Quartz "casts" after Anhydrite on Quartz

Item Description

A beautiful small cabinet sized specimen from the famous Cement Creek area that produced some of the lesser known Quartz "casts" from the state. For years, people have written that these epimorphs were replacements of Quartz after Barite, and Brian Kosnar always contested that this couldn't be the case, and that the "casts" were most likely after Anhydrite. Finally, it appears that somebody else is on board with Brian as we read from Bill Dameron on mindat that "Dr. Virgil Lueth, New Mexico Tech, concludes from studies (as-yet unpublished paper 4/2011) that these and all San Juan quartz epimorphs apparently after barite are in fact after anhydrite". The piece comprises several radiating groups of sparkling, lustrous, "stubby" Quartz crystals which have formed "casts" after Anhydrite and are included with what, presumably, is some kind of iron oxide to create the soft orange internal color. Great condition overall, and seldom seen on the market. Collected by Robert Stoufer in 2009.