Celestine

specimen number:
2292369

location:
Sakoany, Katsepy, Mitsinjo, Boeny, Madagascar

description:

Glassy blue gemmy crystals of Celestine to 2.2 cm in size across the front of matrix. Minimal cleaving present, this is in good condition.

The Sakoany deposit, located on the northwestern coast of Madagascar, is situated within sedimentary layers of sandy marls deposited during the Lower Paleocene Epoch, approximately 55 million years ago. The celestine geodes formed through diagenetic processes when low-temperature, strontium-rich groundwater interacted with sulfur-bearing organic remains in the sediments. This chemical reaction caused strontium sulfate to precipitate, gradually filling cavities with crystalline nodules. Historically, the deposit was discovered in the late 1960s when a local herder noticed pale blue crystals on the surface. Hand-dug, artisanal mining operations began near the village of Sakoany in 1967, with miners sinking shafts into the soft, sandy soil to reach the geode-bearing layers. Since then, Sakoany has served as a primary global source of collectible celestine, producing distinctive, sharply formed, pale-blue to sky-blue crystals.

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