Gem Barite (Schlichter Coll.)

Item Description

The Book Cliffs area in western Colorado has produced some superb, colorless prisms of baryte which represent some of the finest examples of the species from Colorado or any other U.S. locality. A truly water-clear, very sharp, colorless orthorhombic baryte prism looks more like a gem crystal, than baryte. Complete all-around and pristine, the contacted back, with no damage, per se, is coated with what looks to be drusy quartz, which is rare from this locale. The crystals form inside of Mancos Shale concretions, which have to be cracked open to expose the barytes inside. Ex. Schlichter Collection.