Quartz

specimen number:
9273003

location:
Tinejdad, Errachidia, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco

description:

A cluster of lustrous attractive deep red quartz crystals without matrix. The crystals are slightly translucent, the deep red color is coming from hematite coated phantom crystals. A second-generation of much smaller quartz crystals is present throughout. A very pretty specimen that is in great condition..

The Tinejdad mineral locality (often spelled Tinjdad), situated along the southern desert margins of the High Atlas Mountains within Errachidia Province in the Draa-Tafilalet region of Morocco, is a globally recognized source of highly unique quartz mineral specimens, specifically celebrated for producing sharp quartz crystals that are almost always red in color due to heavy inclusions of hematite iron oxide. Geologically, this remote arid region features extensive Cretaceous-age sedimentary sequences, primarily consisting of marine limestones, marls, and sandstones that were heavily fractured during the tectonic uplift of the Atlas Mountains. Low-temperature, silica-saturated meteoric and hydrothermal fluids rich in iron migrated through these open structural joints and fault networks, precipitating pristine quartz prisms within localized sedimentary cavities and septarian-like nodules, where simultaneous or alternating precipitation of microcrystalline hematite coated and became trapped inside the growing quartz layers to impart the signature red coloration. Historically, unlike the massive industrial lead or silver complexes elsewhere in Morocco, Tinejdad has never hosted a large-scale, corporate underground mining or commercial quarrying operation; instead, the area has been worked continuously by independent, local Berber artisanal miners since the mid-to-late twentieth century, with digging accelerating dramatically from the 1990s onward to supply the rapidly expanding international mineral market.

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