Sugar Quartz With Calcite

Sugar Quartz With CalciteOne of the most common minerals on earth, Calcite is a form of Calcium Carbonate and is one of the primary components in limestone. It is found in a vast array of forms, from prismatic crystals to fibrous wisps. Calcite is clear naturally but it can be found in a variety of brilliant colors due to the presence of chemical impurities during formation. These large, showy specimens contain chunky calcite crystals of exceptional shape draped within a

The darker color is caused by differing conditions and impurities during formation that changed over time leaving the area closer to the crystal's surface lighter or more transparent

Grape Agate is a unique and distinctive mineral known from only a few locations on earth

and blues as well as the more commonly encountered clear or pale white

from fine crystal to botryoidal (spherical/nodular)

with texture ranging from velvety and dark to rugose and sparkling

where early very productive copper mines supplied much of the ancient world with the material

occurring in shades of blue

Originating from the famed Green River Formation in Wyoming

These well preserved and larger-sized fossils originate from the Monterey Formation in California

this piece consists of beautifully colored cluster of purple octohedral fluorite on a thick base of candle quartz - so named for the appearance of wax dripping down a candle down the crystal face

dating back as far as 32

it is instead formally known as botryoidal purple chalcedony