Tucson 2010
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Page 2: Mozambique Page
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Mozambique
From the 1920's to the early
70's, Mozambique was one of many mineralogically promising locations in Africa.
The country gained independence form Portugal in 1975, and two years later
became entangled in one of the Cold War era, left/right struggles that plagued much of
the developing world from the 70's to the early 90's.
Gem mining came to a virtual
standstill, and the country's vast pegmatites lay dormant. In the last 15
years however, the country has once again come to gemological prominence. Today
it is one of the primary sources of gem grade tourmaline for the cutting
industry, and one of the few places in the world where the famous, copper
bearing "paraiba" tourmaline can be found.
Strangely enough, specimens
from this country are rarely available. There was a Mineralogical Record
issue published in 2000 that was largely dedicated to the country, and yet many
of the specimens pictured were from old finds.
I came across a few dealers
in Tucson this year with material from Mozambique, some specimens come from
recent mining and others are slightly older. I already had a few
Mozambican aquamarines sitting around, so I figured this would make an
interesting update.
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MOZ1 Scapolite
Namitil,
Nampula, Mozambique
5.2x
2.2x 2.1 cm
$1400
Scapolite of this quality is better known from Mpwawa,
Tanzania, and crystals like this one are virtually unheard of from
Mozambique (actually, this crystal would be large even for
Tanzania.)
According to the mine owner, this crystal came from a
small batch of 3 or 4 crystals. The others were faceted, this one
was preserved.
This is an exceptional scapolite for any locality, but is
doubly rare being from Mozambique. The crystal is terminated and
very gemmy.
I have never seen another of this size and quality from the
country.
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MOZ2 Fluornatromicrolite
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
8.0x
5.5x 4.3 cm
$850
This is an exceptional specimen of this very rare, and very
beautiful mineral. There are two crystals imbedded in an albite
matrix, and both show good faces and a deep, blue-green color.
I have only seen these specimens offered for sale about two
other times that I can remember; Mozambique produces some of the finest in
the world.
Good fluornatromicrolite has also been reported from
Pakistan and Afghanistan, but those crystals tend to be orange.
Better in person!
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MOZ3 Tourmaline
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
4.6x
2.3x 2.0 cm
$850
Here is a new find from Tucson 2010. I showed this
and the following piece to a geologist friend of mine, and his first
instinct was to identify it as beryl.
Despite the hexagonal nature of the crystal, when it is
flipped around, it can be clearly seen to be tourmaline.
This specimen has a brightly colored blue cap, almost
verging on what could be called "Paraiba". It is actually a watermelon crystal,
and more interestingly, is hollow!
I consider this to be one of the more interesting finds of
the show, and certainly among the most limited (there were only a few
crystals, and these are the best two)
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MOZ4 Tourmaline "Paraiba Blue Cap"
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
4.0x
2.4x 2.1 cm
$750
Here is a new find from Tucson 2010. I showed this
and the preceding piece to a geologist friend of mine, and his first
instinct was to identify it as beryl.
Despite the hexagonal nature of the crystal, when it is
flipped around, it can be clearly seen to be tourmaline.
This specimen has a brightly colored blue cap, almost
verging on what could be called "Paraiba". It is actually a watermelon crystal,
and more interestingly, is hollow!
I consider this to be one of the more interesting finds of
the show, and certainly among the most limited (there were only a few
crystals, and these are the best two)
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MOZ5 Tourmaline "Scepter"
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
5.1x
1.7x 1.15 cm
$385
With all the single tourmaline crystals coming out of
Afghanistan and Brazil, here is something a little bit different.
This is a terminated "scepter" crystal from a rare
locality, with a deep red base and an inky blue upper section.
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MOZ6 Tourmaline, Lepidolite
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
3.8x
2.3x 1.6 cm
$300
When I saw this piece, I thought it was from Brazil.
I was wrong; it is actually from Mozambique.
All the images were taken under strong lighting to
show off the specimen's beautiful colors- an inky blue termination, and a
dark green shaft.
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MOZ7 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Mocuba, Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.3x
1.65x 1.2 cm
$250
A rare aquamarine specimen from Mozambique, this thumbnail
consists of two terminated, parallel crystals. Both have internal
phantoms, and interesting elongated terminations.
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MOZ8 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Mocuba, Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
3.2x
2.4x 1.8 cm
$200
A rare aquamarine specimen from Mozambique, this toenail
consists of a single crystal showing excellent color. The crystal is
terminated, only the termination is very weathered (it is not broken off).
This is a gemmy crystal and, it is possible to see growth
patterns on its faces.
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MOZ21 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Mocuba, Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
6.0x
1.0x 1.0 cm
$125
A prism of aquamarine from Mozambique, not
terminated but a decent sized sample.
