Detailed information
Dimensions
76 x 78 x 48
mm
Locality
Oberdorf an der Laming Laming valley Styria, Austria
Condition
No recorded repairs
Specimens of wonderfully crystallised Strontianite are a famous classic from Oberdorf an der Laming in Austria, as such perfectly developed hexagonal crystals are exceedingly rare for this species. Strontianite is named for the west coast Scottish village of Strontian where this species was first found and for which the element strontium is also named. Translucent, colourless to pale milky hexagonal prisms of up to 1.5 cm long are richly scattered over a matrix formed of thin, interlocked plates coated with a fine micro-crystalline layer of snow-white Calcite. The Strontianite prisms are all double terminated where space allows, which is almost every crystal. Each end of the prisms grade to a pale, almost ethereal, delicate salmon-orange, lending a beautiful aesthetic to the entire specimen. The platy structure of the matrix is uncertain, but thought to be almost paper-thin plates of Calcite, strengthened by a secondary deposition of micro-Calcite crystals. A classic and stunning Strontianite from Oberdorf an der Laming, Austria.