Grossular

specimen number:
1052657

location:
Akhtaragda River, Vilyui River Basin, Mirninsky, Sakha, Russia

description:
A set of four loose yellowish green crystals of grossular from this classic Russian locality. The specimens come with an antique label in the shape of a box as shown in the video and picture. The label gives an original acquisition date of 1911. The size provided is the size of the box label.

The Akhtaragda River mouth, located near the Vilyuy River in the Sakha Republic of Russia, is a classic mineralogical locality famous for its distinct crystals of grossular garnet. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Vilyuy Traps, where Siberian Trap basaltic intrusions interacted with local carbonate-bearing sediments to create a skarn-like environment. This contact metamorphism produced sharp, well-formed dodecahedral and trapezohedral crystals of grossular that range in color from honey-yellow to dark olive-green. Historically, the site was first brought to the attention of the scientific community in 1790 by the explorer Erik Laxmann, making it one of the earliest documented mineral localities in Siberia. While the area has never supported industrial-scale mining or quarrying operations, it has been the focus of persistent small-scale specimen recovery and geological study for over two centuries

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