Natrolite

specimen number:
2133243

location:
Old Springfield Butte, Lane Co., Oregon, USA

description:
Attractive needlelike crystals of natrolite covering the top of matrix. Classic locality for the species. This is in good condition.

Old Springfield Butte, situated near the city of Springfield in Lane County, Oregon, is a classic Pacific Northwest mineral locality famous for its zeolite specimens. Geologically, the site is a volcanic plug composed of Eocene-aged basalt or basaltic andesite that underwent significant hydrothermal alteration, creating numerous gas vesicles or vugs where minerals could crystallize. The most prominent mineral found here is natrolite, a sodium-bearing zeolite that typically forms as delicate, radiating sprays of slender, colorless to white needles or robust prismatic crystals. Historically, the butte was operated as a rock quarry for road construction materials and fill dirt during the mid-20th century, with the most active mineral collecting occurring between the 1950s and the 1970s. While the quarrying operations eventually ceased and the site has largely been reclaimed or developed for residential and municipal use, it remains well-documented in regional mineralogical literature for the high quality of its acicular natrolite clusters.

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