Hydroxylellestadite

specimen number:
2354216

location:
Crestmore Quarries, Riverside Co., California, USA

description:
Yellow masses of hydroxylellestadite throughout a massive blue calcite matrix.

The Crestmore Quarries in Riverside County, California, represent a world-famous contact-metamorphic skarn deposit where intrusive magmas altered ancient limestone bodies, creating a remarkably diverse assemblage of rare minerals. Commercial limestone quarrying operations began in the early 20th century, eventually transitioning to underground block-caving methods, which exposed rich mineralized zones that became legendary among professional geologists and mineral collectors alike. The site is celebrated as a premier type locality for numerous rare phases, including hydroxylellestadite, a complex silicate-sulfate mineral of the apatite supergroup that typically forms distinct honey-yellow crystals within the altered carbonate matrix.

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