Calcite Var. Manganoan

Unknown Owner

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This is a very showy specimen with a central 6-cm-across "ball" aggregate of lustrous, rich pink calcite crystals that are colored due to trace manganese inclusions (which also provides the color in UV light fluorescence as you see in the shot taken under short-wave UV light). It is pristine, balanced, and complete all around! We saw so many of these, of one sort or another, and usually they are bashed or contacted, plus few ever came on good matrix. This is a special piece, aesthetically. This comes from mining of 2012, seemingly the heyday for this style of calcite from the locale which has since wound down a bit in production. Joe Budd photos.