Brucite

specimen number:
8311500

location:
Nisai, Muslim Bagh Ophiolite, Balochistan, Pakistan

description:
Beautiful yellow botryoidal translucent brucite in a cluster with colorless crystallized brucite and minimal matrix. In great condition. A fine cabinet piece for the species.

The brucite deposits located near the village of Nisai, situated within the Killa Saifullah District of northern Balochistan, Pakistan, represent an important modern regional source of vivid yellow to lemon-yellow botryoidal brucite specimens. Geologically, this mineralization is hosted within the mantle section of the Cretaceous-age Muslim Bagh Ophiolite complex, specifically occurring inside highly altered, ultramafic peridotite and dunite host rocks. The brucite formed via low-temperature metasomatic alteration and advanced serpentinization, where carbon dioxide-bearing hydrothermal fluids reacted with magnesium-rich olivine minerals to deposit the magnesium hydroxide along fractures, vein boundaries, and lenticular lenses adjacent to local magnesite and chromite deposits. Historically, while the broader Muslim Bagh area has been exploited for industrial chromite since the early twentieth century, the specific extraction of these bright yellow brucite masses for the global mineral collector market is a relatively recent phenomenon that accelerated dramatically in the late 2010s. The mining is carried out using shallow, open-cast surface cuts and manual hand-sorting by local miners near the hamlet of Ekhai just south of Nisai. Through 2026, these informal, small-scale quarrying operations remain highly active, continuing to supply the international market with distinct botryoidal aggregates that serve as a key reference for studying low-temperature hydrothermal alteration within obducted ophiolite sequences.

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