Detailed information
Species
Cafarsite
Dimensions
37 x 55 x 44
mm
Weight
64 g
Locality
Mt. Cervandone, Devero Alp Baceno, Antigorio Valley Ossola Valley, Piedmont, Italy
Condition
No recorded repairs
Cafarsite, named after the presence of calcium, iron and arsenic within its chemistry, was first described in the 1960s from Wanni Glacier (Wannigletscher) near Monte Cervandone on the Swiss/Italian border and has only been reported from a handful of localities, nearly all of which are in the European alps. This miniature specimen from the superb systematic collection assembled by brothers Martin and Michael Günther (1951-2007 & 1956-2021) is from Mt. Cervandone on the Italian side of the border. It features many well-formed dark brown octahedral to cubo-octahedral Cafarsite crystals on matrix. The two main crystals are 4.5 and 4 mm across but there are many others sub-1 mm in size. A fine example of this alpine rarity.
