Helvite

specimen number:
9507046

location:
Huanggang Mines, Inner Mongolia, China

description:
Superb example for the species with lustrous sharp crystals of helvite measuring to almost 2.0 cm in size coming off matrix with quartz. This is in excellent condition and really fine for the species.

The Huanggang Mines, located in the Hexigten Banner of Inner Mongolia, China, comprise a massive iron, tin, and polymetallic deposit situated within the southern Greater Khingan Range. Geologically, the deposit formed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous periods as part of extensive Yanshanian magmatic activity, where intermediate-acid granitic intrusions invaded Paleozoic carbonate and volcanic sedimentary sequences, creating complex skarn environments. Historically developed for commercial iron and base metal extraction, the mining area has gained immense fame among global mineral collectors for producing world-class specimen assemblages. Mineralogically, the skarns host a remarkable variety of species, including exceptional fluorite, magnetite, and strikingly sharp tetrahedral crystals of helvite, a beryllium-rich member of the sodalite group prized for its rich amber, yellow, or brown tones and pristine crystal form.

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