Spinel with Calcite

Item Description

A large Spinel crystal from Slyudyanka that is rare from this locality in any size or form. It is a 4 cm, lustrous, black, cubo-octahedral, almost textbook Spinel crystal set in a flesh-pink, coarse granular Calcite matrix that provides great contrast! The big Spinel displays perfectly right at the top of the Calcite! Several blocky green Diopside crystals crystals are also in association, and there is a pretty well-formed, lustrous one juxtaposed to the Spinel that measures 1.5 cm. There are a couple smaller, anhedral ones on the front as well and then a few larger, translucent, incomplete ones to 3 cm on the back! The size of the Spinel and its morphology along with the color contrast of minerals add character. Superb example of a strangely shaped spinel habit.