Spodumene

specimen number:
2292212

location:
Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil

description:

Light pink gem double terminated floater crystal of spodumene, this is the variety often called kunzite. In great condition. This weighs 21.73 g.

The Resplendor municipality, located within the Doce River Valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a historical and contemporary gem-producing region famous for its granitic pegmatite deposits that yield collector mineral specimens, particularly fine crystals of elbaite tourmaline, beryl, quartz, and various phosphates. Geologically, these deposits belong to the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province and are hosted within Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks of the Araquai Orogen, where late-stage granitic intrusions injected highly fractionated, volatile-rich residual magmas into regional faults and fractures. This slow cooling environment in deep crustal pockets allowed for the growth of large, gem-quality crystal pockets inside zoned pegmatites and associated alluvial or colluvial gravels. Small-scale artisanal mining, known locally as garimpo mining, began expanding throughout the middle of the twentieth century as independent prospectors dug shafts, adits, and small open-cast quarries into the hillsides. While high-volume industrial extraction remains absent, dozens of small independent mining operations and local garimpeiros continue to actively prospect and mine these pegmatite veins into the 2020s, continuously supplying the global mineral market with vibrant gemstone specimens.

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