Locality: Gon Deposit, near Timpton River, Lena River Valley, Aldan, Aldan Shield, (Yakutia), Eastern Siberian, Russia
Size: small cabinet, 5.5 x 5.3 x 3.9 cm
Spinel
This whopper of a spinel crystal is complete all around and free of damage, measuring 5.5 x 4 x 4 cm in size, and beautifully terminated. It has a rich "satiny" lustre, characteristic of pocket-growth crystals that have never been covered by other rock, or calcite infill which has to be removed with acid. This locality historically produced spinels of this calibre, but I had never seen a complete one in this condition and of such size; and in any case they came out 20 years and more ago. This new find at the same old locale has provided us a small new supply of these spinel classics. What is nice , though, is that the overall quality for this combination of size and crystal habit of spinel has not been surpassed in the meantime - they stand as important spinels, not just as interesting locality classics, in other words.
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:: Locality: Gon Deposit, near Timpton River, Lena River Valley, Aldan, Aldan Shield, (Yakutia), Eastern Siberian, Russia
:: Size: small cabinet, 5.5 x 5.3 x 3.9 cm