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  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.
  • A horizontal specimen of dark, lustrous epidote crystals arranged in multiple fan-shaped sprays emerging from a pale gray matrix base. The crystals show a distinctive black color and highly reflective surfaces, forming a dramatic array of upward-reaching formations along the matrix.

EPIDOTE

Kharan District, Balochistan, Pakistan
11.5 x 11 x 4.5 cm
$300.00
$300.00
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ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Numerous growths of fanned epidote shooting out of a plate of matrix. In contrast with most other examples of the mineral species, many specimens from the Ras Koh mountains show a much darker color and much greater luster, along with this characteristic formation. This is a fine piece from the locale, and makes a great display piece with no stand needed.

 

MORE INFO

Zard Mountain sits within the Ras Koh ophiolitic complex of western Balochistan, where epidote developed in veins cutting the mafic and ultramafic host rocks - iron and aluminum silicate-rich fluids exploiting fracture systems during metamorphic and hydrothermal overprinting of the ophiolite sequence. The locality was most likely discovered around 2010 and first reached Western dealers through Rock Currier of Jewel Tunnel Imports in 2012. What prompted a USGS characterization study published in 2013 was the combination of two anomalies: crystals developing flat tabular pseudohexagonal and pseudo-octahedral forms highly unusual for a monoclinic mineral, and a slight but measurable magnetism. Rietveld X-ray diffraction analysis of the magnetic fraction confirmed the crystals carry roughly 7–8% magnetite as microscopic inclusions throughout the epidote body alongside minor titanite, with biotite, feldspar, and quartz present in the igneous core matrix enclosed within larger crystals. Iron substitution for aluminum in the epidote structure drives the characteristic dark pistachio to blackish-green color. Associates include quartz, which occurs as colorless to white matrix on some specimens. Supply has been intermittent since the initial finds, and the combination of formally characterized anomalous habit and peer-reviewed documentation gives this locality an unusually solid scientific foundation for material still relatively new to the market.