1.4" Sunshine Cactus Quartz Crystal - South Africa

This is a beautiful orange cactus quartz cluster from the Magaliesberg Mountains of South Africa. There is some purple coloration near the tip of the crystal (quartz var. amethyst). It has a unique orange/yellow coloration due to the presence of iron oxides.

Cactus quartz, often also referred to as spirit quartz, is a variety of quartz characterized by second-generation druzy crystals growing on the faces of larger quartz crystals. The small second-generation crystals point away from the prism and their orientation is not related to the crystallographic orientation of the central crystal. Cactus quartz is currently only known from the Magaliesberg Mountains region of South Africa, and comes in a variety of shades ranging from white to deep purple to orange colorations. The deep purple amethyst points are the rarest and most coveted by collectors.

Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.

Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO2) that owes its violet color to natural gamma irradiation, iron impurities, and the presence of trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions. It is considered a semi-precious gemstone, and just two centuries ago was considered to have a value on par with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. The largest and best known amethyst deposits occur in southern Brazil and Uruguay, where they are found in hydrothermally-formed geodes, but many localities around the world produce an amazing variety of amethyst crystals and formations. They are almost always formed in medium- to high-temperature geological settings.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Quartz var. Amethyst
LOCATION
Magaliesberg Mountains, South Africa
SIZE
1.4" long
ITEM
#122301