Albite

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

Lustrous white mostly massive albite specimen. When the light hits this just right there is a play of colors, the so-called Moonstone effect. Nice for this old locality, the specimen has an old label glued to the back of the piece.Amelia, Virginia, is home to the world-renowned Morefield Mine and several other significant pegmatite deposits located within the Piedmont geologic province. Geologically, these sites consist of complex, granite-hosted pegmatite dikes that formed during the late Paleozoic Era, featuring a diverse mineralogy of over 80 species. Amelia is particularly famous for producing exceptional specimens of albite, specifically the variety known as cleavelandite, which occurs as stark white, bladed, fan-like aggregates often associated with amazonite, microlite, and tantalite. Historically, mining and quarrying in the district began in the mid-19th century, with the Morefield Mine opening in 1929 primarily for the extraction of mica, feldspar, and beryl. While many of the smaller pits were short-lived, the Morefield Mine saw various periods of commercial operation for strategic minerals during the mid-20th century and later transitioned into a famous fee-mining and educational site.