Clintonite

specimen number:
9302306

location:
Nikolae-Maximilianovskaya Kop', Nazyamskie Mts, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia

description:

Classic Russian specimen, this is a cluster of deep green lustrous well-formed Clintonite crystals with little attached matrix. In great condition all around, a very choice thumbnail specimen.

The Nikolae-Maximilianovskaya Kop, located in the Nazyamskie Mountains near Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, is a classic Ural Mountains mineral locality established in the nineteenth century. Geologically, the site is situated within a highly metamorphosed skarn zone where structural contact between Paleozoic carbonate rocks and basic igneous intrusions created a complex calc-silicate environment. Hydrothermal alteration of the limestone and dolostone host rocks led to the formation of distinct mineralized pockets rich in well-crystallized silicates and oxides. The locality is historically noted for producing specimens of vesuvianite, diopside, garnet, magnetite, and clintonite. Hand-mining and localized quarrying operations for mineral specimens began intermittently during the 1830s and 1840s, with organized excavation peaking under Imperial Russian and early Soviet mineralogical expeditions before transitioning into an inactive historical preserve.

Clintonite is a calcium magnesium aluminum phyllosilicate mineral belonging to the brittle mica group. It typically occurs in contact metamorphic skarns and altered dolomitic limestones, forming platy crystals, foliated masses, or radiating clusters that vary in color from yellowish-brown to green. The mineral is characterized by its perfect cleavage and brittle nature, distinguishing it from standard flexible micas, and it typically serves as an indicator of high-grade metamorphic conditions within carbonate-rich geological environments.

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