Quartz (smoky), Spessartine garnet, Microcline

Wushan Spessartine Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Zhangzhou, Fujian, China

14,3x10x6 cm. (main Quartz 12 cm. long)

This is a piece from China, and it is a classic association well-known to all collectors, widely available on the market. However, the garnets present on the pieces offered, some time overwhelms or even completely overshadows the associated smoky quartz. This specimen deviates entirely from this standard, so our attention must necessarily be focused on this imposing, well-formed smoky quartz crystal showing great luster and an interesting internal texture that becomes very beautiful when the crystal is backlit. Spessartine garnet is present here and there, as an accessory mineral, in small but brilliant orange-colored crystals.

Spessartine garnets from the Wushan Spessartine Mine, located in Tongbei, Yunxiao County, Fujian Province, China, are highly regarded among mineral collectors. These garnets, often found in association with smoky Quartz and Microcline, are known for their vibrant orange to red color, which is due to their high manganese content. The crystals are usually sharp, lustrous, and gemmy, displaying a combination of dodecahedral and trapezohedral faces.

The mine became famous in the 1990s for producing stunning specimens, especially combinations of spessartine garnets sitting on smoky quartz or microcline matrices. These garnets range in size, with crystals up to several millimeters in diameter, and their vibrant orange hues create a striking contrast with the darker smoky quartz or pale microcline. Collectors value these specimens not only for their aesthetics but also for the rarity of such high-quality spessartine crystals.

The Wushan Mine remains one of the most iconic localities for spessartine garnets, and specimens from this site are sought after in mineral auctions and collections worldwide.

Spessartine forms through metamorphism and igneous crystallization. It often occurs in aluminum-rich environments, particularly in granite pegmatites and schists. During the crystallization of these rocks, manganese and aluminum combine under high-temperature conditions to form spessartine. In pegmatites, spessartine garnets often crystallize in cavities, which is why they can grow into large, well-formed crystals.

The Tongbei area contains granitic rocks that originated as intrusions during the late Mesozoic, as a result of the subduction of Paleo-Pacific Plate under the continental plate of southeastern China. These granite pegmatites are coarse-grained igneous rocks that contain large crystals and are an excellent source of spessartine garnets. The presence of manganese in these environments aids the formation of spessartine over other types of garnet and the strong abundance of aluminum in the host rocks also explains why spessartine is always associated with quartz, but only in the smoky variety.