Allanite

$400.00

$40.00 shipping
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The Trimouns Talc mine near Luzenac, in Midi-Pyrénées, France is famous for Rare Earth-bearing minerals, often in small, but perfectly formed crystals. The mine is an impressive spectacle. Up in the high mountains of the Pyrénées the workings are like a vast quarry, but due to heavy snow cover during winter months operations are seasonal. Here we have a 7 mm long dark brown, glassy, bladed crystal of Allanite-(Ce) on a contrasting white dolomite matrix. The crystal is well formed and a really good size for the mine. Often, these crystals consist of several different Rare Earth species formed as 'layers' one on top of the other, but the only way of knowing is to cut them open and analyse - argh!