Ilvaite

specimen number:
2133346

location:
Huanggang Mines, Inner Mongolia, China

description:
Semi lustrous prismatic terminated crystal of elbaite with minor quartz side. In great condition.

The Huanggang mines, situated in the Hexigten Banner of the Chifeng Prefecture in Inner Mongolia, China, comprise a massive, multi-deposit open-pit and underground mining complex primarily extracted for iron and tin alongside zinc, lead, and tungsten. Geologically, the deposit is a premier example of a pyrometasomatic skarn system formed during the Yanshanian orogeny, where Late Yalta Mesozoic granitic magmas intruded into Permian limestone and marble formations. Hydrothermal fluids altered the carbonate host rocks into complex skarn assemblages, depositing massive magnetite, cassiterite, and sphalerite while simultaneously forming a legendary suite of well-crystallized mineral specimens including large, dark green ilvaite prisms, blocky andradite garnets, and iron-rich loellingite clusters. Modern industrial mining operations at the site commenced in 2008 under the management of the Inner Mongolia Huanggang Mining Company, a subsidiary of the Western Mining Group, following extensive exploratory drilling across seven distinct mineralized zones. Commercial production of iron and tin concentrates began in earnest in 2011, and the heavily mechanized complex has remained continuously active up through recent years, sustaining deep underground shaft extractions while simultaneously operating as one of the world's most prolific sources of collector-quality skarn minerals.

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