Spessartine

specimen number:
2133263

location:
Little Three Mine, San Diego Co., California, USA

description:
Lustrous mostly gemmy orange crystal of spessartine with minor attached albite. Small but very nice. In good condition.

The Little Three Mine, located near Ramona in the Peninsular Ranges of San Diego County, California, is a classic example of a complex, zoned granitic pegmatite. Geologically, the mine exploits a thin, shallow-dipping dike within the Ramona Pegmatite District, characterized by a distinct "line rock" structure and well-developed pockets containing quartz, feldspar, and tourmaline. It is particularly famous for its spessartine garnet, which occurs as lustrous, vibrant orange to reddish-orange trapezohedral crystals often associated with smoky quartz and cleavelandite. Historically, the mine was discovered in 1903 by H.W. Foy and saw significant production during the early 20th-century California gemstone boom. After decades of dormancy, the mine was reopened and operated by Louis B. Spaulding, Jr. from the mid-1950s until his passing in the early 2000s, during which time it produced some of the finest spessartine and schorl specimens in North America. While commercial mining has largely ceased, the Little Three remains a landmark locality in American mineralogy for the exceptional color and quality of its garnet specimens.

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