Brilliant black hematite and rarely ilmenite occur in some Alpine-type clefts in the Northern Areas of Pakistan as flower-like subparallel aggregates of offset crystals, aptly called ”iron roses". Although Alpine-type is not the only geology for "iron roses" such as highly weathered granitic rocks in Brazil or some skarns, it's one of the classic specimen types that mainly found in clefts in amphibolites.

Hematite Rose from Swiss is the most well-known locality that sometimes associate with pink-fluorite and smoky quartz. For those found in Pakistan, particularly in the Shigar and Tormiq Valleys, Skardu district are an affinity to the Helvetic, always paragenesis with sphene (twined), adularia, rutile etc., which are typical in hydrothermal veins in regional metamorphic body.

This piece is relatively uncommon from Pakistan due to the lack of paragenesis (although there are two little adularia on the right). Many of these are on a plate of quartz or adularia, or, floaters. The cluster perches just on the matrix which is unusual to me.

4.3cm, Tormiq Valley, Haramosh Mts., Roundu District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Jingnan Zhang Coll. & Photo