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Shockingly, a new find of scheelite from an exploratory prospect first found early last summer, has yielded a bounty beyond what I could have expected! Scheelite had been found in the past only rarely in Pakistan (notably a few large floaters from another side of the country entirely). Pegmatitic scheelite is rare, in any case. However, early last summer, a prospect near the main aquamarine mining regions in the Skardu district showed promise which has now been followed up. These specimens run from orange to red in colors, and surpass most other localities excepting only Chinese speicmens for the combination of sharpness and color, with many on nice matrix.
qg01 - Scheelite - $2400 SOLD Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan small cabinet, 7.0 x 4.8 x 3.3 cm
A sharp, doubly-terminated, 2.2-cm crystal sits smack in the middle of this plate of beautiful, sparkling quartz, surrounded by sidecar crystals. Superb small cab specimen!
qg02 - Scheelite - $2750 SOLD Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan miniature, 5.7 x 5.1 x 2.5 cm
Perhaps my favorite overall specimen in the lot, this one features a SHARP crystal to 1.8 cm on edge, shooting off the matrix. It is complete, 3-dimensional, and terminated all around !
qg03 - Scheelite - $750 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan small cabinet, 6.0 x 5.9 x 3.0 cm
Each cluster here is about 3 cm tip to tip, perched atop a plate of contrasting quartz matrix for admirable display. The back of the scheelite clusters is contacted, but the display face is pristine and as good as those above - with bigger clusters of conjoined crystals! The reason this is lower in value by so much is thus not because of the rear contact, but because (and its hard to see unless you go looking), there is a cleave on the tip of the frontal crystal in the left cluster. Still, a lot of bang and richness for the $$$
qg04 - Scheelite - $850 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan small cabinet, 7.4 x 5.8 x 3.4 cm
Beautiful red-orange scheelites mounded up one atop another, with crystals to 1.2 cm, on contrasting matrix
qg05 - Scheelite - $2250 SOLD Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan miniature, 5.3 x 4.1 x 3.1 cm
This specimen features a starkly contrasted, sharp, freestanding, 2,75-cm long crystal (2.5 cm and 2.2 cm in depth and width). The crystal is complete all around and is extremely 3-dimensional, with (obviously) great aesthetics upon its perch!
qg06 - Scheelite - $750 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan miniature, 4.8 x 4.4 x 2.8 cm
A hefty, robust, floater cluster of intergrown large scheelites! This cluster is complete all around, though with a few minor contacts that seem to have rehealed (showing microcrystallized growth over perhaps a break or contact) in situ.
qg07 - Scheelite - $2000 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan small cabinet, 6.9 x 6.5 x 5.3 cm
This is certainly an important Pakistani specimen, I would say, for the overall size and impact of the 5-cm crystal perched in a cluster. It is a hefty, robust specimen whose combination of pale orange color and oddly "soft" form make it distinct from Chinese material
qg08 - Scheelite - $1500 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan miniature, 5.6 x 5.2 x 3.4 cm
This is the gemmiest crystal I have yet seen, looking more like a garnet than a scheelite, softly nestled in amongst sharp, gemmy quartz points! The crystal measures 2 cm longest dimension, and leaps out at you visually. Its a superb piece from any locality.
qg09 - Scheelite - $1250 Gharmung Area, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan miniature, 4.5 x 3.8 x 2.6 cm
This large compound crystal has many extra faces, from side growths, and so is very reflective and interesting in a case. Again, as with some others here, the size would make you think its from China but it really is not! The largest crystal is 3 cm as it looks on the front, though really i think this is all one single crystal with multiple outgrowths . All Content and Design ©1996-2008 The Arkenstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
