Elbaite

specimen number:
2133232

location:
Otjua Farm 37, Karibib, Erongo, Namibia

description:
Dark green lustrous crystal of elbaite. In good condition all around.

Otjua Farm 37, situated near Karibib in the Erongo Region of Namibia, is a world-renowned mineral locality famous for its exceptional lithium-bearing pegmatites. Geologically, it is part of the Damara Orogen, where granitic pegmatites intruded into older schists and marbles approximately 500 million years ago. These highly evolved pegmatites are noted for their significant pockets of tourmaline, particularly the variety known as elbaite. The farm gained legendary status in the mineral world during the late 1980s and early 1990s when a major discovery produced extraordinary "rocket" tourmalines--large, bicolored crystals with deep green bodies and vibrant red or pink caps. Historically, while the area has seen intermittent small-scale mining for industrial minerals like petalite and lepidolite, its primary fame stems from these periodic specimen mining efforts. Today, Otjua Farm 37 remains a classic locality for Namibian mineralogy, represented in major museum collections worldwide by its distinctive and highly aesthetic tourmaline specimens.

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