Sodalite

Sodalite is one of those minerals many of us tend to underestimate as we most likely first encountered this as tumble-polished rough; something to be found in a lucky dip or the children's corner of some dealer's table. But in its best form, as in this specimen, Sodalite occurs as Sapphire-blue prisms, the larger crystals attaining gem quality, set against a perfect foil of snow white matrix. From Ladjuar Medam in Sar-e Sang in the Koksha Valley of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, mineralisation occurs in an intrusion of alaskite granite and mafic dykes. The accompanying video shows this specimen in white LED light and ultraviolet light, in which the Sodalite fluoresces intense acidic banana yellow.