EPIDOTE

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

A large specimen of arboreal Balochistan epidote in rounded, bunched together growths. It displays well all around, the hue is deep, deep green, and the vitreous luster is strong. The crystals all protrude out of a sturdy plate of matrix that makes for an excellent natural base.

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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.