Tourmaline Var. Tri-Color Elbaite
sold- Locality
- Sapo mine, Goibiera, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Minerals
- Elbaite
- Dimensions
- 7.4 x 3.3 x 2.7
- Size class
- Small Cabinet
- SID
- TOURM50
These elusive tourmalines were mined around 1996. Known as tri-color blue caps, the best examples start red, then go to yellow and finally a blue termination. Typical examples are currently worth in excess of $50 per gram. This crystal is a weird example as it exploded, and split while in the pocket and continued to terminate. I have seen this before while mining Quartz and good examples are quite uncommon. It is a floater, as even the base is crystallized. It has multiple terminations, It has about 12 spire-like terminations, of those about 7 are complete. It has good color and is highly reflective. It weighs 65 grams!