Large Natural Red Hematoid Phantom Orange River Quartz Cluster - 167mm, 1560g

Locality - Orange River, South Africa
Size – 167 x 117 x 80mm
Weight – 1560g

This orange river quartz cluster has a mass of sharply terminated clear quartz crystals stained brick red with internal zoned hematoid phantoms coating its main display face, a few even showing mossy green chlorite inclusions. It has excellent form, rich colour and is very much intact with no major damage. Weighing in at over one and a half kilograms and measuring over 160mm across, it is an impressive, large cluster, an exceptional display piece and a prized mineral specimen. Please note that the white material in the final (11th) photo is mineral blu tack and has since been removed.

Quartz is the most common mineral found on the surface of the Earth, occurring in virtually every locality. Pure crystals are colourless, transparent and hard, though many are coloured by natural processes such as irradiation or by the presence of certain elements within them. These coloured varieties include the popular gemstones amethyst, purple quartz, and citrine, yellow quartz. Some quartz crystals have unique inclusions of minerals that have grown within them, such as golden rutile, tourmaline or chlorite, and others may show silvery reflective internal veils and bright rainbows. Whilst the majority of quartz is created from molten magma that has cooled and crystallized, much quartz also chemically precipitates from hot hydrothermal veins. Well-formed crystals deep within the Earth can reach colossal sizes, with some measuring several meters in length and weighing hundreds of kilograms. The largest documented single crystal of quartz was found near Itapore, Brazil, measuring 6.1 metres at its widest point and weighing in over 44,000 kilograms!