Description

#2444 – A 4 x 3.5 x 2.5 -inch mineral specimen featuring red-white acicular needles of Pyrophyllite with black-grey Hematite and Quartz.  This specimen is from the classic eastern United States mineral locality of Graves Mountain, Lincoln County, Georgia.  This location was once an open pit operation for the mining of Kyanite.  It however is also a famous locality for world class Rutile crystals.

The pyrophyllite, hematite, and quartz at Graves Mountain formed from a complex geologic history of volcanic activity followed by intense metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration. Initially, volcanic ash deposited on the ocean floor was altered into a high-aluminum rock. Continental collisions later metamorphosed this rock through heat and pressure into quartzite and schist, and subsequently, hydrothermal fluids introduced minerals like quartz and titanium, which later oxidized to form hematite, and created pyrophyllite.