Quartz ps. Anhydrite

Item Description

An enchanting and rare cabinet sized example of a 2009 vein outcrop discovery from Cement Creek in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado that produced some of the state's most beautiful Quartz casts. This unusual pseudomorph specimen is characterized by well formed tabular epimorphs/casts of a sparkling "sugary" Quartz replacing Anhydrite with additional druzy Quartz spheroidal groups on a massive quartz matrix. The bladed "casts", up to 2.5 cm across, have a muted yellow interior probably due to iron oxide inclusions that forms an almost zonation like appearance. The piece is in near pristine condition with only a single small broken cast. It should be noted that for years people have written that these epimorphs (a fancy word for casts) were replacements of quartz after baryte. However, MINDAT lists 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 Virgil Lueth, New Mexico Tech, concludes from studies (as-yet unpublished paper 4/2011) that these and all San Juan quartz epimorphs apparently after barite are in fact after anhydrite". This specimen from the Gary Weaver Collection is unique for its cabinet size, abundance of Quartz casts present, and phenomenal glistening luster. If you collect Quartz, pseudomorphs or just cool aesthetic minerals, dont miss out on this opportunity to get a Colorado specialty. Also, it happens to be pretty on its own merits!