Auction Win: Grossular with Muscovite
Pickup available at Crystal Castle
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Details
Locality: Sandaré, Sandaré Commune, Nioro du Sahel Cercle, Kayes Region, Mali
Size: Thumbnail - 2.5 × 2.5 × 2 cm
Grossular is a common garnet mineral with the composition Ca3Al2(SiO4)3, originally named "cinnamon stone" in 1803 by Abraham Gottlob Werner and renamed in 1808 for the color of gooseberries (Ribes grossularium).
Sandaré, a stop on the main Bamako-Kayes highway in the Kayes Region of Mali, is historically known as a collection point for minerals from the adjacent Cercle de Bafoulabé, particularly yellow and black garnets and brown and green vesuvianites of considerable size. Although often erroneously linked to prehnite and epidote balls, the area is geologically notable for garnet and vesuvianite diggings located about 2 km east of the locality. Collectors value Sandaré specimens for their association with the first discoveries of green gem garnet in 1994, even though those specific finds originated roughly 50 km south. Today, Sandaré remains relevant to mineral collectors as a key transport junction for high-quality garnet and vesuvianite specimens from the back country villages of Bendougou and Diakon.
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