Fluorapatite with Albite

specimen number:
2072236

location:
Sapo Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:
Green lustrous tabular slightly translucent crystals of fluorapatite up on a feldspar crystal matrix. In good condition.

The Sapo Mine, located in the municipality of Conselheiro Pena within the Ferruginha district of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a world-class pegmatite deposit famous for its unique mineral specimens. Geologically, it is a complex granitic pegmatite belonging to the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, characterized by large pockets formed from highly evolved, fluid-rich magmas that intruded into Precambrian schists. The mine is most celebrated for its exceptional fluorapatite crystals, which are typically found as tabular, hexagonal prisms with a distinctive deep forest-green to olive-green color and a "velvety" or matte luster, often associated with smoky quartz, muscovite, and albite. Historically, while small-scale prospecting occurred earlier, the Sapo Mine rose to global prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s when several major pockets yielded thousands of high-quality specimens. Unlike large-scale industrial operations, the Sapo is a small, privately-worked underground mine focused specifically on the hand-extraction of mineral specimens for the international market. It remains an active and important locality today, continuing to produce some of the most recognizable and aesthetically prized apatite crystals in the mineralogical world.

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