• Detail of the specimen, showing nine tabular crystals including two that are intersecting near the bottom. The brown coating has a grain appearance, matte with slight glitter like sand, and is formed in small round bumps on the matrix.
  • A long skinny mineral specimen with square tabular crystals on matrix and coated in a brown mineral.
  • Detail of a translucent white hydroxyapophyllite crystal with an almost cross-hatch pattern to the surface, and brown spots of lizardite along the side faces. Below to the left is a cluster of stacked scalenohedral calcite crystals, mostly covered in the brown mineral.
  • The pieces at an angle from the prior image, showing the bumpy druzy side has an irregular surface with pits and a deep line down it. There are two well-formed tabular square crystals at the top.
  • The back side of the specimen, with near-black matrix craggy with deep pockets. It is coated in off-white druzy with better glitter without the brown lizardite overcoating.
  • A side-view of the specimen with the square tabular crystals along the right-hand face. The left side is bumpy and coated in a light-tan druzy, with some of the brown overcoating dusted on areas like cinnamon.
  • Detail of one end of the specimen with two tabular square crystals with small brown spots on their surfaces. The top crystal has good clarity, showing the matrix and druzy beneath it clearly
  • The piece held between thumb and finger for scale, showing the side covered in square tabular crystals in indirect sunlight. The luster is matte.
  • The piece held between thumb and finger for scale, showing the brown-dusted druzy side in indirect sunlight. It is a light brown color without much glitter
  • Scale image of the piece on a measuring mat, measuring a bit over three inches long by an inch and a quarter wide.
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Hydroxyapophyllite

Hydroxyapophyllite

$50.00 USD
$50.00 USD
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Locale: N'Chwaning II Mine, South Africa

Approx dimensions: 3 x 1.25 x 1"

Approx weight: 85g

 

This specimen features hydroxyapophyllite crystals with lizardite and calcite on matrix. Properly called "hydroxyapophyllite-(K)," hydroxyapophyllite is a variety of apophyllite that is typically colorless. It more frequently grows cubic crystals, but these specimens from the renowned N'Chwaning Mines region form tabular square crystals similar to wulfenite, and can be colorless to semi-translucent white with inclusions.

The matte brown mineral coating the specimen is lizardite, which often grows in small spots along the junctions of the hydroxyapophyllite crystal. Calcite druzy glitters through the lizardite and covers the back of the specimen. The calcite has also formed stacks of small scalenohedral crystals. The dark matrix is likely manganese-based; the N'Chwaning mines were established to extract the rich manganese ore in the area.

UV reactivity Visible calcite fluoresces and phosphoresces faint red under 365 nm UV light. It can cause the hydroxyapophyllite crystals growing over it to glow a faint red—try it in a dark room with a strong flashlight. An unknown whitish mineral finely dusts areas of the specimen strongly fluoresces icy blue.

** Brittle warning! Hydroxyapophyllite specimens are somewhat delicate and may shed pieces; limit handling.

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