Spinel on Calcite
at-auction$ 20
- Locality
- Mahenge, Morogoro, Tanzania
- Minerals
- Spinel, Calcite
- Dimensions
- 1.8 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm
- Size class
- Thumbnail
- SID
- K802
Pinkish red Spinel crystal with good color in Calcite. The crystal is a 1.5cm wide octahedron. Good translucency throughout. Mahenge is famous for a large volleyball sized pink spinel crystal that was found and sold as rough in Tanzania for $1 million, then was cut into many millions of dollars worth of some of the best pink Spinel gemstones ever found. Cutting rough is so expensive that any crystal with gem value is cut up, hence specimens are not easy to get!