Quartz Var. "Solution Quartz"

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.

So-called "solution quartz" from this quarry is supposed to be the best of its type. Solution growth of quartz here produced specimens of a unique brightness and surface sparkle, long prized. I think the moniker has to do with the fact the crystals tend to be intergrown with many others in jackstraw groups which are not attached to matrix: The unlikely-looking floater status of these delicate groups thus reflects the fact they were in solution rather than deposited onto country rock. Today, mining of these specimens is done only by (risky) diving using scuba equipment, last I heard. I have not seen any good ones turn up fresh since the 1980s, as well. This specimen is a particularly rich cluster of solution quartz with a dominant crystal ending iin multifaceted terminations. It is mesmerizing, in its complexity at the micro level. And, it happens to be beautiful on a big scale, too! Complete all around, 360 degrees, this specimen is COVERED with crystals. Classic US material, hard to find... According to MinDat: A quarry located at Jeffrey near North Little Rock. Features 3 large, open cuts, now flooded. A rock quarry in Jackfork Sandstone. Started in the 1950's and operated through the 1960's. Reopened in the 1970's for specimens.