Quartz with Cassiterite, Calcite

specimen number:
2063467

location:
Yaogangxian Mine, Chenzhou, Hunan, China

description:

A cluster of colorless glassy gemmy quartz crystals, the largest double terminated and 5.0 cm from termination to termination, hosting small black crystals of cassiterite to 0.4 cm in size. Platy colorless small crystals of calcite are scattered throughout. A floater that is crystallized completely all around with no points of attachment. From the 1990s, in good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Yaogangxian Mine, situated in Yizhang County near Chenzhou in southeastern Hunan Province, China, was discovered and opened in 1914 and remains active today as a major tungsten and polymetallic producer. Geologically, the deposit is part of the Nanling nonferrous metallogenic belt and consists of extensive hydrothermal quartz veins emplaced within Mesozoic granitic intrusions and surrounding Paleozoic sedimentary strata. The complex ore system features rich concentrations of wolframite, scheelite, and sulfides, and it is globally renowned among mineral collectors for producing world-class specimens of fluorite, ferberite, and arsenopyrite.

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