Halite

From a find at the lesser known Rudna Mine in Poland, these specimens that showed up in Tucson are some of the most colorful and certainly aesthetic Halites you'll see from any locality. I've only seen a few other green Halites from this locality, and they were seriously lacking in gemminess and displayability.

The captivating green hue is what immediately draws the eye on this piece. In areas the crystals are completely colorless (and nearly WATER CLEAR!), but the tone and saturation of the green color is just beautiful, as it gives the piece an other-worldly quality. The crystals are quite gemmy, with wonderful cubic form, but the most interesting and eye-catching aspect for me is the fact that they seem have grown in a pseudo "Faden" formation. When the piece is backlit, you can see what appear to be very thin "string"-like growth lines inside the Halites. This gives the piece amazing three-dimensional form, which is not often seen in Halite from any world locality. The largest crystal measures 2.0 cm on edge, and after looking closely, I really can't see any damage with the naked eye.

The piece displays wonderfully from several directions. There's even an interesting orange zoned fluorescence under SW UV light! A really cool and worthwhile Halite with excellent form, color, quality and size that would make a perfect addition to your collection. I don't know if there will be more of these, but if you want one, be sure to pick one up while they're available.

Specimen #TUC31702