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 dense cluster of smoky brown Quartz crystals rising from a rough, mineralized matrix. The crystals show strong prismatic growth with sharp pointed terminations, ranging from translucent gray-brown to deeper smoky chocolate tones. Several areas display lighter clear-to-milky Quartz growth along the base and sides, while small brassy-gold flecks of likely Pyrite and warm rust-colored mineral inclusions add contrast throughout the piece. Its plate-like form and varied crystal heights give it a dramatic natural landscape appearance, making it an excellent display specimen for collectors of European Quartz.
Smokey Quartz is a naturally dark variety of Quartz, with its smoky coloration caused by natural radiation interacting with trace aluminum within the crystal structure over long periods of geological time. Quartz has been valued since ancient civilizations for carving, ornamentation, tools, and later scientific uses due to its hardness and piezoelectric properties. Romanian Smokey Quartz is often associated with the Carpathian mineral regions, especially historic mining districts such as Baia Mare, Cavnic, Herja, and Baia Sprie, where Quartz commonly formed in hydrothermal veins alongside sulfides and metallic minerals.
In crystal traditions, smoky quartz is associated with grounding and protection, and pyrite with confidence and motivation.
Chemical Composition: SiO2
Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.