pass this one up, as it may be a one-of-a-kind example. The specimen was mined in 2004, and originally was labeled as coming from "Chamachu, Skardu, Pakistan". Priced in our inventory at $4,500 for the quality, and diverse and rare number of associated minerals.