Vitali Kristali

Our new collectible minerals - scapolite, sanidine, smithsonite, aquamarine. For true admirers of natural beauty.

Scapolite (Morogoro, the Uluguru mountains, Tanzania)

The name comes from the Greek "skapos" - "rod" and "lithos" - "stone" and describes the columnar shape of the mineral crystals. Scapolite is valued for its extraordinary transparency and correct geometric shape. Scapolites are mixtures of two framework silicate subclass minerals: marialite Na₄[AlSi₃O₈]₃Cl and meionite Ca₄[Al₂Si₂O₈]₃[CO₃,SO₄].

As its chemical composition is unstable, the mineral can have a range of colors. For example, scapolites of volcanic rocks, as a rule, are colorless and transparent. In shales and limestones they are most often opaque and have a gray, bluish, brown color. Minerals formed in pegmatites are purple, pink, yellow.

 

Sсapolite 1 cm x 1.5 cm 1 pc

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Sсapolite 0.6 cm x 1.1 cm

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Sсapolite 2.2 cm x 1.7 cm

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Sanidine (Madagascar)

The name comes from Greek "sanis" - "tablet" and reflects the tabular shape of the crystals. Sanidine is a relatively common rock-forming mineral, a feldspar group silicate with chemical formula K(AlSi₃)O₈ and typical impurities such as Fe, Ca, Na, H₂O.

The mineral is formed in medium acidic and effusive (formed when lava solidifies on the Earth's surface) igneous rocks. As a rule, it is transparent or translucent, often colorless, sometimes with shades of yellow, gray, red, depending on impurities.

Sanidine 3 - 4 cm 1 pc

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Sanidine 4 cm x 3 cm

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Smithsonite (Laurium, Greece)

Named after James Smithson (1765 - 1829) - the British mineralogist, chemist, and founder of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Smithsonite is zinc carbonate ZnCO₃ with typical impurities like Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Mg, Pb. Relatively common in nature, it is formed by hypergene processes occurring at low temperatures ~25°C and pressure~1 atm. in the presence of water and in the course of weathering of polymetallic ores, as well as in the areas of oxidation of zinc sulfide deposits.

Most often the mineral is found in the form of dense granular masses, spherulites and spherocrystals. Visible crystals are rather rare and small, they have a rhombohedral (prism with rhombic faces and equal edges) or scalenohedral (dodecahedron with triangle faces) geometric shape.

In addition to blue, it can be pink, colorless, apple-green, pinkish, purple, depending on the impurities prevailing in the composition.

Smithsonite 7 cm x 5.5 cm

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Smithsonite 8 cm x 5.5 cm

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Smithsonite 9 cm x 4.5 cm

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Aquamarine (Karibib, the Erongo mountains, Namibia)

The name comes from the Greek "aqua" - "water" and "mares" - "sea'' and was given to the mineral for its color, brilliance, transparency and resemblance to drops of sea water. Aquamarine is a beryl (berryllium-containing ring silicate) with chemical formula Al₂Be₃[Si₆O₁₈], characterized by transparent prismatic crystals of various shades of blue.

Quite often crystals have tubules parallel to the faces. They can be filled both with gas or liquid, giving the mineral a characteristic white shade, and with iron compounds, giving it a brownish tint. Rutile inclusions may create the effect of "asterism" or "cat's eye". Other inclusions found in aquamarine are pyrite and biotite. As a typical mineral of the beryl group, aquamarine is found in granitic pegmatites and greisens and is formed by geothermal processes in the presence of hot groundwater and high pressure. 

Aquamarine 1 cm - 1,5 cm 2 pc

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Aquamarine 1,8 cm x 0,5 cm

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Aquamarine 1 cm x 0,6 cm

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