Detailed information
Species
Calcite, var. Cobaltoan Calcite
Dimensions
76 x 34 x 63
mm
Weight
58 g
Locality
Mashamba West Mine Kolwezi mining district Lualaba, DR Congo
Condition
No recorded repairs
The Kolwezi mining district in the Democratic Republic of Congo is renowned as the source of the world's finest pink Cobaltoan Calcite specimens with many of the best having come from the famous Mashamba West mine. At 4.5 cm tall, this gracefully perched scalenohedral crystal is amongst the elite size of crystals known, but its colour saturation and lustre is not quite enough to elevate it into the realms of the world's finest. It is also missing the tiniest end of its tip, but the dramatics of this specimen are great, with this sizable crystal rising up from a thin shard of beige coloured dolomitized limestone. Colourwise, it is a pale pink with internal frosting and a rough outer texture, but its scalenohedral shape is very fine indeed. A couple of small (3 to 4 mm) pink scalenohedral crystals sit around its base too.
