Elbaite

specimen number:
1711660

location:
Sapo mine, Doce Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:

A lustrous gemmy color zoned blue and pinkish red elbaite crystal. In great condition.

The Sapo mine, located in Conselheiro Pena within the Doce valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a specialized open-cut and underground gem-pegmatite mining operation famous for its unique mineral chemistry. Geologically, the deposit belongs to the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, featuring a highly fractionated, zoned granitic pegmatite body that intruded regional metamorphic schists during the Neoproterozoic era. Late-stage, volatile-rich hydrothermal fluids enriched in lithium, iron, and manganese cooled within internal pocket zones to form exceptional mineral associations, most notably producing distinctive dark green elbaite tourmaline crystals coated in a bright secondary layer of hydroxylherderite, alongside deep blue apatite, albite, and quartz. Historically, initial prospecting and surface garimpeiro quarrying at the site began in the mid-twentieth century, but systematic underground exploration intensified dramatically in the late 1990s and early 2000s when specialized mining groups began tunneling directly into the core zones of the pegmatite. A series of major pocket discoveries between 2001 and 2008 elevated the mine to international prominence, establishing it as a key supplier for the global mineral trade. While active extraction has fluctuated significantly depending on the discovery of new mineralized cavities and local economic factors, targeted seasonal surface trenching and artisanal underground operations continue intermittently through 2026.

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