Cobaltoan Dolomite

Unknown Owner

The Kakanda deposit in Kambove District, Lualaba, DR Congo is a series of openpit copper mines many of which were abandoned years ago. The Kakanda deposit was known to produce stunning vivid pink Cobalt-bearing Dolomite during the 1980s but the output of specimens was quite limited. In very recent times a trickle of new specimens have come to the market, some with quite distinctive features. This lovely miniature specimen shows one of those features: it displays a very intense pink colour, but as zoning within the Dolomite. A bed of white to beige coloured Dolomite is coated with rhombic crystals, to 3 mm on edge, with a similar beige to darker brown core rimmed with bright pink. The contrast in colours accentuates the structure of the crystals, the pink looking like the 'frame' of the rhombic form. A very distinctive and interesting specimen.

Editor's note

Specimens with "cobalt" in the name will usually have bright pink color on them which is almost impossible not to like. This piece has. many small crystals (rather than few large ones many collectors prefer) on a base, but thanks to cobaltoan pink it still looks striking, especially for the price.