Gonnardite ps. Hauyne on Calcite

Item Description

This unusual specimen shows the rare species gonnardite replacing large, sharp crystals of hauyne. Rob Woodside identified and confirmed by XRay analysis, and corrected the original label - part of the detailed work he did on establishing what was what among the complex mineralogy of this historic location, and resulted in the publication of a 2014 book by the Mineralogical Record on Sar-E-Sang, the historic location for the Stone of Kings, Lapis Lazuli. The crystallography and color contrast is awesome! In longwave UV light, hauyne fluoresces orange, the gonnardite fluoresces white and strongly, immediately obvious that it is a replacement. The strong white color is shocking against the blue background rims. This is a fine display piece. Similar specimens are few and far between and came out in the early 2000s.