Manganese-bearing Calcite (fluorescent classic)

Item Description

A curious elongated specimen of fibrous pastel pink sprays on top of fibrous white sprays from the Wessels Mine in the Kalahari, from old finds of the 1980s. The piece was labelled in the old catalog we got from the collector as Kutnohorite more than likely because of the form, pink color and location with individual crystals up to 2 mm wide and 1.8 cm long. However, Kutnohorite should not be fluorescent while the more classic and well known Kalahari Manganese-bearing Calcite is stunningly fluorescent. This entire specimen has a vivid orange fluorescence indicating it is all MN-Calcite. It is possible that the white Manganese-bearing Calcite has replaced or pseudomorphed the original pastel pink Kutnohorite (the two form in a series of chemistry, and so this is not surprising), as the form is unusual. A much older piece from well known German collector Kurt Hefendehl's over 6000 piece worldwide collection. This piece has a catalogue number of SA-1, so it is his 1st piece out of his 92 catalogued pieces from South Africa. Ex. Kurt Hefendehl Collection. A superb fluorescent display piece!