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Almandine & Arfvedsonite

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PDM568933

Almandine & Arfvedsonite

Ex. Robert Verdoot (BE)

Description Tabs

Description
Locality: 
Kamiaba, Haut-Katanga, DR Congo
Class: 
Crystals on Matrix
Size Range: 
Miniature (4.5-7 cm)
Size: 
6.3 × 4.8 × 3.6 cm
Largest Crystal: 
0.80cm
Description

From the Kamiaba area, a very remote locality close to the border with Zambia, this specimen features deep red rhombododecahedral almandine crystals (one clearly prominent) with good definition of stepped and lustrous faces and net edges. The matrix is rich in black striated arfvedsonite crystals, with some white quartz crystals. Collected before 1960, the specimen is from the stock of Robert Verdoodt, who was working in the laboratories of Union Minière du Haut-Katanga and evacuated to Belgium after the beginning of the Congo crisis and the declaration of independence.

It is a material really hard to see in collections, that has never been abundant at all.

Mineral Data
What's on the rock

Almandine

Formula: 
Fe2+3Al2(SiO4)3
Strunz: 
9.AD.25
Crystal System: 
Isometric
Hardness: 
7.0 - 7.5
Streak: 
White
Type Locality: 
Alabanda, Aydin Province, Aegean Region, Turkey

Arfvedsonite

Formula: 
[Na][Na2][Fe2+4Fe3+]Si8O22(OH)2
Strunz: 
9.DE.25
Hardness: 
5.0 - 6.0
Type Locality: 
Kangerluarsuk Fjord (Kangerdluarssuq Fjord), Ilímaussaq complex, Narsaq, Kujalleq, Greenland

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