Specifications
Descrizione
Locality: Baia Mare mining district, Maramureș County, Romania
The Baia Mare district lies in the Gutâi Mountains of northern Romania, part of the volcanic arc on the inner side of the Carpathians. Volcanic activity built these mountains between about 15.4 and 7 million years ago, and the hydrothermal fluids linked to it left hundreds of gold-silver and lead-zinc veins. The Main Vein of the Baia Sprie mine, 8 km long, is the longest ore vein in Europe.
Mining around Baia Mare is documented with certainty from the 13th and 14th centuries, and the late 15th century brought a first boom in gold and silver mining. More than 20 mines were still working the district's veins until 2007, and two of its deposits, Cavnic and Baia Sprie, are classed as world-class.
Smoky quartz gets its colour from aluminium. In all smoky quartz a little aluminium takes the place of silicon, but the colour only appears once the crystal has been irradiated. Natural radiation over geological time removes an electron from an oxygen atom next to an aluminium ion, creating a colour centre that absorbs light and gives the typical smoky brown. With enough aluminium and intense radiation the quartz turns completely black, the variety called morion, and heating removes the colour.
This one of a kind Smokey Quartz specimen from Romania features a broad, dense bed of smoky-brown Quartz crystals rising from a natural matrix. The specimen is covered in tightly clustered prismatic points, with several larger crystals standing above the smaller surrounding growth. The crystals range from translucent brown to deep smoky gray, with some lighter golden-brown edges and natural surface coatings that give the piece a rugged, earthy character. Its low, wide formation makes it an impressive cabinet display specimen with strong texture and depth.
Smokey Quartz is a brown to gray variety of Quartz, with its colour caused by natural radiation interacting with trace aluminum within the crystal structure over long periods of time. Quartz is one of the most abundant and historically important minerals on Earth, used in tools, ornamentation, jewelry, and scientific applications for thousands of years. Romanian Smokey Quartz specimens are often associated with the Carpathian Mountain mining regions, where hydrothermal veins have produced many notable Quartz and sulfide mineral specimens.
In crystal traditions, smoky quartz is associated with grounding, protection and calm focus.
Chemical Composition: SiO2
Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.