Lepidolite with Albite

specimen number:
2072203

location:
Taquaral, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:
Lustrous rounded crystal groupings of purple lepidolite throughout matrix. In good condition and a choice example for the species.

The Taquaral area, located near Itinga in the Jequitinhonha Valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a world-class district for granitic pegmatites. Geologically, these deposits are part of the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province and are hosted within the Neoproterozoic Aracuai Orogen, where complex lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites intruded into regional schists. The locality is mineralogically famous for producing some of the finest rose quartz crystals ever found, which typically occur as delicate, translucent pink clusters on a matrix of white smoky quartz or cleavelandite, often in association with eosphorite and brazilianite. Historically, mining in Taquaral has been dominated by "garimpeiros" or independent small-scale miners who have operated numerous pits and tunnels since the mid-20th century, with peak specimen production occurring between the 1970s and 1990s. While some commercial extraction for industrial minerals like feldspar and spodumene continues today, the region remains best known globally as a primary source of high-quality crystallized rose quartz and rare phosphates for the international mineral market.

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