MIX18-47
Tantalite-(Mn)
Murrua, Alto Ligonha District, Zambezia Province, Mozambique
Small Cabinet, 6.5 x 2.6 x 2.2 cm
Ex. Charlie Key
$2,750.00 Payment Plan Available
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A large, slightly divergent fan of well-formed, orthorhombic crystals of tantalite-(Mn) up to 6.4 cm from the famous Alto Ligonha district of Mozambique. The crystal group is composed of black-gray, prismatic, bladed crystals striated parallel to the c-axis. Patches of orange-yellow goethite are present locally. These pegmatites have produced some of the finest crystals of tantalite-(Mn) in the world in terms of color, sharpness and overall form. This is actually a beauty queen by the standards of the species and locale, and aesthetic for its robust columnar shapes. ex Rob Smith personal Collection (African Gems and Minerals) to Charlie Key, and then sold to Marshall Sussman in his last deaccession of his core miniatures and African rare species (in 2017). This was analyzed to confirm identity, at University of Arizona.