Origin: Quincy, Vierzon, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France

Weight: 600 grams

Dimensions: 156 x 110 x 49 mm

Treatment: none

Dispersed in the limestones of Mehun-sur-Yèvre, quincyte is a variety of sepiolite (mineral species of the clay group), colored by a pigment of organic origin (plant), of formula 2,8-Dipropylxanthenoxanthene-4,10Quinone, giving it a pink-carmine color (Brousse 2012).

The only known deposits in the world are those located in Cher, in the Quincy and Mehun region, within a very localized radius of three to four kilometers. It would have formed within the lacustrine limestones of Berry, at most 35.5 million years ago.

This is the only area in the world to have yielded this variety of sepiolite. The opalized form is in fact a silicification of CT opal colored by quincyite inclusions; it was used in the 19th century in jewelry and for construction (castle of the Duke of Berry and Charles VII in Mehun-sur-Yèvre) in the Middle Ages. According to Person et al. (1994), "Sepiolite seems preferentially concentrated in the interstitial phase of calcareous breccias, facies of shallow deposits. The pink dye of quincyte is derived from the transformation of organic matter of plant origin in an oxidizing and plant-rich environment, at a given moment in the history of the sediment. The mineralogical study (DRX, SEM) of siliceous accidents shows different stages of organization of opal-CT and microcrystalline quartz. These parageneses are characteristic of the diagenesis of silica attributed to a strong production of diatoms in a lacustrine context, in the absence of detrital inputs. Moreover, the presence here of sepiolite as the sole representative of the magnesian clay sedimentation confirms the absence of detrital inputs and the water supply of these lakes by the water table alone.

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REF MINE852-070