Albite with Chlorite

specimen number:
1052728

location:
Ofenhorn, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

description:
A very fine large cabinet classic example from the Alps with crystals of lustrous albite measuring to 4.0 cm in size across the top of matrix with minor chlorite. This is in really good condition. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video. The label provides an acquisition date in 1908.

The Ofenhorn, a majestic peak straddling the border between the Val Formazza of Italy and the Binn Valley of Valais, Switzerland, is a celebrated high-altitude alpine locality renowned for producing exceptionally sharp, glassy crystals of albite plagioclase feldspar. Geologically, this rugged mountain massif is composed of highly deformed, pre-Triassic-age metamorphic gneisses and mica schists belonging to the tectonic Monte Leone nappe structure. During the late metamorphic and cooling phases of the Alpine orogeny, hydrothermal fluids dissolved silica and aluminum from the surrounding rock matrix, slowly reprecipitating these elements within structural tension fractures to form pristine, water-clear to translucent albite crystals, often exhibiting classic polysynthetic twinning and perched alongside smoky quartz, anatase, and titanite. Historically, because of the extreme high-alpine topography, avalanche hazards, and strict environmental preservation laws, the Ofenhorn has never hosted commercial industrial underground or open-cast quarrying operations. Instead, specimen extraction has been carried out solely by traditional Swiss and Italian crystal hunters, or strahlers, who have manually navigated the steep rock faces to collect specimens using basic hand tools for generations. This selective, weather-dependent seasonal collecting peaked during the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, and it continues under tight regional permit systems through 2026, making historic Ofenhorn albite specimens highly sought-after, scarce benchmarks of classic European alpine-cleft mineralogy.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.