QUARTZ WITH HEDENBERGITE & ANDRADITE

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Superbly balanced arrangement of prase quartz (a term for quartz colored green by different inclusions, in this case hedenbergite) pointing in all directions, balanced atop a matrix dotted with small crimson red crystals of andradite garnet. It’s an elegant specimen with a very nice subtle contrast between the soft forest green and the deep color of the garnet around it. From discoveries in the world renowned Dal’Negorsk in eastern Russia, this is excellent for both locality and size class.

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The Sinerechenskoe skarn occurrence formed through contact metamorphism where granitic intrusions interacted with carbonate-bearing sedimentary rocks in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range of Far Eastern Russia. These skarns are part of the regional Cretaceous magmatic-hydrothermal systems that produced numerous tungsten, tin, and base metal deposits throughout Primorsky Krai. The specimens display bulb-like or tapered prismatic quartz crystals reaching 5-7 cm, colored gray-green to deep forest green by dense internal inclusions of acicular hedenbergite crystals. This prase variety of quartz typically grows on matrix composed of micro-crystalline to well-crystallized andradite garnet in chocolate brown to cinnamon colors, with individual andradite crystals occasionally reaching 1-2 cm. What makes Sinerechenskoe material distinctive is the combination of saturated green coloration from pyroxene inclusions and the high-quality andradite matrix; specimens showing both minerals at display quality are particularly valued. The locality is also known by alternate names including Blue River and Sinja Rechka. Most material was collected during the 1990s following the Soviet collapse when Russian mineral specimens first entered Western markets in volume, though sporadic collecting continues.