Tourmaline (interesting coloring) (ex Rich Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

A rarely seen Tourmaline specimen from the Alto Ligonha area in Mozambique. This historic yet, less publicized area was a significant specimen producing region, yielding some excellent Tourmaline crystals. For more information about this locality, please see Mineralogical Record, 31, pgs 459-497. This particular specimen dates back to the late 1960s and is an interesting an unusual example for its coloring. With some good backlighting, you can see the upper portion of the piece is a rich blue-green hue, and the lower portion is more blue than green, but right in between is a thin colorless "Achroite" band. You almost never see colorless Tourmaline zoning like this, and I can't remember seeing another one from Alto Ligonha with this specific coloring. The crystal itself is complete all around with no major damage, save the base where it was removed from the pocket wall. A great old-time gem crystal of this classic and underappreciated material. Specimen weight is 16.2 grams.