Epidote with Quartz

specimen number:
2312312

location:
Hongxizhen, Meigu Co., Liangshan Yi, Sichuan, China

description:
Lustrous green crystallized epidote across the top of matrix with colorless quartz crystals. In great condition.

Hongxizhen (frequently misspelled in the collector market as Hongquizhen) is a mining and specimen locality situated in Meigu County within the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China. The area lacks formal commercial or historical mining records with exact opening and closing dates, as it originates from small-scale, localized artisanal specimen collecting rather than large-scale industrial mining. Geologically, the region is characterized by complex, rugged mountainous terrain shaped by regional tectonic events and hydrothermal activity, producing mineral-rich pockets within altered country rocks. The famous mineral specimens from this area—notably dark green, fan-like aggregates and prismatic crystals of epidote often associated with transparent quartz, prehnite, and babingtonite—crystallized as hot, mineral-laden hydrothermal fluids circulated through fractures and cavity systems. Due to environmental protections and restrictions on local specimen gathering within regional forest reserves, active collection has been heavily curtailed.

Epidote is a common sorosilicate mineral typically forming prismatic, pistachio-green, dark green, or blackish crystals with a strong vitreous luster. It commonly develops in hydrothermal veins, low-grade metamorphic rocks like green schists, and skarns resulting from the alteration of calcium-rich plagioclase and other minerals.

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