Calcite

specimen number:
9892124

location:
Sokolovskoe Mine, Rudny, Kostanay, Kazakhstan

description:
Attractive yellow loose grouping of glassy gemmy twinned calcite crystals. No points of attachment, crystallized all around and in very good condition. From the early 1990s.

The Sokolovskoe Mine, located near Rudny in the Kostanay Region of northern Kazakhstan, is a giant contact metasomatic skarn deposit formed by hydrothermal fluids altering Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks near igneous intrusions. Discovered in 1949 during aerial magnetic surveys, the site underwent rapid exploration that led to the founding of the city of Rudny and the development of major industrial open-pit and underground operations supplying high-grade iron ore. In addition to its industrial significance for magnetite and pyrite extraction, the mine became world-famous among mineral collectors for producing magnificent display specimens, particularly sharp scalenohedral calcite crystals, lustrous iron garnets such as melanite, pyrite clusters, and various zeolites.

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