Elbaite with Albite (repaired)

specimen number:
2262077

location:
Himalaya Mine, San Diego Co., California, USA

description:
A spectacular grouping of mostly pink lustrous translucent elbaite crystals associated with thin platy white crystals of albite. This has been repaired in one place, the repair is done very well and is difficult to detect. In excellent condition. Really fine for this California locality. This was collected in the 1970s.

The Himalaya Mine, situated in the Mesa Grande District of San Diego County, California, is a world-renowned gem pegmatite deposit. Geologically, the mine is located within a thin, steeply dipping dike of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith, where late-stage granitic fluids cooled to form large pockets filled with exceptional crystals of elbaite tourmaline, quartz, and lepidolite. The locality is most famous for its elbaite, which frequently occurs as slender, prismatic crystals exhibiting vibrant "watermelon" or bicolor zoning, often with pink cores and green rims. Historically, mining and quarrying at the site began in 1898 after the initial discovery of tourmaline by local prospectors. The mine saw its most significant period of activity between 1904 and 1912, when vast quantities of pink tourmaline were exported to China to satisfy the demands of the Empress Dowager Cixi. While the mine has changed ownership several times and faced periods of dormancy, underground operations and specimen recovery have continued intermittently through various commercial and fee-dig ventures into 2026. It remains one of the most productive and historically significant gemstone localities in North America.

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