• Detail of a translucent white hydroxyapophyllite crystal with inclusions radiating out from the center. There are several more of the tabular crystals. On the upper corner and below the main crystal are stacked scalenohedral calcite crystals.
  • A long skinny mineral specimen with square tabular crystals on a bumpy matrix and coated in a light brown mineral.
  • Front view of the specimen, tall and thin with about a dozen hydroxyapophyllite crystals protruding from the front and sides.
  • Side view of the specimen, with the blocky white crystals fairly clouded white.
  • The back of the specimen, covered with rough calcite druzy with some dark matrix showing through. There is a hydroxyapophyllite crystal with good translucency near the top.
  • The piece held between thumb and finger for scale, in indirect sunlight. The luster of the matrix is matte.
  • The back of the specimen in indirect sunlight, with crystals showing some translucency.
  • Detail of the cluster of intersecting hydroxyapophyllite crystals, with scalenohedral calcite crystals atop and dark brown iron staining emphasizing the growth lines.
  • Detail of the hydroxyapophyllite crystal with good translucency, the calcite druzy is visible through it and included inside it. The crystal has a light crosshatch pattern.
  • Detail of a translucent white hydroxyapophyllite crystal with a cluster of scalenohedral calcite crystal on its corner. The matrix is textured like cauliflower, dark with light tan lizardite covering the tops of bumps.
  • Scale image of the piece on a measuring mat, measuring about two and a quarter inches long by an inch wide.
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Hydroxyapophyllite

Hydroxyapophyllite

$45.00 USD
$45.00 USD
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Locale: N'Chwaning II Mine, South Africa

Approx dimensions: 2.25 x 1 x .75"

Approx weight: 30g

 

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.

This specimen has a cluster of intersecting hydroxyapophyllite crystals topped with a cluster of small scalenohedral calcite crystals. The matte light brown mineral coating is lizardite, which often grows in small spots along the junctions of the hydroxyapophyllite crystal. Calcite covers the back of the specimen. The dark matrix is likely manganese-based; the N'Chwaning mines were established to extract the rich manganese ore in the area. The coffee-brown staining may be iron.

UV reactivity Some calcite fluoresces and phosphoresces weak 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.

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

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