Spinel (fine crystals)

Item Description

There are only a few places in the modern era of mineral collecting where good red Spinel crystals have been found. The Mahenge region of Tanzania in recent years has produced some excellent Spinel crystals which are among the best examples of the species to be found in the last 20+ years in terms of size, color and quality. Many people are familiar with the pink to red Spinels from Mogok in Myanmar, and while both localities feature crystals with that saturated rose hue, they are rarely found on matrix like they are at Mahenge. This thumbnail sized piece was found in 2010 and features several fine quality, sharp, well-formed, euhedral octahedral crystals of strong pinkish-red colored Spinel measuring up to 1.1 cm with very minor grey-white marble with a thin layer of golden Clinohumite. The crystal are gemmy when backlit. No significant damage that I can see with the naked eye, but there are some tiny areas of interrupted growth where the Spinel crystals grew up against the marble, or were detached from the host rock when the piece was removed from the pocket. For a final touch, the Spinel shows an intense cherry-red fluorescence under UV light. These are very good Spinel crystals, both in terms of their color and gemminess, as most Spinel around the world is rather dark and opaque.