Clinochlore

Unknown Owner

Attractive purple lustrous crystals of clinochlore, the variety known as kammererite, across matrix. Minimal damage present not atypical of these, this still in good condition. This would have been collected in the 1970s. The Kop Krom Mine, situated in the Kop Mountains of Erzurum Province, Turkey, is the world's premier locality for the rare chromian variety of clinochlore known as kammererite. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within a podiform chromitite body inside an ophiolitic ultramafic complex, where hydrothermal alteration of chromium-rich minerals during regional metamorphism led to the formation of rare silicates. The kammererite is renowned for its intense reddish-purple to deep violet color and occurs as micaceous flakes or sharp, hexagonal pyramidal crystals that are highly sought after by collectors. Historically, the mine was operated primarily for industrial chromium ore, with major production occurring from the early 20th century through the late 1980s. While industrial-scale mining has largely ceased, the site remains famous in the mineralogical community for the pockets discovered during the 1970s and 1980s which yielded the finest crystallized purple clinochlore ever found. Today, the mine is mostly visited by mineralogists and specialized collectors seeking specimens from the old dumps and remaining accessible veins.