Anatase - Specimen

Locality: Kharan District, Balochistan, Pakistan

Anatase crystals are typically sharp, pointed dipyramids with an adamantine to metallic lustre. They can be brown, yellow, reddish brown, indigo or black, and pyramidal crystals can look opaque because light is totally reflected inside them. Anatase usually forms from other titanium-bearing minerals, and in Alpine-type veins it is derived from the enclosing gneiss or schist by hydrothermal solutions.

Anatase is a form of titanium dioxide, TiO₂, one of three minerals with that formula along with rutile and brookite. Its name comes from the Greek for extension, for the unusually tall pyramid of its usual crystals compared with other tetragonal minerals.

This one of a kind Anatase specimen from the Kharan District of Balochistan, Pakistan features a tight cluster of dark grey to black Anatase crystals across a pale, rough matrix with tan and rusty brown staining. The main crystals are sharp, blocky, and well-faced, with strong reflective lustre and visible stepped growth lines on several crystal faces. Smaller Anatase points are scattered through the piece, mixed with clear to milky Quartz crystals and rough textured host rock. It has a compact display size, with good contrast between the black Anatase, light Quartz, and earthy matrix.

Kharan District material is well known among collectors for producing sharp anatase on quartz- and albite-rich matrix, and the district’s occurrences are tied to pegmatitic and alpine-type settings. Mindat lists quartz and albite among the most common associated minerals at these localities, and published descriptions of Kharan pieces from Zard Mountain describe the same general style of quartz-albite matrix with dark, lustrous anatase crystals.

Many people are drawn to anatase for its crisp structure and focused look. In metaphysical circles, it is often associated with concentration, clarity, and staying mentally steady during periods of change. On a specimen like this, that appeal comes from the mineral’s naturally disciplined crystal form as much as from any symbolic tradition attached to it.

Chemical Composition: TiO2

Approximate size: 3.5 x 2.6 cm (1.4 x 1.0 in)

Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.