Spessartine

specimen number:
8311203

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

description:
Beautiful glassy gemmy orange red crystal of spessartine. This is in super condition. A superb thumbnail for this California classic.

The Little Three Mine, located near Ramona in San Diego County, California, is a classic pegmatite locality that has been worked intermittently since the early 20th century for gem minerals. Mining at the site focused on complex granitic pegmatites that produced a variety of gem and mineral specimens, including tourmaline, kunzite, and especially spessartine garnet. The spessartine from the Little Three Mine is well known for its gem quality crystals, typically displaying bright orange to reddish orange colors with excellent transparency and sharp crystal form. These garnets often occur as well formed crystals embedded in pegmatite pockets, sometimes associated with feldspar, quartz, and mica. Although mining was carried out on a relatively small scale, the quality of the material has made the Little Three Mine an important and highly regarded locality for gem spessartine in the United States.

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