Urucum mine or Urucum claim is an important gem pegmatite deposit in the eastern Brazilian pegmatite province. Discovered in 1962, it very rapidly struck a cavity containing some of the world's finest Beryl var. Morganite crystals. Some of the crystals reached epic proportions, but the 50 cm plus crystals were rarely well-formed. The smaller crystals tended to have better definition to them and are gemmy and intensely pink. This 7.7 x 4.9 x 3.3 cm flattened tabular Morganite crystal is an old one, probably from the finds of the 1960s and 1970s, and has in its base small patches of vivid pink Spodumene var. Kunzite and white bladed Cleavelandite. It is a really superb crystal, with a wonderful intense pink colour, extremely well-developed upper crystal faces and lovely glassy surfaces to its two opposing pinacoid faces. The side prism faces and sloping edges are rough textured and somewhat frosted, but are symmetrically well-balanced. The base of the crystal is uneven and missing several faces where it was attached to matrix, but the upper parts display extremely well. Internally, it is transparent to translucent, with gemmy parts, and others milky, or inclusion-rich. It was originally labelled as from "Galilea mine", but that is simply because of Urucum's proximity to the town of Galiléia. A very high quality Morganite crystal, from the all-time classic occurrence.
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