Deep Brown Turkish Colemanite
Collection
Robert Lavinsky
Description
A fascinating specimen with unusual color and crystal habit that most people would have trouble pinning down as Colemanite, much less from this out of the way locale. Rob Lavinsky obtained a small lot of these in the late 1990s from a German mining engineer who had collected them while on the job at this mine, of which this was the best specimen at the time. I have not seen more since then. Note, in particular, the sharp phantoms inside which I have seldom seen in colemanite before! The crystals are glassy and extremely lustrous and translucent. The color is unique. the Crystals are to 2.1 cm in length and some are overgrown with a colorless secondary layer of colemanite which produces interesting edge geometry. Gemmy orange highlights abound and it sparkles when lit... overall a highly unusual specimen.
Locality
Mustafakemalpascha Mine, Western Anatolia Prov., Turkey
Dimensions
7.0 x 5.5 x 4.7 cm
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