Quartz (scepter)

specimen number:
2292286

location:
Hallelujah Junction, Washoe Co., Nevada, USA

description:

A loose scepter quartz crystal, the lower portion smoky in color, the termination colorless. In great condition all around.

The Hallelujah Junction locality, situated near the California-Nevada border in southern Washoe County, Nevada, is a famous quartz mining area known for producing distinct scepter and smoky quartz crystals. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within Tertiary-aged granitic and pegmatitic rocks that contain numerous open cavities or hydrothermal vugs. Over millions of years, silica-rich solutions circulating through these specialized fracture networks slowly precipitated quartz crystals, with natural radiation from the surrounding granite imparting the characteristic smoky and amethystine coloration to many of the specimens. Small-scale surface quarrying and commercial specimen mining of these pocket zones began to expand significantly in the mid-to-late twentieth century, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. While never developed into a major industrial metal mine or large-scale quarry, seasonal hand-digging and specialized heavy machinery operations by private claim holders have continued intermittently over the decades to extract collector specimens from the hillside claims.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.