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

Item Description

Quartz is often found containing inclusions of other minerals. You could say it's the most "inclusion-friendly" mineral out there. It's also an incredibly abundant and diverse species, occurring in a wide range of habits/styles. The specimens from Cabiche, Colombia are signature examples of said material, and 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 yellow-orange color is what obviously inspired the "Mango Quartz" nickname. For the most part, 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, sitting on very minor matrix. The largest individual crystal measures 7.8 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.