Quartz (Japan twin)

specimen number:
2312244

location:
Krushev dol Mine, Madan, Smolyan, Bulgaria

description:
A large glassy and gemmy Japan law twin quartz crystal grouping 5.3 cm across on matrix with many un-twinned quartz crystals. This type of twinning for the species is not often seen from this mining district. In very good condition.

The Krushev Dol mine, located in the Madan ore field of the Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria, is part of a mining region with an ancient history of extraction dating back to the 4th to 5th centuries BC. Modern industrial-scale underground mining in the district developed heavily through the 20th century under state and joint-stock operations, continuing into modern times. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Central Rhodope Dome, consisting of high-grade metamorphic rocks and marble cut by hydrothermal vein systems. The ore bodies formed via Eocene to Oligocene hydrothermal activity, producing rich polymetallic mineralization consisting primarily of lead, zinc, and copper sulfides hosted within steep fault zones and carbonate-rich rocks.

Japan law quartz twins are a rare and distinctive form of twinning where two quartz crystals intersect at a precise angle of 84 degrees and 33 minutes, typically sharing a common c-axis. This unusual growth pattern results in a characteristic V-shaped or butterfly-like silhouette with a deep re-entrant angle between the crystal faces.

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