Rutile with Hematite

specimen number:
3514243

location:
Novo Horizonte, Bahia, Brazil

description:
Good thumbnail showing bright lustrous metallic platy hematite hosting epitaxial golden acicular rutile crystals.

Novo Horizonte, located in the Bahia state of Brazil, is a world-renowned mineral locality celebrated primarily for its exceptional specimens of rutilated quartz and metallic mineral associations. Geologically, the region features metamorphic and hydrothermal environments that facilitated the growth of quartz veins and complex pockets carrying titanium and iron-rich solutions. Mineralogically, the area is most famous for hematite plates decorated with golden to reddish-brown rutile needles exhibiting striking epitaxial growth. This crystallographic orientation causes the needle-like rutile crystals to intersect at precise geometric angles, often forming brilliant star-like patterns directly on the reflective, metallic hematite matrix. Artisanal mining and specimen recovery in the district intensified over recent decades, supplying museums and global collectors with some of the finest epitaxial mineral specimens ever discovered.

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