Botryoidal Hematite — Irhoud Mine, Youssoufia Province, Morocco

A sculptural specimen of botryoidal ("kidney ore") hematite from the Irhoud Mine in Morocco's Youssoufia Province — one of the more productive recent sources of this classic habit, comparable in quality to historic Cumberland (UK) material that's essentially unobtainable today. The specimen shows the characteristic mounded, grape-like ("botryoidal," from the Greek botrys) surface texture that forms when radiating needle-like hematite crystals grow outward from many nucleation points at similar rates, fusing into a smooth, splendent, mammillary surface.

Coloring runs from a rich reddish-brown to near-black across the "eyes" of the botryoids, with a strong metallic luster typical of this locality's best material. A good display piece and a textbook example of the botryoidal mineral habit for anyone building out habit/form study material alongside crystal specimens.

Specimen Details:

Approx. specimen weight (g): 298 grams

Approx. specimen size (mm): 55mm x 45mm x 40mm