2.2" Manganoan Calcite Crystal Cluster and Pyrite Association - Peru

This is a cluster of pink manganoan (manganese-bearing) calcite crystals from the Pachapaqui mining district in Áncash, Peru. Under short and long wave UV, the calcite crystals fluoresce a vibrant pink-orange color. The contrast of the pink calcite with the metallic pyrite is quite nice.


Manganoan calcite, also known as manganocalcite, is a pink, manganese-rich variety of calcite with a chemical composition of (Ca,Mn)CO3. It crystallizes in a trigonal crystal system and forms rhombohedral or scalenohedral crystals. These crystals tend to display a pink color that ranges anywhere from pinkish-salmon to hot pink. It often displays a bright orangey-pink fluorescence under short-wave UV light.

The Huanzala mine in the Bolognesi Province of Áncash, Peru is an excellent example of a mine with exceptional quality, variety, and availability. Traditionally a lead-zinc mine, Huanzala holds the record for the most mineral tonnage extracted by a single mine. This is quite the feat and it's easy to see why minerals from this locality are so aggressively mined and collected.

This mine has a multitude of awesome minerals from sharply terminated quartz to sparkly pyrite, bubbly aragonite and dense galena. Other common minerals are realgar, orpiment, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, manganoan calcite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, cassiterite, barite, fluorite and fluorapatite, among other less prevalent minerals. Mineral associations from this mine often contain three to four minerals at once, growing all over one another in phenomenal associations.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Calcite var. Manganoan Calcite & Pyrite
LOCATION
Huanzala Mine, Bolognesi Province, Áncash, Peru
SIZE
2.2 x 1.5"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#195839