Magnetite (very large crystal)

Item Description

Magnetite is a fairly common mineral around the world, especially in iron deposits like the Huanggang deposit, but it's rarely well-crystallized, and often serves as a matrix for other species. Most Magnetite crystals from various world localities rarely exceed 1-2 cm, but there was a very limited discovery in 2009 at Huanggang that produced some of the largest euhedral examples of the species ever found. This piece is one of the most impressive examples from the locality that we've ever had to offer as it features a notably well-formed, sharp, euhedral dodecahedron of Magnetite measuring a whopping 5.4 cm (!) associated with dark greenish-brown prismatic Quartz crystals (they presumably have inclusions of either a Pyroxene or some kind of "Chlorite") along with beautiful white spherical and bladed groups of Calcite on matrix. The central Magnetite has as secondary coating of an unknown mineral, but you can seen the dark steel-grey hue underneath in spots. The piece presents rather well as you can see, with the big pronounced Magnetite sitting at the top of the specimen. There is a ding in the center of Magnetite, so it's not 100% pristine, but it's still a remarkable example of a mineral species that is found in many localities, but almost never in crystals exceeding 2 inches! Priced in our inventory at $1,500.