Lepidolite on Microcline

Item Description

A wonderful small cabinet display specimen from São Geraldo do Baixio, Brazil featuring prismatic groups of gentle purplish colored Lepidolite measuring up to 2.3 cm long, which are sitting on a slightly etched, blocky, cream-white colored Microcline crystal measuring 5.7 cm, with associated Smoky Quartz below the Lepidolite groups. Lepidolite is not often considered a "spotlight" kind of mineral, as it's often seen as an association species to other minerals, but it really stands out on this piece as the star of the show. It should be noted that Lepidolite for many years was a valid species, but it now exists in a state of "limbo" where it is currently being re-examined / re-defined, and the entry for the material on mindat.org refers to it as, "A Li-rich mica in, or close to, the so-called Polylithionite-Trilithionite series". With that said, virtually everyone still refers to it as Lepidolite, and you can still search for specimens with that name on mindat, so it's safe to continue using the term until it is properly re-categorized. This is arguably the best / showiest example I've seen of this particular material. From the collection of Colorado mineral dealer and collector, Brian Kosnar. Valued $950.