Ilmenite on Smoky Quartz, With Ferberite and Topaz - image 1

Ilmenite on Smoky Quartz, With Ferberite and Topaz

Unknown Owner
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A somewhat more elegant but less massive specimen featuring, this time, an ilmenite perched ON the smokies instead of vice versa. This specimen ALSO HOSTS, in the middle zone of sparkling brown you see there, ferberite and a small 8 mm topaz as well as probably other species that are micros. It is extremely aesthetic, overall, for what it is...and the crystal is complete around the upper termination and sides around to the back face

Product details

SpeciesTopaz, Ilmenite, Ferberite, Quartz, Smoky quartz
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions7.0 x 6.0 x 4.0 cm
Added on10/23/2024
LocalityNamibia, Erongo Region, Erongo Mountains

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
08/2024Unknown OwnerNot disclosed
—The ArkenstoneNot disclosed

Learn more

Topaz
Mineral guide
Learn about Topaz
hard, glassy orthorhombic crystals from pegmatites and rhyolites; colors range from colorless to pink; sharp terminations aid identification, localitie…
Topaz
Regional guide
Topaz from Erongo Mountains, Namibia
The Erongo Mountains produce one of the more distinctive African topaz styles: pale blue, pale green, or colorless crystals from miarolitic cavities in a granite-dominated volcanic complex, often accompanied by schorl, feldspar, smoky quartz, fluorite, aquamarine, muscovite, or goethite. Unlike the more familiar Namibian topaz from the Spitzkoppe area, Erongo topaz is valued less as loose gem rough and more as a specimen mineral—etched, glassy, sharply terminated, and best of all still attached to its original pocket matrix.