Kovdorskite

specimen number:
9302002

location:
Kovdor Zheleznyi, Murmanskaya Oblast, Russia

description:

An exceptional miniature for the species, prismatic lustrous translucent terminated crystals across the top of this matrix. This is in excellent condition.

The Kovdor Massif, located in Murmanskaya Oblast on the Kola Peninsula of Russia, is a massive alkaline-ultramafic intrusive complex famous for its vast iron ore deposits and unique carbonatite-hosted mineralogy. Mining operations and extensive geological exploration in the region, which intensified during the mid-20th century, exposed an extraordinary variety of rare secondary and accessory minerals that formed through complex magmatic and hydrothermal processes. Among these discoveries is the rare mineral kovdorskite, first found in the Kovdor deposit and officially described in 1980. Mineralogically, kovdorskite occurs within phoscorites and carbonatites as a hydrated magnesium phosphate carbonate hydroxide, typically forming attractive blocky to prismatic crystals that display pale blue, colorless, or delicate pink hues highly prized by mineral collectors worldwide.

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