Marcasite

This beautiful specimen of pale-golden crystals of Marcasite forms a 3.0 x 4.7 x 2.7 cm ex-matrix cluster from the Cap Blanc-Nez in France.  Cap Blanc-Nez, situated 13 km east of the centre of Calais, is a coastal outcrop where the high chalk cliffs meet the English Channel.  The Marcasite forms superbly sharp, flattened pyramidal crystals to 1.9 cm on edge with bright metallic faces with a bright specular lustre.  The edges of all crystals are clean-cut and razor-sharp with narrow smooth surfaces of about 1 mm deep, running adjacent and parallel to each edge.  Most of the face surface is covered in fish scale-like overlapping growth hillocks, giving a fine granular texture and dispersed reflected light patterns.  A terrific miniature of excellent crystallised Marcasite from Cap Blanc-Nez in France, one of the world’s classic Marcasite localities.