Pezzottaite
Pezzottaite
Pezzottaite

Pezzottaite

€24,00
Sold out
SKU: A478
Sahananana, Ibity, Antsirabe, Madagascar
Comparatively thick, small raspberry-red crystal fragment from a new discovery of this very rare mineral: In contrast to the pieces normally found, these show flat crystal growth; very rarely, crystals with several prism surfaces or even fully developed ones occur. The prices have risen enormously in recent months due to the high potential now also discovered by the local miners. It is therefore questionable whether a purchase on our next trip to Madagascar will still be worthwhile for resale; we do not want to impose too high prices on our customers.
0.8x0.7x0.4 cm
0.39 g

Pezzottaite is a very rare representative of the beryl group and the only one that crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system. One of the reasons for this is cesium, which is built into the silicate crystal lattice as a large atom. Intact crystals have a pseudo-hexagonal pyramidal structure. Pezzottaite was first described after the turn of the millennium. The previous finds in Madagascar were mined and sold within 1-2 years. The most recent find at the end of 2022, which produced tabular crystals, has already largely been mined.