{"product_id":"cobaltoan-calcite-with-kolwezite-and-cuprite","title":"Cobaltoan CALCITE with KOLWEZITE and CUPRITE","description":"This wonderful combination of beauty and rarity reminds me of Beauty and the Beast, with sumptuous glossy, vivid pink Cobaltoan Calcite presenting as 'Beauty', and dark olive-green Kolwezite as the 'Beast'. However, I think that that is doing the Kolwezite a disservice, as it is not at all bad for such a rare species. The combination of glassy, pink Cobaltoan Calcite and silky, dark olive-green Kolwezite is one of the remarkable mineralogical appearances for which the Kolwezi mining district in the DR Congo is so blessed, and the finest examples of this rare association come from Mashamba West mine, like this one. Miniature in size this wonderful specimen glistens brightly from its many glassy, transparent, vivid pink Cobaltoan Calcite crystals with three-sided 'nail-head' terminations. Alongside these, at one end of the piece are three or four dark olive-green botryoidal sprays of velvety Kolwezite - a very rare copper cobalt carbonate hydroxide - merged in a linear group. Viewed from the side of the piece the Kolwezite sprays are seen to be intergrown with deep red-purple, glossy Cuprite but this does not extend to the main display surface. Underneath, the Cobaltoan Calcite is purer Calcite, cream in colour and opaque, showing how the transition to cobalt-rich occurred later in the paragenetic sequence and this is supported by the Kolwezite on top too. A miniature mineralogical  treasure from the DR Congo.","brand":"Crystal Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50575863873711,"sku":"CC64737","price":800.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/8516\/2671\/files\/CC64737.png?v=1791206207","url":"https:\/\/crystalclassics.com\/products\/cobaltoan-calcite-with-kolwezite-and-cuprite","provider":"Crystal Classics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}