Quartz

specimen number:
2292226

location:
Galileia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:

A neat glassy gem smoky quartz crystal grouping. In great condition all around.

The Galileia mining district, located in the Doce River valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a world-famous pegmatite field renowned for producing exceptional gemstone and phosphate mineral specimens, including morganite, kunzite, and elbaite tourmaline. Geologically, the area belongs to the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, characterized by complex, highly zoned granitic pegmatites of Neoproterozoic age that intruded into regional schists and gneisses. These pegmatites underwent advanced internal fractionation, creating massive quartz cores and hydrothermal replacement pockets rich in rare elements like lithium, cesium, and tantalum. Artisanal and small-scale mining, locally known as garimpo mining, began in the 1940s during World War II to extract strategic industrial minerals like mica and beryl. Following the war, operations transitioned toward specimen and gemstone extraction, with famous open-pit and underground workings like the Sapucaia, Telirio, and Urucum mines operating intermittently through the late twentieth century and continuing to yield high-quality collector pieces into the 2020s.

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