Spodumene var. Kunzite

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The Pala Chief mine near Pala in San Diego County, California, USA is the source of some of the finest gemmy crystallized Kunzite in Southern California. Discovered in 1903, the deposit was worked intensively for at least ten years and then again in the 1960s. This small cabinet Kunzite from that mine is a single crystal, insanely glassy and bright. It displays the classic pleochroism, or changing intensity of colour at different angles through the crystal. Although the crystal is an unusual shape it is a natural form with rounded surfaces and lovely vertical growth lines. Its termination, at a sloping angle, has really unusual crystallization patterns and a strange protrusion at one end reminds me of the dinosaur Parasaurolophus. An old typed number label is affixed to the terminated end of the specimen. The history of this label is not known but it looks to be early 20th century in style. This is an extremely high quality Pala Chief mine Kunzite when compared in detail to many others.