• Option A, a short wide quartz point heavily included with halloysite throughout, the tip a deeper yellow-orange and the body of the point vibrant golden. There are sprouting growth forms on the crystal faces.
  • An example crystal point of mango quartz, the tip filled with fine yellow-orange fibers, some reflecting light. The base of the quartz crystal if colorless with good transparency.
  • Close detail view of the halloysite fibers inside a quartz point, fine and hair-like parallel and curving fibers reflecting golden in the light, reaching from the surface of the tip into the quartz point in a gradient.
  • Option B, a point that is long and narrow, the point split into two main tips. The tips are saturated orange-yellow, fading in a gradient to gold then a clear slightly milky colorless base.
  • Option C, two narrow apparently twinned crystals intergrown, with two golden orange tips with well-formed distinct fibers in the top half, the bottom halves colorless.
  • Option D, a short wide point with lighter golden yellow halloysite fibers in the tip, well formed distinct fibers creating a chatoyant effect. The color fades to colorless and milky clear at the bottom third.
  • Option E, a small well-proportioned point with the top third a saturated orange-yellow color, the bottoms of the gold fibers catching reflections as the material transitions to clear and colorless.
  • Option F, a long narrow point with pale orange-yellow coloration in the tip, which is milky and semi-transluscent. The inclusions catch light well, making the point bright. The point has a diagonal impression left from a small point that once grew alongside it.
  • Option G, a long thick quartz point with an odd drill-bit style termination. Orange-yellow halloysite inclusions fill the top half, with a slightly wavy appearance with chatoyancy like hair. The base is clear.
  • Option H, a long narrow point with a small quartz point attached diagonally on the surface. The top third of the point is included with fibrous orange-yellow halloysite, with the rest a slightly milky colorless quartz.
  • Option I, a long thick point heavily included with halloysite, yellow-orange with an asymmetic tip, color fading to light golden yellow and semi-translucent at the base
  • Option J, a long wide point with more classic corona termination, forming a half dozen small triangular tip faces up a slanted face. The piece is heavily included with halloysite, a deep yellow-orange at the tips and saturated orange-yellow throughout.
  • Labeled as one to one and a half inch points, with a one inch acrylic mounting. Scale image of two of the points on a measuring mat, one on its side with the point measuring about an inch and a quarter in length, and the other standing on its mounting, showing the acrylic mounting is one inch square
  • Titled as the tiny size, showing a handful of small crystal points in a palm held over a bin of similarly-colored citrus. The points vary in length and thickness, some more slender and others wide, all under an inch in length.
  • Titled as the tiny size, points under three quarters of an inch in length, and unmounted. Six of the points are spread on a measuring mat for scale, ranging from just under an inch in length to closer to half an inch.
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Halloysite quartz "mango quartz" point

Halloysite quartz "mango quartz" point

$9.00 USD
$9.00 USD
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Locality: Cabiche, Quípama, Boyacá Department, Colombia

Approx size: 1–1.25"

Approx weight: 3–5g, with options H through J 8–9g
"Teeny" option 1/3 to 3/4", avg 0.7g

 

Known by the trade name "mango quartz," this variety of quartz contains the mineral halloysite. Halloysite is actually a clay mineral, a close relative of kaolinite, but forms golden hair-like strands in the quartz points. The fibrous inclusions often produce a chatoyant effect, the parallel fibers reflecting like tiger's eye.

Initial quartz growth is colorless or slightly milky like an opal; the halloysite inclusions begin to grow in later phases so the crystal has a gradient from clear to opaque yellow-orange at the tip. The inclusions commonly interfere with the termination of the quartz crystals. The end splits into multiple tips, some examples forming dozens of small tips like a tiny crown as seen in Option J—that's why one of the other common trade names has been "corona quartz." That name fell out of favor when we all became intimately familiar with the coronavirus quickly after this material's discovery.

Halloysite quartz comes from Cabiche, Colombia. The unusual discovery was initially located in the 1980s but overlooked in favor of emerald mining, then forgotten when the owner became embroiled in allegations drug cartel involvement. The site wasn't rediscovered until 2017, with the inclusions identified as halloysite as recently as 2019.

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