3.7" Golden-Yellow Calcite Crystal - Morocco
This is a honey colored "beam calcite" crystal cluster that's part of a new find from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. This specimen is 3.7" long and has a golden-yellow coloration with some edges containing dark brown coloration. The lines across the calcite run along natural points of cleavage and likely occurred as a result of the cleaning process. One end of this specimen is damaged. This damage has been reflected in the price of the calcite.
Calcite, CaCO3, is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate. The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Calcite crystals are trigonal-rhombohedral, though actual calcite rhombohedra are rare as natural crystals. However, they show a remarkable variety of habits including acute to obtuse rhombohedra, tabular forms, and prisms. Calcite exhibits several twinning types adding to the variety of observed forms. It may occur as fibrous, granular, lamellar, or compact. Cleavage is usually in three directions parallel to the rhombohedron form.