FLUORAPOPHYLLITE-(K) with Natrolite on Heulandite

Unknown Owner

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This superb cabinet-size display specimen of zeolites from Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil is from a fascinating occurrence, made during the construction of a railroad tunnel in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Large (to 1.9 cm on edge) white to colourless glassy cubic Fluorapophyllite-(K) sit upon a layer of orange-pink small triangular Heulandite crystals lining a large vug in dark grey basalt. Cream coloured needles of Natrolite form delicate acicular sprays scattered upon the surface of the Heulandite within the vug. Reputedly, construction workers driving the Das Antas Tunnel discovered pockets of zeolites and sold them to Mr. Eugênio Giovanella who sold them around the world. It is now really unusual to see zeolites from this occurrence available and even rarer to find larger displayable specimens like this one.