Calcite

specimen number:
2292371

location:
Shizhuyuan Mine, Dongpo, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou, Hunan, China

description:
Light pink rhombohedral crystals of calcite across the top of matrix. In good condition.

The Shizhuyuan Mine, located in Yizhang County within the Chenzhou prefecture of Hunan Province, China, is a massive polymetallic skarn-greisen deposit situated within the Nanling tin-tungsten metallogenic province. Geologically, the deposit formed during the Middle to Late Mesozoic Era (predominantly the Jurassic period, around 150 to 160 million years ago) when the Qianlishan granite complex intruded into Devonian carbonate rocks. This intense magmatic-hydrothermal activity subjected the surrounding limestones to high-temperature contact metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration, creating complex skarn layers rich in tungsten, tin, bismuth, molybdenum, and fluorite. Historically, active prospecting and mining in the Dongpo ore field accelerated during the mid-to-late twentieth century, transforming Shizhuyuan into one of the largest economic-grade tungsten and fluorite reserves in the world. Among collectors, the mine is also recognized for its distinctive pink "pagoda" calcite formations. The pastel-pink to rose coloration of this calcite is caused by trace manganese impurities substituting for calcium ions within the crystal lattice, a chemical substitution that also causes the mineral to fluoresce a vibrant pinkish-orange under ultraviolet light.

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