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MOZ9 Tourmaline
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
4.4x
1.0x 0.8 cm
$185
A terminated, brownish-red crystal of tourmaline from
Mozambique. The crystal is actually rather gemmy, but the internal
fractures reflect light and make it look worse in the photographs.
No damage (the white square is the remnant of a sticker).
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MOZ10 Fluornatromicrolite
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
4.8x
2.8x 2.4 cm
$450
An exceptional specimen of this very rare, and very
beautiful mineral. There is one large crystal, slightly weathered on
matrix, showing the characteristic deep, blue-green color.
I have only seen these specimens offered for sale about two
other times that I can remember; Mozambique produces some of the finest in
the world.
Better in person!
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MOZ11 Spodumene (Floater)
Namacotche,
Mutala, Mozambique
8.0x
2.9x 2.1 cm
$420
A terminated floater specimen of spodumene from
Mozambique, this crystal is like a piece of yellow glass. When
viewed from a particular angle, it has a greenish hue as well.
These were last encountered in 2003, and this is a
beautiful specimen from recent production. No damage!
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MOZ12 Spodumene (Floater!)
Namacotche,
Mutala, Mozambique
5.3x
4.3x 1.3 cm
$400
A double terminated floater specimen of spodumene
from Mozambique, this crystal is like a piece of yellow glass and
actually has reasonably sharp edges.
These were last encountered in 2003, and this is a
beautiful specimen from recent production. No damage!
Please note the color is much more yellow in person,
for some reason it is not showing up in the images.
This is my favorite of the spodumenes on this page,
it looks considerably better in person.
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MOZ13 Spodumene (Floater)
Namacotche,
Mutala, Mozambique
5.4x
3.4x 1.3 cm
$380
A double terminated floater specimen of spodumene
from Mozambique, this crystal is like a piece of yellow glass an
actually has reasonably sharp edges.
These were last encountered in 2003, and this is a
beautiful specimen from recent production. No damage!
Please note the color is much more yellow in person,
for some reason it is not showing up in the images.
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MOZ14 Spodumene (Floater)
Namacotche,
Mutala, Mozambique
4.4x
2.8x 1.4 cm
$235
A double terminated floater specimen of spodumene
from Mozambique, this crystal is like a piece of yellow glass an
actually has reasonably sharp edges.
These were last encountered in 2003, and this is a
beautiful specimen from recent production. No damage!
Please note the color is much more yellow in person,
for some reason it is not showing up in the images.
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MOZ16 Spodumene (Floater)
Namacotche,
Mutala, Mozambique
3.0x
2.9x 0.8 cm
$135
A double terminated floater specimen of spodumene
from Mozambique, this crystal is like a piece of yellow glass an
actually has reasonably sharp edges.
These were last encountered in 2003, and this is a
beautiful specimen from recent production. No damage!
Please note the color is much more yellow in person,
for some reason it is not showing up in the images.
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MOZ17 Columbite
Naipa Mine, Alto
Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
4.8x
3.2x 1.8 cm
$245
A beautiful miniature columbite crystal from the
Alto Ligonha pegmatites. Perfectly terminated.
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MOZ18 Ixiolite-(Sc)
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.3x
1.9x 1.3 cm
$135
A thumbnail specimen of this very rare scandium
bearing mineral, ixiolite is almost never encountered for sale.
This specimen consists of a hemispherical aggregate
of crystals.
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MOZ19 Ixiolite-(Sc)
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
1.9x
1.4x 1.1 cm
$125
A thumbnail specimen of this very rare scandium
bearing mineral, ixiolite is almost never encountered for sale.
This specimen consists of hemispherical
aggregates of crystals.
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MOZ20 Ixiolite-(Sc)
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.1x
1.8x 1.1 cm
$125
A thumbnail specimen of this very rare scandium
bearing mineral, ixiolite is almost never encountered for sale.
This specimen consists of a hemispherical aggregate
of crystals.
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MOZ22 Rutile
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.9x
2.0x 1.7 cm
$135
A large, doubly terminated Mozambican rutile.
It looks like a slightly cruder example of something from Graves
Mountain, Georgia.
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MOZ23 Rutile
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.5x
1.8x 1.7 cm
$135
A large, terminated Mozambican rutile. It
looks like something from Graves Mountain, Georgia.
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MOZ24 Rutile
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
2.5x
1.2x 1.0 cm
$95
A sharp, terminated Mozambican rutile thumbnail.
It looks like something from Graves Mountain, Georgia.
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MOZ25 Rutile
Alto Ligonha, Zambezia Prov., Mozambique
3.3x
1.9x 1.7 cm
$110
A large terminated Mozambican rutile. It looks
like a slightly cruder example of something from Graves Mountain,
Georgia. Sorry for the blurry images; there is some
contacting on the back, but you can see this in the image below.
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Tucson 2010
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Page 2: Mozambique Page
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Page 4
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