Calcite (Var. Manganoan) on Quartz - image 1

Calcite (Var. Manganoan) on Quartz - image 2

Calcite (Var. Manganoan) on Quartz - image 3

Calcite (Var. Manganoan) on Quartz

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This specimen is like a rose on a stalk! It features a wreath of elegantly bladed calcite crystals in the shape of a flower, perched atop a 10 cm-long, lustrous and translucent, nearly colorless quartz crystal. The calcites are to 5 cm across. They are pink due to traces of manganese, and fluoresces an intense, neon orange-red color. From mining circa 2011, this was formerly in my own Chinese mineral collection. This one is exceptional, and was in my 2012 museum exhibit at the University of Arizona Museum in Tucson: China's Crystalline Treasures.