Large Congo Cobaltoan Calcite Salrose Specimen - 100mm, 804g

Locality - Kakanda Deposit, Kambove District, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga, Democratic Repuplic of Congo
Size – 100 x 87 x 62mm
Weight – 804g

This cobaltoan calcite/ salrose specimen features beautiful, bright, sparkling hot pink crystals liberally covering an entire face. It has a heavy matrix and is able to freestand proudly as an attractive display piece. This specimen is an exceptionally sized, very high-quality piece from the now exhausted Kakanda Deposit. This specimen will be accompanied by a locality label.

Cobaltoan calcite, also known as salrose, is a vivid pink variety of calcite containing Co2+ that is highly regarded for its attractive colour. The finest specimens come from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Morocco. Calcite is a carbonate mineral and a major component of sedimentary rocks such as limestone as well as the primary mineral in metamorphic marble, and is one of the most abundant minerals on the Earth. It is found in an astonishingly wide variety of formations and colours, though the most common forms are rhombohedral and scalenohedral crystals with most common colours being clear to white in a transparent to opaque appearance. Calcite is often the primary constituent of the shells of many marine organisms such as plankton and bivalves.