Description

#2020 A 2 x 1 x .8-inch lavender Amethyst Quartz from Boekenhoutshek, Mkobola, Nkangala District, Mpumalanga, South Africa.  This specimen exhibits the typical parallel growth that specimens from this location show.  Specimen includes white porcelain tile base.  Amethyst from Boekenhouthoek, South Africa, originated from hydrothermal fluids filling crevices in Precambrian granite within the Bushveld Complex’s granophyre. The distinctive “cactus quartz” forms through a two-phase process: first, a simple, opaque amethyst crystallization, followed by a second phase where new, amethyst-colored silica solutions deposited overgrowths of small crystals on the existing hexagonal prisms. This second, complex overgrowth is what gives the specimens their unique and sparkling appearance.