Detailed information
Species
Fluorite, Quartz
Dimensions
45 x 41 x 28
mm
Weight
36 g
Locality
Marsanges Mine, Marsanges Langeac, Brioude, Haute-Loire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Condition
No recorded repairs
This exceptional French Fluorite miniature comes from the Marsanges mine, at Langeac, Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Renowned for having produced the finest Fluorite from the Haute-Loire area this specimen is clear evidence of why. Combining an underlying octahedral form but with stepped cubic overgrowth, this piece provides a level of detail rarely seen in Fluorite specimens and from one angle looks like a Hedgehog. Its stepped crystals are totally transparent, but with an underlying blue-grey to teal-blue colour shining through from below. Reaching 4 cm across, the main octahedral crystal, which presents as half, or a pyramid, is coated on one half of the pyramid (two sloping faces) with tiny sugary bipyramidal Quartz crystals and on the other two faces by the intriguing stepped cubes of transparent Fluorite. Underneath, the core of the main pyramidal crystal is green, with several thin purple bands. Exuding class, this might be a miniature-sized Fluorite, but is world-class in its presentation and quality.
