Quartz

specimen number:
2292361

location:
Herkimer Co., New York, USA

description:
Choice cluster of glassy gemmy quartz crystals. These are known as Herkimer diamonds. Very minimal micro-damage present, this is in good condition. Complete all around. Very little attached matrix.

"Herkimer diamonds" are double-terminated quartz crystals found in outcroppings of Little Falls Dolostone, a Cambrian-age sedimentary rock formed approximately 500 million years ago in what is now Herkimer County, New York. During the rock's formation, ancient marine waters became trapped in cavities, creating highly saline, high-pressure environments where silicon-rich fluids slowly crystallized into exceptionally clear, eighteen-sided quartz crystals with natural facets at both ends. Historically, native Mohawk people and early European settlers found these sparkling stones loose in soil and streams, but formal geological interest and commercial extraction began in the late nineteenth century when quarrying exposed the underlying dolostone. Today, the region hosts active mining sites where collectors and commercial operations extract these unique crystals from vugs, which are often lined with a dark, hydrocarbon coating known as anthraxolite.

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