Red Beryl with Bixbyite, Frank Stallings Solar Wind Mine, Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah USA RARE!
A superb, pinot-red translucent beryl crystal embedded with lustrous, jet black bixbyite. The bixbyite presents complex interpenetrations and is encrusted with sparkling, drusy quartz. Minute ghost crystals of topaz can be observed within the beryl under magnification. The beryl is complete all around but for one bid nip. Images have been backlit to highlight internal structure and translucency. This piece, along with a vanishingly few others, was extracted from a pocket on October 4th, 2024, by miners. The specimen comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 4 mm.
About red beryl: Gem quality red beryl is estimated to be worth 1,000 times more than gold and is so rare that one red beryl crystal is found for every 150,000 diamonds. Red beryl formation began in the Thomas Range of Utah with the eruption of a topaz rhyolite lava from volcanic vents. As the lava started to cool, shrinkage cracks formed, creating pathways for high-temperature gases rich in beryllium to escape. Oxidized surface water also began seeping into these cracks and mixed with the rising beryllium gases. The gases reacted with the surface water, silica, alkali feldspar, and iron manganese oxides from the lava to form red beryl crystals. Red beryl probably grew at temperatures between 300 to 650 degrees Celsius. The crystals in the Thomas Range are associated with topaz, bixbyite, garnet, pseudobrookite, or hematite.
Reference: Utah Geological Survey, Survey Notes, v. 34 no. 3, September 2002, Author: Carl Ege
