Quartz with Rutile inclusions

specimen number:
2063575

location:
Ibitiara, Bahia, Brazil

description:
A slightly smoky mostly colorless crystal of quartz, this with a few smaller crystals attached, this hosting golden needlelike crystals of rutile as inclusions. Some damage present as seen. Classic material for the species and locality. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Located in the Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia, Brazil, Ibitiara is a world-renowned mineral locality famous for producing exceptional gem-quality quartz crystals with needle-like rutile inclusions. Geologically, these specimens originated in hydrothermal quartz veins cutting through Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks, where high-temperature fluids rich in titanium allowed golden, brassy, or reddish rutile threads to form inside growing clear quartz hosts. Local miners, known as garimpeiros, have worked these alluvial deposits and vein fractures manually using traditional hand tools for generations, starting in the mid-twentieth century. The striking visual appearance of golden rutile needles embedded within transparent quartz points made Ibitiara a famous source for specimen collectors and lapidaries worldwide, though access remains primarily driven by small-scale artisanal mining operations across the rugged terrain.

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