Epidote from Knappenwand, Salzburg, Austria

$350.00

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A grouping of lustrous deep green epidote crystals without matrix. Naturally crystallized all around and in very good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.The Knappenwand in the Untersulzbachtal region near Neukirchen am Grossvenediger, located within the Zell am See District of Salzburg, Austria, is world-renowned among geologists and mineral collectors for producing some of the finest known crystal specimens of epidote. Geologically situated within the Tauern Window of the Central Eastern Alps, the site features alpine-type fissures formed during regional metamorphism where hydrothermal fluids deposited exceptional minerals in rock cavities. Discovered in 1866, the locality became famous when local collectors and miners uncovered pockets containing dark pistachio-green, lustrous, tabular epidote crystals, often associated with actinolite variety byssolite, calcite, and apatite. Commercial specimen mining took place through various leases in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the Knappenwand remains a historic benchmark locality for collectors and museums worldwide.