Quartz (pseudomorphs after Fluorite and Anhydrite) (ex Gary Weaver Collection)

Item Description

The specimens from the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are some of the most classic Quartz pseudomorphs or "casts" from any world locality. This beautiful cabinet sized piece is a fantastic example showing the excellent textbook octahedral form of the previous Fluorite crystals along with the orthorhombic tabular habit of the previous Anhydrite crystals which were replaced coated by very small, almost "sugary", white Quartz crystals on host rock and massive white Quartz matrix. The largest "cast" / pseudomorph measures 3.2 cm. Both the Fluorite and Anhydrite crystals were then dissolved away by a solution that entered the pocket at a later date, leaving behind only the Quartz crystal "crust". The label accompanying the piece states that the casts were formed after Fluorite and "Barite", but Barite is essentially chemically inert, so anything caustic enough to dissolved it would also dissolve the Quartz in the pocket. All experts agree that these "casts" have replaced a previous generation of Anhydrite and not Barite. Priced at $900 in the inventory. From the collection of Gary Weaver of Prescott, Arizona (1944-2019). Gary was an electrical engineer who worked for many years for Hughes Aircraft in California. You can read Gary's obituary here https://www.dcourier.com/news/2019/apr/27/obituary-gary-richard-weaver/