Elbaite Tourmaline, Quartz: Tourmaline King mine, Pala, California USA

Description

Species: Quartz, Elbaite Tourmaline, Cleavelandite
Locality: Pastel Pocket, Tourmaline King mine, Queen Mountain, Pala, San Diego County, California USA
Size: 10.5 x 6 x 3.5 cm.

SOLD

NEW FIND! The historic Tourmaline King mine, famous for specimens such as the iconic “Steamboat” (Smithsonian Institution) collected over 100 years ago, recently produced a major pocket, in January of this year. This is the first major discovery at this mine in over 100 years, and is the culmination of years of hard work by the current mine owners. I was lucky to recently obtain some nice specimens from this find directly from the people involved in the find. This is a well-formed, 10 cm. Quartz crystal hosting a nearly 5 cm long bubblegum-pink tourmaline crystal, making for a great combination. Minor damage as seen but still a very nice specimen especially for the price. A rare California classic! Mark Cross photo.