Natural Rare Mini Bladed Barite Specimens x 21 From Congo

A NOTE FROM NICK 
A tray of 21 small natural selected, rare, prismatic Barite specimens, featuring sharp bladed crystals. These mini thumb nail size specimens display well-formed, elongated prismatic blades with excellent lustre and definition from Tenke Fungurume. Some with infused Malachite.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION 
Bladed Barite from Tenke Fungurume Mine, Democratic Republic of Congo 
Bladed barite from the Tenke Fungurume Mine in the Lualaba Province, DRC, forms as lustrous grey to colourless translucent blades or leaf-like aggregates, often in fan-shaped clusters or isolated tabular crystals with sharp edges and high vitreous to pearly lustre. These specimens occur in the copper-cobalt bearing sedimentary deposits of the Katanga Copperbelt, where barium-rich fluids precipitate barite in fractures or voids alongside Malachite, Chrysocolla, or Heterogenite; the bladed habit results from rapid crystallization in low-temperature hydrothermal environments, with crystals typically measuring several centimetres in length and showing occasional associations with secondary copper minerals that add green or blue accents.

PRODUCT MINERALS 
Barite

PRODUCT FEATURES 
Bladed

PRODUCT COLOUR 
Black, White

MOHS HARDNESS SCALE
3 to 3.5

PRODUCT DATA
Locality = Congo
Grade = Very Good to A Grade
Size = 20 - 41 mm