Lazurite pseudo after Sodalite
stock #15.1-336
Fayzabad, Koksha Valley, Khash-Kuran Wa Munjan District
Badakshan,
Afghanistan
4.8 x 3.3 x 2.7 CM (miniature)
price: $700
Late Summer 2018
A brilliant blue crystal of Lazurite nicely perched on a Calcite matrix. This is quite a fine Lazurite but it is in fact much less common, it is a partial pseudomorph of a Sodalite crystal. Both minerals are known to pseudomorph each other but can have similar crystal shapes so it is hard to detect. On this crystal there is some small zones where the brilliant blue is only partly covering the whitish to more pale blue interior. The core of the crystal can be seen and is still Sodalite, This is vividly Fluorescent in those spots but the exterior blue Lazurite has no response. The crystal is up to 2.7 CM across and contrasts perfectly with the matrix. A choice crystal and intense blue pseudo.
