Manganese-bearing Calcite (Manganoan Calcite)

A superb triangular group of delicate candy-pink manganese bearing Calcite crystals from the Madan ore field in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria.  The crystals are smooth and glassy, with a silky-satin lustre, making this a fine specimen for display.  Although the pink is a delicate shade, it is a good colour for Madan, whose Manganoan Calcites often tend to be a more ethereal pink, with much less pigment than this specimen.  The central composite crystal culminates in a perfect and damage-free trigonal termination, with all prism faces displaying attractive horizontal striations.