Quartz (''Mango'' Quartz) with Halloysite inclusions

Item Description

Quartz is not only one of the most widespread minerals on Earth, but it's notably diversified, occurring in a wide range of habits/styles, colors and often is a host for other mineral inclusions, creating signature specimens. This is a lovely example of the fairly new, unique and attractive Quartz specimens from Colombia which are commonly referred to as "Mango Quartz". We first started seeing them on the market in 2017. Due to their wonderfully singular color, along with excellent crystallization, they were very well-received, and instantly regarded as some of the most distinctive Quartz crystals ever found. This distinguishing soft yellow-orange color is what obviously inspired the "Mango Quartz" nickname. Typically, Colombia isn't a big Quartz crystal producing country, and these crystals were actually mined along a roadcut in the middle of the famous Emerald mining region in Boyacá. The upper portions of most of these crystals feature bright yellow-orange inclusions of a mineral that was first reported to be Humboltine, but others have since stated it is Halloysite. The Quartz crystals are high quality in their own right, as they are textbook, hexagonal prisms with good luster, sharpness and fine internal gemminess, which is only accentuated by the beautiful inclusions. This piece is a lovely crystal group featuring sharp, lustrous, prismatic crystals with colorless, gem clarity at the base, and of course those eye-catching yellow inclusions on the terminations, attached to a bit of matrix. The largest crystal measures 6.3 cm long. I don't know if there will be more of these in the future, so if you're a fan of interesting Quartz specimens or unique inclusion specimens, don't pass this one up, as there are not nearly as many as there were a few years ago. For more information, please see Rocks & Minerals May/June 2019 issue, Vol. 94, No. 3.