Opal-AN (formerly Hyalite Opal) ("Blood Vessel Opal")

Item Description

A beautiful specimen that we picked up from a new discovery in January 2019 at a new mine in San Luis Potosi. These truly are some of the most unusual, attractive, interesting and impressive Hyalite Opals that we've seen from any locality. Fortunately we have a good friend who has been mining the material for the past few years, and we were able to purchase all of the best specimens from this recent find. This miniature sized piece features VERY GEMMY translucent colorless spherical groups or "balls" of Hyalite free of matrix. You can clearly see small golden to orange colored iron oxide inclusions that resemble thin organic "capillaries" or "blood vessels", which created the nickname "Blood Vessel Opal" for this material. This color / phenomenon is truly unique for Opal and really gives the piece character along with wonderful color. As many of you know, the majority of Hyalite specimens show a brilliant green fluorescence under SW UV light, and this piece shows good fluorescence all over the specimen. If you collect Opals, don't miss out on this one as they are very limited on the market and you honestly can't find anything like on the market. A great piece for anybody who collects Mexican minerals, worldwide Opals or fluorescent specimens. Weight on the specimen is 13.58 grams. Although I use the term "Hyalite", I should point out that the term is no longer valid, and the material is now called Opal-AN. This material is specifically an amorphous (often colorless) form of Opal that is found in spherical aggregates, that are often intergrown or stacked with a "bead"-like appearance. The listing on mindat.org states that "The "A" in the name stands for amorphous; the subscript "N" is to imply its structure is network-like similar to silica glass; however, it still contains about 3-8% water".