Alabandin xx

The sensation of the years 2015 - 2016: in addition to what are probably the world's best wurtzite crystals, the world's best alabandine crystals also came to light from the tanzanite mines. They have been known for a long time, the miners call them "chuma", the Swahili word for iron. They thought these crystals were rotten pyrite crystals. These crystals are a combination of cube and octahedron, the unusually large number of vicinal faces are interesting.

Here is one of the very rare matrix specimens with a small but very well developed crystal

Mererani, Simanjiro, Tanzania

3.3x2.1cm