Amethyst in the Goboboseb Mountains was first brought to light in the early 1950s, but concerted prospecting didn’t commence until roughly thirty years later, when collectors and small-scale miners began extracting pale to deep violet amethysts from basaltic geodes. Amethysts in the Goboboseb Mountains formed inside hollow, rounded cavities (geodes) in basalt around 100 million years ago. This region has yielded some of the finest amethyst ever found, coveted by collectors for the deep purple hue. This specimen is exceptionally large (21cm wide, 2.7kg), and displays nicely in spite of some repair work to the crystal on the left. When backlit, the specimen features a vivid purple hue.