Boracite (Type Locality)

Unknown Owner

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This is a remarkable and equant dodecahedron of boracite, complete all around, from the type locality! Good seafoam-blue/green color, good luster, and great form make this such a wonderful thumbnail! These are quite old and turn up now ONLY in old collections. The cutting rough value of the specimen, because of the size and color, is considerable at around $1000 wholesale just if you chop it into a gemstone. MINDAT.ORG info on the locality: "A small hill in the western suburb of Luneburg, formerly the site of a gypsum quarry famous among collectors in the 19th Century for its boracite crystals (type locality). Now a nature conservation park (digging prohibited!). Geologically the hill is a salt dome caprock, diapirically extruded so that it rises above the otherwise flat plains. Uplift continues at a rate of at least a millimeter per year. "Joe Budd Photos