Londonite

specimen number:
9507045

location:
Antsahanana quarry, Sahatany Valley, Ibity, Antsirabe II District, Vakinankaratra, Madagascar

description:
Very fine and choice for the species, large blocky yellow crystals of londonite measuring to 5.0 cm in size on matrix. Minor elbaite is present as well. This is in very good condition.

The Antsahanana quarry, situated in the Sahatany Valley near Mount Ibity within the Antsirabe II District of Madagascar's Vakinankaratra region, is part of a world-renowned pegmatite field developed extensively through artisanal mining since the mid-twentieth century. Geologically, the area is characterized by highly fractionated lithium-cesium-tantalum granitic pegmatites that intruded into regional Precambrian metamorphic schists and quartzites, creating volatile-rich pockets favorable for rare-element crystallization. Mineralogically, the locality is celebrated for producing diverse accessory borates and rare species, most notably londonite, a rare beryllium-aluminum borate that serves as the cesium-dominant analogue of rhodizite. First approved as a new mineral species around the turn of the twenty-first century, londonite typically occurs as small, sharp, pale yellow to colorless tetrahedral or dodecahedral crystals embedded within these complex pegmatite pockets, making specimens from the Sahatany Valley highly prized by advanced mineral collectors and museums worldwide.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.