Description
This tourmaline, variety elbaite, is from Stak Nala in the Haramosh Mountains of the Skardu District, Balistan, Pakistan. This locale encompasses a large area that is rich in pegmatites. The local people mine the pegmatites for mineral specimens including tourmaline. Elbaite is in the Tourmaline Group of minerals. It is a silicate and it contains the elements Al, B, H, Li, Na, O and Si. It can be found in a variety of colors which are caused by traces of other elements in the crystal lattice. This specimen consists of a naturally fractured and healed quartz crystal matrix that hosts tabular cleavelandite crystals and a terminated tourmaline. The tourmaline crystal has a dark green to brown core and a lighter translucent green exterior. It has striated prism faces and a flat termination. It measures 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1 inches or 38 x 38 x 25 mm.
