"Mango" Quartz with Halloysite inclusions

Item Description

Sculptural, large, two-sided specimen of very diverging, aesthetically clustered and isolated "mango quartz" crystals on the druzy quartz-coated shale matrix from recent finds at Cabiche. The fine yellow color of the terminations is a striking contrast above the water-clear, colorless quartz bodies. The large crystal in the spray on one end is 5.3 cm long and the crystals in the tight cluster on the other end reach 4.0 cm long. The distinctive yellow to orange color of the inclusions in the terminations above the water-clear bases has nicknamed these striking, colorful quartz crystals as "Mango Quartz". Initial analyses indicated the included yellow material was Humboldtine, a rare authigenic organic mineral, but further testing suggested the material is Halloysite, a clay mineral. All of the crystals in the striking spray and isolated points are pristine. A small area of broken at the base crystals in the interior plus periphery wear to crystals is noted, but are certainly minimal detractions to this artistic piece. These first hit the market in 2017 and were a big hit at shows. See the 2019 Rock & Minerals article in Vol.94, No. 3. A very showy and highly representative large example of the species and locale.